Kevin Hart and Wesley Snipes talk ‘True Story’ and working together for the first time
Exclusive: Hart called the Netflix series, which he and Snipes star as brothers, "an opportunity to amplify"
Just in time to binge over Thanksgiving weekend, Netflix is gearing up to drop True Story, their new limited series starring Kevin Hart and Wesley Snipes.
From the mind of television creator Eric Newman (Narcos, Bright), True Story may become the next hit limited series for Netflix. The official synopsis for the thriller series reads, “A tour stop in Kid’s (Hart) hometown of Philadelphia becomes a matter of life and death for one of the world’s most famous comedians when the consequences of a lost evening with his wayward older brother (Snipes) threaten to destroy everything he’s built.”
Hart himself described the series as his “first real dramatic performance,” and theGrio sat down with both Hart and Snipes about the show, working together and more.
Hart called the series “an opportunity to amplify.” He shared, “You know, there’s different versions of me that’s been presented, and I feel like I’ve checked almost every box at the entertainment business has to offer, whether it be stand-up comedy, to comedy, to action-comedy, to action-comedy adventure, to animation, to docuseries, to dramedy to straight drama, and now we’re talking about drama-thriller, right? We’re now elevating.”
And elevate he has. Not only does he get to work with Newman, who has created popular drama thrillers in the “streaming era,” he also stars alongside a true acting titan in Snipes. Snipes says he thought the film would be a comedy when he got the call to work with Hart.
He explained, “I figured it was another comedy offering, but they said, ‘No, you know, this is going to be a drama.’ And Kevin says, ‘You know, I want to do a dramatic role and I want to go there and I want people to see me in a different light and I want to see if I can do it.'”
He added that’s all it took for him to say yes but recalled telling Hart, “OK. All right. I support you. Let’s rock. But you got to take it seriously. You take it. You know, if it’s a joke, find somebody else. But if you’re going to take it seriously, I rock with you.”
Snipes quipped that whether he was ready or not, he was willing to “take Hart there” with some acting tricks he’s learned over the years.
He continued, “You know, sometimes the tricks that you can use and in this game that will force actors to perform at a certain level…you can bring the skill set up, with a couple of tricks, you know? But fortunately, we didn’t have to use many of them because Kevin was 100% committed.”
Later in the conversation, Hart and Snipes talk about how streaming has changed inclusion in the industry, how it felt on set and more. Watch the video above.
True Story releases globally on Netflix on Nov. 24.
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