KEVIN HART

Kevin Hart is a grown little man, and he's been making sure everyone in America realizes it for the past couple of years. From Paper Soldiers and hosting The Source Awards, to co-starring alongside Chris Rock and Eddie Murphy; Kevin Hart's comedic star is shining as bright as ever. Tucked away in a modest office in Los Angeles, a young man juggles a cell phone, getting dressed and talking to his assistant. To his right sits a flat screen mounted on the wall and behind him is a framed poster of “Soul Plane” the 2004 movie starring Kevin Hart himself. With a relatively fast paced career, big things have happened in the last twelve years for the comedic actor who used to call himself Little Kev. With sixteen movies under his belt and thousands of hours of stage time, Kevin has no plans of slowing down. “There’s still so much I want to do, I don’t want to get complacent” he said. Kevin’s journey began in Philly where he started doing open mic’s at various spots around the city. He took his friends suggestion to channel his sense of humor into a staged act. He says he won six amateur competitions. “I was making $75 a week. I figured it was enough to pay my rent”. And with little experience and lots of hope he quit his job as a shoe salesman and made comedy his new career. Kevin says when he first hit the stage, he didn’t have much to talk about, explaining much of his jokes were simple “white people do this and black people do it like this”. Now a lot of his routine comes directly from the real life challenges of being a husband and father of two. In addition to a number of appearances on shows on, UPN and MTV, he has performed as a comic on many of the top networks too, including NBC, HBO, and BET. And last year, his one man show “Grown Little Man” debuted on Comedy Central last year. As an actor his career is growing as well. Kevin first gained mainstream attention in the “Scary Movie” series. When “Soul Plane” was released, with him as the star it was successful in the Black community only, but it still was criticized for being stereotypical. To that he admits, he went into production knowing it wouldn’t be an Oscar contender. But admits he would not do Soul Plane 2, if there was an offer. “It is what it is, a funny movie about stereotypes,” he said. Kevin is now hoping to get more leading man roles and roles that aren’t comedies. He wants the industry to take him as a serious actor. In ”Not Easily Broken”, he stars opposite Morris Chestnut and Teraji P. Henson. “That’s a movie about the struggles of marriages. It’s not a comedy, but I’m the comic relief.