In his latest film, About Last Night, Kevin Hart plays Bernie, a twenty-something from L.A. who finds himself caught in the middle of a dysfunctional relationship with Regina Hall’s character, Joan. Conversely, Bernie’s best friend Danny, played by Michael Ealy, winds up dating Joan’s conservative best friend Debbie and falling madly in love. About Last Night follows both couples as they deal with the trials and tribulations of relationships, balancing best friends and boyfriends and trust us, this is anything but your typical love story!
The movie, which is a remake of the 1986 film, is directed by Steve Pink. It gives a very real look into different types of relationships and the way men and women talk.
Though Kevin and Regina have starred in countless films together, this is the first time the two have played a couple. Their chemistry on and off the set is undeniable and something we hope to see more of in the future.
“Me and Regina have never been an on-screen item. We’ve never been in a position where we could feed off of each other, even in Think Like A Man. So me and Regina never really got to show what that chemistry could be like,” he said.
“Not only are we great on film, but off camera our chemistry is amazing. We just click – we get along.”
We caught up with Kevin while he was out promoting About Last Night to get behind the scenes details, learn about his relationship quirks and find out what the future holds for him.
According to Kevin, the easiest thing about shooting this film was not just the fact that he was working with someone he’s close with, but that the characters are so relatable.
“Playing this particular couple, Regina and myself probably have experience with being in this type of relationship. The reason that it was so refreshing to do was because it’s real,” he explained. “You know, those couples that are crazy, that fight, that go above and beyond to hurt each other’s feelings and then wrap back around and have sex and put a band-aid over what they just did as if it wasn’t crazy and then fight again in front of people.”
Kevin and Regina play a couple that, despite their love for one another, fight like cats and dogs; they scream, throw drinks at one another and couldn’t care less who’s around to see it. Debbie and Danny, on the other hand, reserve their battles for the tiny loft apartment they share. On the outside they seem like the perfect couple – madly in love, living together and raising an adorable pup – the reality of it is, they’re putting up a front and ultimately neither of them are happy.
“You find that road of love and it works for some people – It’s crazy as hell, but it works for some people,” Hart said. “It was such a good balance to the Michael and Joy side of the film because they gave you the stereotypical ‘we love each other, but let’s hide that we’re not getting along from other people.’ And then it became more reserved and hidden while our business was all out in the open and everyone judged us,” he continued.
“Ultimately we were the ones that became happy – That’s what happens. So to play that and show that, I think people are going to connect with that.”
The original film takes place in the heart of the Windy City, however for the remake, Kevin and the crew headed to Downtown L.A. The film shows the popular city in a way it’s never been seen before. Rather than hit the beach or head to the Hollywood Hills, director Steve Pink decided to show off the often overlooked side of L.A., which is currently undergoing some major construction.
For the cast, shooting in the city had its downsides. Sure, it’s not as classically beautiful as California’s many beaches and has its shady parts, but according to Kevin, it’s definitely on a come up.
“Here’s the problem with Downtown Los Angeles. They’re rebuilding it, which is a good thing. They’re putting a lot of good properties in place, but you make one wrong turn in Downtown Los Angeles and you’re on God damn Skid Row,” he said. “The level of stuff that you can run into from crime to, ‘is that a prostitute or is that not’ to ‘oh, there’s some homeless people’ to ‘look at the beautiful building! Whoa, what’s that? Is that a rat? Hold on, whose loose pit bull?’ It’s such a weird mixture of stuff.”
“They’re putting a lot of things in place right now and I think within two or three years, Downtown Los Angeles can be a focusing point for people who come to Los Angeles. But right now it’s still a lot of stuff – they got some good stuff down there, but they still got a lot of stuff that you’ve got to look out for.”
Off screen, Kevin’s got real relationship stuff to worry about. The actor, who is dating Eniko Parrish, revealed that he’s grown a lot since getting divorced.
“Me and my lady don’t bang like I used to bang with people in the past. We definitely don’t go to that level, because if we did I wouldn’t be with her,” he said. “I’ve grown from that, but we have our moments and now when we’re doing those moments it’s like, ‘you know what, I’m gonna go out for a little bit. I’ll see you tonight’ or ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’ It’s best to get away from people when you feel like they’re irking you.”
Hart admits, however, that it’s not just his girlfriend who does the “irking.”
“I can be irking at times – she can be irking at times. I know what it is. But I will say that within our dysfunctional ways at the same times, those are ways that you become accustomed to and if you don’t have those ways, you’ll realize why you love the other person that you’re with.”
Just like Joan and Bernie, Kevin and Eniko have things they love to hate about one another and wouldn’t change a thing.
“When my girl eats cereal, she’s the loudest cereal eater I’ve ever seen, but when you put me around a woman that’s quiet eating her cereal, I miss my girl because I don’t have shit to complain about,” he explained. “It’s a quirky dysfunctional thing that I’ve gotten used to saying. ‘stop fucking smacking while you eat your cereal!'”
“I love telling her to stop fucking smacking.”
As for the future, Kevin says it’s all uphill from here.
“There’s still so much that I haven’t done. My goals are through the roof. When you look at the comedians that have worked before me, that have gotten to a certain level of success, they’ve done so much. From the Pryors, to the Eddie Murphys to the Chris Rocks. I mean, literally this list could go on and on,” he said.
“They’re legends for individual reasons. You can’t compare these guys to one another. They’ve all done certain ground breaking things that you go, ‘oh my God. He was great because of this, this, this.’ For me right now, when you think of Kevin Hart, yes I’ve achieved so much, I’ve done so much. As an actor, I need to eventually get on the same playing field that I’m on in my comedy career.”
About Last Night hits theaters February 14. Be sure to grab your boo and check it out – this is one movie you don’t want to miss!
