Kevin Hart is a 30-year-old from Philadelphia. He has starred in films such as "Soul Plane," "Scary Movie 3" and the television show Kroed Maendoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire.
Hart and his wife Torrie currently live in Los Angeles with their son, Hendrix, and daughter, Heaven Lee. Hart's latest film, "Death at a Funeral," opened Friday.
After recently performing at a UPC event, Hart answers a few questions about his personal experiences as a comedian and how he balances his work and family life.
Q: So how are you doing today? You look pretty excited to be here.
A: You know what, man, actually I'm feeling pretty good. (This is my professional voice). Why am I feeling good, you may ask? Because I'm alive. I love life. Life makes me happy and doing my job makes me happier. So, yes, I am in a great mood.
Q: You're going to be in "Death at a Funeral." What type of role do you play?
A: Oh yeah, "Death at a Funeral." I play the owner of the funeral home. I'm responsible for losing the dead body. It's a funny part. Chris Rock, a good friend of mine, called me and told me he had this cameo. He wanted to write it out for me so he did. I went in there and it worked. It's a great cast so hopefully the movie will be funny.
Q: Will we see any more Kroed Maendoon?
A: Oh man, I wish. Comedy Central said it was too expensive. The show cost them too much money. We actually filmed that show in Hungary for six months. We were out there in Hungary, then we went to Budapest; it was crazy. So probably not, but I had a fun time doing it. It was definitely a different character for me, so it was fun.
Q: Do you consider yourself more of a stand-up comedian or an actor?
A: Well I'm an established actor, but I'm a comedian. I started out in comedy. That's what's pushed me into this role. You know, if you take away stand-up comedy, I'm not even in acting. I wouldn't be in any movie. I can honestly say I'm a comedian at heart, you know. That's what I do. Because if you're a comic you're dealing with your personal fans, a bigger crowd. These people are coming out to see you perform. When you're in a movie, it's an ensemble, you know? People come out because the movie's going to be good because the cast is great. This is more of like my own entity.
Q: Do you typically perform at colleges?
A: I do a lot of theaters now. I do theaters between 2,500 and 4,000 seats. But you can't lose sight of your audience. I'm 30 years old and that college audience is the audience that supports me the most; whether it's going to a movie that I'm in or watching a television show. I'm a comedian so naturally I'm doing comedy movies. You guys are the ones who love comedy. Whether it's silly movies, spoof movies, whatever it may be, college kids are the ones downloading it or buying the DVD. So you've got to compensate to tap into this world as well.
Q: How do you balance your family life and touring?
A: It's hard because I'm gone sometimes for long periods of time. When I'm home, I dedicate all of my time to my kids. Naturally, its busy because when you get home everybody wants a piece of you--you've got meetings and stuff like that. But I think I do a good job of setting everything to the side. You know, if I'm home for five days, those days are for my babies non-stop. Then if I'm gone for two weeks, I made up for the time that I'm gone because I spent so much time with them while I was there. My daughter's old enough now that she understands what her dad does. But they love it, they enjoy it. Dad's got to go to work but when I come home it's all about them. It makes you stronger, it builds your character.
Q: Who are some comics you admired starting out? How do you think they influenced your style?
A: Bill Cosby. Bill Cosby is definitely one person I can definitely say I patterned my stand-up comedy after. Bill Cosby told lots of stories about his family, about his life. He painted pictures for an audience to where, well I guess I should say he made it easy for an audience to relate with him. You felt like you knew him. I'm the same type of comedian, maybe a little dirtier. I cuss a little bit more than Bill Cosby did. But with the exception of that I love letting you guys in my world. This is who I am. It's not a character.
Q: You said your daughter is old enough to understand what you do. Is she old enough to see you at work?
A: Oh, I could care less, man. My babies are back stage sometimes. I'm on stage cussing, saying whatever. But I like them to see what their father does, like, "This is what your dad does. This is how your dad takes care of you. There's no excuse why you can't watch it." Now for somebody else's kids I wouldn't, you know, "get your kids out of here. It's going to be filthy." But with my kids, whatever. I don't mind it.
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