The Wedding Ringer leading man Kevin Hart says he isn’t interested in playing a gay character because of what “people are going to think” if he were to take on such a role.
On Friday, the 35-year-old comedian told hosts of the Breakfast Club on Power 105.1 that he regretted turning down Brandon T. Jackson’s role in 2008’s Tropic Thunder.
Speaking of the movie role, Hart admits:
The dude…he was doing a lot of stuff in the draft that I read. It was real flagrant.
I can’t [play a gay character] because I don’t think I’m really going to dive into that role 100 percent, because of the insecurities about myself trying to play that part. What I think people are going to think while I’m trying to do this is going to stop me from playing that part the way I’m supposed to.
Watch him discuss why he won’t play a gay character beginning at 32:47
In the past, Hart has taken a very careful stance on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues, choosing not to tell jokes about them in his acts because “it’s just a sensitive topic and I respect people of all orientations.”
A few years ago, the mega star even came out to publicly applaud Frank Ocean for coming out the closet. But apparently, his support of the community stops short of playing one of them on the big screen.