STACK February 2016 Issue 136

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FROM THE HART
A s a high school basketball player in
Philadelphia, Kevin Hart’s diminutive
height kept him from reaching his
lofty goals.
But instead of hanging up his dreams along
with his jersey, he discovered his lack of inches
to be his greatest asset.
Transforming his short stature into comedy
gold, he found punchlines in his underdog
persona, first on the stand-up circuit and later in
Hollywood, where his films Think Like a Man,
Grudge Match and Get Hard have made him a
household name.
He may play the pushover on screen, but
in real life he’s nobody’s fool, building a multi-
million dollar empire from his comedy brand
portraying himself as the “anti-manly man“.
He found his first audience in his
mum, Nancy, raising him alone while
his cocaine-addicted father spent
most of his childhood in and out of
jail. “My mom was able to
see a glimpse of greatness
before she passed away. She
was very religious, so she
didn’t like to go places where
there was alcohol, smoking
or swearing, but she totally
supported me on every level. She
was my rock and the reason why
I am who I am today. She raised
me with a strong will to succeed,”
reflects the 5-foot-2 former shoe
salesman.
Reuniting with Ice Cube for
Kevin Hart talks Ride Along 2, cops, emojis, and why his wild
days are now behind him. By Gill Pringle
buddy movie sequel, Ride Along 2, we see Hart
graduate from security guard to rookie cop,
although he shudders when STACK asks if he
researched with any real cops.
“No. I know some, but I don’t go out of my
way to spend time with cops,“ he laughs, at
the end of a three-year probation after being
arrested on DUI charges in 2013.
“I don’t want to be in the back seat of a cop
car ever again in my life. I’ve had moments
where I had to be because of mistakes I made,
and that’s not a place of fun for me.”
In Ride Along 2, his character Ben sends
emoji-filled texts, something the real Hart also
enjoys.
“I think the purpose of emojis is to be
creative and give examples of your excitement
or your depression or what you don’t like. It's a
way to guarantee a smile on the end.”
His personal favourite emoji? “The
black fist!”
Divorced with two children from
his first marriage, Hart will walk
down the aisle with model Eniko
Parrish on August 8, although he
has no wild bachelor party plans.
“I’m 36 now. My wild days
are kind of behind me. Right now
it's more about getting married,
taking advantage of this day and
looking forward to life after.”
Ride Along 2 is in cinemas on
Feb 18
visit CINEMA NEWS
20 FEBRUARY 2016
CINEMA
W hile most actors might turn to the Bible
for a movie about the resurrection of
Christ, Joseph Fiennes instead checked
in at the nearest police station and signed up for
gladiator bootcamp.
Cast as Clavius, a Roman military tribune tasked
with locating the post-crucifixion body of Jesus
Christ, Fiennes views Risen as a missing corpse
mystery as much as a biblical epic.
“My real way into Clavius came from sitting
down with a detective and talking about what it’s
like to question suspects,” says Fiennes. “Although
this is a biblical story, I wanted to be pragmatic
about what Clavius needs to do, because I really
see this as a noir detective story.”
On the flip side of the coin is Kiwi actor Cliff
Curtis, cast as Jesus. “I’m usually asked to play
terrorists so I thought it was a prank when I was
offered this role,” laughs Curtis, currently starring in
TV’s Walking Dead spin-off, Fear the Walking Dead.
“I was a devout Catholic and an altar boy as a
child. I served mass and had a little crucifix next to
my bed. I used to joke about playing Jesus because
I never thought I was fair-complexioned enough
and didn’t have blue eyes,” says Curtis, referring to
the traditional archetypes of Christ, an image since
dismissed by historians. “I’m also in my late 40s
and Jesus was apparently crucified when he was
33, so it was a miracle I was even cast!”
Taking a self-imposed vow of silence while
filming Risen in Malta and Spain, Curtis finally
broke it when he volunteered to wash the feet of
his Apostle cast-mates.
“I had to set my ego aside in order to be of
service to a very significant divine being on this
planet. I talk a lot, a lot of unnecessary nonsense
– and certainly not divine – so the only way I
felt I could cleanse myself was through silence,”
explains the actor, who also prepared by living
alone for a month, making his own humble meals.
“I lived monastically, allowing just an hour each
day to talk to my wife and kids. Some may say it
was unnecessary but I compare it to doing Hamlet
on stage and then pulling out your phone and
Facebooking. That would be all wrong, so I did what
I thought was respectful for the role.”
Gill Pringle
Risen is in cinemas on Feb 18
FINDING JESUS