'Lift' star Kevin Hart on 'bringing people together,' the change he wants to see in comedy
Last Sunday, Jo Koy found out that hosting an awards show can bring a whole new level of scrutiny to your comedy.
Kevin Hart knows a thing or two about that. In 2018, the actor and comedian announced that he would host the Oscars. But Hart stepped down days later, apologizing after previous homophobic comments and tweets resurfaced.
In March, five years after he would have hosted the Academy Awards, Hart will receive the 25th Mark Twain Prize for American humor. The 44-year-old star tells USA TODAY that through the ups and downs, he never lost faith in comedy.
“Comedy is needed. Comedy is never going anywhere,” says Hart, whose new Netflix film “Lift” is streaming Friday. “The climate of comedy just changed a little bit because of the pressure people started to put on comics. I hope that goes away: the idea that the comic’s perspective is the perspective that we’re supposed to follow and live by.
“Some comics have an amazing POV on the world, on life. But we really need to understand that it’s all perspective, it’s all opinion.”
Surprise! George Carlin is coming back to life in new AI-generated comedy special
Hart's Netflix movie, which is part of a first-look deal his production company has with the streaming service, brings about a far lighter discourse. Hart plays the head of an international heist crew, enlisted by an Interpol agent (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) to lift $500 million in gold from a passenger plane in midair. Plenty of laughs and a love story ensue.
“It’s a light popcorn movie,” Mbatha-Raw says. “There’s a lot of intense things going on in the world right now. To be able to have an escapist movie like this that really captures your attention, that is something everybody can watch together with their family on a Friday night, we need that right now.”
Director F. Gary Gray almost didn’t take the project because he had already done a heist film, 2003’s “The Italian Job.” That changed after he sat down with Hart.
“I’ve heard that he’s 'the Jeff Bezos of comedy,’ ” Gray jokes. “Dave Chappelle says he’s the perfect guy. (Hart) is a very, very nice person. I’ve never seen anyone who's more busy and someone who takes everything in stride and always brings a positive attitude to everything. He’s just consistently a great guy. It affects the process.”
Bryan Smiley, president of the actor's production company Hartbeat, echoed Gray's words. Smiley notes that the actor feels by keeping the "set atmosphere positive, we get the best result out of everyone." Smiley and Hart also served as producers on the film.
"(Hart) would literally do 12-hour days, so he would do his role as an actor but then was also deep in the weeds on problem-solving," Smiley says. "Everything from the tactical, on-set problem solving all the way up to the studio-level problem solving."
“I just like bringing people together,” Hart says. If his comedy and movies provide an opportunity to do that, “then I’m happy. I’m doing the right thing.”
Hart mentioned several venues when talking about the content he creates, including theaters and stadiums. One venue that Hart didn’t mention was the race track, which he’ll probably stay away from for the foreseeable future. In August, the comedian tore his lower abdomen and abductors while trying to beat former NFL player Stevan Ridley in a 40-yard dash.
“You know, had a little setback, but what I was told is that all of the great action stars go through it,” Hart jokes, unable to keep a straight face. He reveals that his non-cardio workouts are back to normal. As for running, Hart doesn’t want to return to his “3- to 5-mile regiment until I’m 100% confident.”
After all, no one likes to find things out the hard way.
Kevin Hart's injury: Comedian in a wheelchair after tearing abdomen in race against Stevan Ridley
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kevin Hart talks 'Lift' and 'the pressure people put on comics'
