Chris Rock talked with CBS This Morning host Charlie Rose regarding the differences between black and white Hollywood fame.
Rock explained, “Being famous as a black guy is a little different than being famous as a white guy. Tom Hanks is an amazing actor, but Denzel Washington is a god to his people.”
Rock explained further by saying, “[Black people] feel [Denzel’s] highs and lows more than white people. If Tom Hanks does a bad movie, there’s gonna be another good movie by somebody white next week. If Denzel does a bad movie, I might not see a good black movie for a year. I am really left out here hanging.”
Rock also joked during the interview that, “No one says ‘Hey, Tom Cruise! Stay white! Don’t forget your whiteness! Come back and visit white people! What-chu doin’ for white people, Tom Cruise?!”
Rock discussed the topic with Rose because in his upcoming film, Top Five, which he directs and stars in, “he wanted to do a movie about black fame.”
The actor and comedian feels that in the movie he’s “found a tone that works,” explaining that in the past he tried to emulate other comedians like Adam Sandler or Eddie Murphy, since “men always get their fashion sense from whatever friend gets laid the most.”
Top Five is set to be released on December 12.