Kevin Hart says ‘Fatherhood’ film shows Black fathers in a positive light
Initially written for white characters, Hart says the Netflix movie gave him the chance to show a loving Black dad
Father’s Day is coming and what better way to celebrate than to watch Kevin Hart‘s new dramedy film Fatherhood.
The heartfelt film which premieres on June 18 on Netflix will tell the story of a single Black father navigating the highs and lows of raising his daughter alone after losing his wife during childbirth.
Fatherhood is a movie adaption of the novel “Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss & Love” by Matthew Logelin.
One of the key reasons why this film is important to Hart, is because he gets to change the narrative of how Black fatherhood is commonly portrayed.
He says the film “gave me an opportunity to be a Black father on a big screen in a good light and a light that we’re rarely shown on screen. This was one where it was positive.
It was one where it was loving and hopefully inspiring and motivating to other fathers out there to really embrace the importance of fatherhood and to take our roles serious and understand the true value that our roles have.”
Hart, who in real life is a father of four, also talked about what his focus was in order to tell a story that was initially about a white father and daughter.
“I know what’s important to me,” he said, “I know that being a Black male on the big screen as a father is big. And I know the message that it’s going to have and the impact it’s going to have. But we don’t have to put a crazy stamp on that because the movie is going to say it itself. The movie’s going to beat that.”
After being approached about the Paul Weitz-directed film due to his “talent,” Hart was asked what needed to be adjusted for him to get on board.
Even though he did take the opportunity to make some changes, Hart said he also wanted to “make sure [to] stay true to [Logelin’s] story.”
He said, “I’ve got to make sure that we pay your real story the proper attention, the tribute that it should get. Like we need to be as close to real as possible by making the tweaks and not making the tweaks come off about race. But your story, your love, your want and need for survival, and for your daughter’s opportunity and future, that’s what we got to make sure is clear. And we did a great job of that.”
Last month, Logelin expressed satisfaction that the movie’s creators decided to make the main characters a different race.
The now father of two told KARE 11, “Hollywood finally had the foresight to say we are not just going to make this story about a white guy. It doesn’t matter that this was experienced by a white guy in a white family, this is experienced by a lot of other people.”
Hart agreed.
“There’s a lot of messages that people are going to be able to take away from this film. Hopefully, it’s eye-opening to so many in ways to find solution and not focus on a problem, which I think is a big thing in today’s time,” Hart said.
On Tuesday, as reported by theGrio, he earned himself a spot on Twitter’s trending list, after shooting off a few tweets in response to haters criticizing his Sunday Times interview where he denounced cancel culture.
He continued, “You know, we spent a lot of time on the problem and not the solution. Sometimes the solution is just understanding, is just communication and it’s just love. And in this case, you’re you’re getting to witness it in a way that I think is very unique and true to time.”
Also starring in the movie will be fellow comedian Lil Rel, Dewanda Wise from She’s Gotta Have It, Emmy award-winning actress Alfre Woodard, Them star Deborah Ayorinde, and nine-year-old actress Melody Hurd.
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