Why I Don’t Like Kevin Hart’s Acting
Honest to God, if I ever have the honor to work with or for Kevin Hart, this is so getting deleted.
Kevin Hart has been a popular name throughout Hollywood in recent years. The guy has starred in some very big projects and has achieved a lot for a very short time. He is likable and works hard. And yet again… I have a problem wit him.
Similar to my ‘Why I Don’t Like Eddie Redmayne’s Acting’ article (which is a huge success for this website, by the way), I will attempt to analyze and critique Kevin Hart’s acting. This topic has been discussed a lot by other far more skilled and knowledgeable people than myself, but I thought I’d give it a whirl.
To put it in extremely general terms, I don’t like Kevin Hart’s acting because it’s… the same. I really don’t think there is room for disagreement here. No one can deny that each character Hart takes acts and reacts in the same way: the crazy lunatic who goes bananas on everything and screams with a very high voice. You see, the thing about Kevin Hart is that, unlike most actors, he doesn’t take different characters to try and put himself in their position and behave as them. Rather, he takes very similar characters, such that may have different backstories and may be in slightly different situations, but are ultimately the same when it comes to persona and emotions.
Well, not the same, really. Each character he takes may have something different about them, something unique, that may allow for them to be perceived and portrayed in a completely different manner than that in which Kevin Hart portrays them. However, they can also be the same. Neither is wrong, really, it’s a matter of perspective. So what Kevin Hart does is he decides to take the easy road and portray them all in the same way. That may be acceptable, it may be even correct, but after a while it gets very tedious and boring.
I love Darnell from ‘Get Hard’. Honestly, I have so much fun with that character and the way he is portrayed by Kevin Hart. But then two years later I get to see the same character, only renamed Ben and in a movie called ‘Ride Along 2’? And then that same year I get to see that same character, only renamed again as Calvin and in ‘Central Intelligence’? No, thank you. My point is, what Kevin Hart does may be funny, but once or twice. He has been doing the same thing for so many years and I am utterly bored at this point.
The thing that truly inspired this article was the latest ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’ trailer. Something about that made me very sad. You see, in the trailer it’s shown how four young teenagers enter a video game and become the avatars they chose before entering the game. So, what that means in that the main character, Spencer, is played both by Alex Wolff (the actual teenager) and Dwayne Johnson (the avatar). By that logic, another character, Fridge, is played both by Ser’Darius Blain and, you guessed it, Kevin Hart.
Why does this make me sad? I saw the trailer. I can see that Kevin Hart obviously plays the absolutely same character he has played in every film so far, but that neither surprises nor saddens me. No, what’s troubling is that the other actor, the one playing the younger teenager self of the character, Ser’Darius Blair, will have to play… Kevin Hart? What? You see, both actors portray the same person and Hart obviously either can’t or won’t play anything different than what he usually does, so the kid will have to act in the same way as Hart in order for the character to at least seem believable. I mean, maybe something is wrong with me that I care so much, but I think it’s ridiculous that a kid actor can’t focus on his character and develop them because they have to fit into a certain pattern that Kevin Hart has posed for each of his previous roles. So Ser’Darius Blair can’t play Fridge, the actual character, because he has to play the actor Kevin Hart. That, to me, is absolutely ridiculous and a little sad.
Kevin Hart is a good comedian. In stand-up comedy, there is no problem to tell jokes in the same way or act in the same way because you are not pretending to be someone, you are not feeling some other character’s emotions, but rather telling jokes that come from you. So Kevin Hart can keep his persona for stand-up comedy. That works. I laugh when he is on stage, honestly, because I don’t care about any character or whether what he is doing is believable; all I want to hear are some good jokes and foolish behavior. And those things work as long as they are coming from the person himself. But when he is claiming to be someone else, it can’t always stay the same.
I have no beef with Kevin Hart, I actually think he is quite likable and seems like and amazing person. This all came out way to critical and way too mean. Kevin Hart, if you are reading this, please don’t let it stop you from taking me as your co-star for the next blockbuster Hollywood flick you are in. I’ll be great.
I’ll also give you some very helpful acting tips.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Did you like this article? What do you think about Kevin Hart’s acting? Do you think he is good or bad? Share your thoughts in the comments section below, please! Don’t forget to also LIKE and SHARE this article if you enjoyed it!
As always, thank you so much for reading,
Pouty Boy