Chris Rock is hilarious. In his standup comedy, in his movies – both serious and silly -and in his interviews, he knows how to please a crowd.
Rock held a series of conference-call interviews as a promotion for his upcoming movie “The Longest Yard,” in which he plays a convict trying to put together a football team of inmates alongside Adam Sandler and Burt Reynolds.
The conversation ranged from the Oscars to those he thinks in Hollywood need a good ass-kicking. For the record, he couldn’t think of anyone.
At first the questions were mainly based on the upcoming film.
When asked how he feels about acting in a remake, he said “The first film was more of an action-comedy. This time around we tried to shy away from that -make it more of a comedy-action.”
Some might say Adam Sandler movies have somewhat of a formulated plot: The good-natured characters are put in a position from which they always end up on top with a few laughs scattered throughout the plot.
Rock acknowledged this but said he doesn’t mind it.
“The drama is still real though, even if it’s been seen before. These guys are in jail, and this football game is all they’ve got. I’m not looking to do any major acting though. It’s Adam’s movie. I just read the script.”
This film also sees Rock working alongside Nelly, who rarely makes appearances in major roles on screen.
“I loved working with Nelly,” Rock said. “He’s athletic; he loves PlayStation. We got along just fine. I don’t mind rappers wanting to be actors. No one said anything when Sinatra and them wanted to act. Why not rappers?”
Rock said he doesn’t really have much of his future planned as of yet. “I only like to go on tour if there’s something new to talk about. I’d like to direct again, but I can’t say anything about any future projects. I’d love to do [produce] another Pootie Tang. I live to do another Pootie Tang. I’d do the Oscars again, but it was the hardest gig I’ve ever done.”
And as far as acting goes, Rock said, “I’d do drama again, but only in someone else’s film. I wouldn’t want to star in it.
“People often come up to me on the street and want to talk about politics and things that I don’t really know much about. I only look at the news when I’m looking to go on tour. Right now I’m on hiatus. I guess people don’t realize that I’m a high school dropout. I usually don’t get the big words people use. Just jokes, really.”
Humble but witty, Chris Rock seems to know and love his role in the movie scene and in the comedy spotlight.
His upcoming film “The Longest Yard” opens in theaters May 27.
Colin Lacy can be reached at [email protected].
