Kevin Hart does a great job at playing himself.
Or at least the version of himself that the public knows. The comedian/actor caught up with Complex for a quick conversation about Season 2 of his Roku show Die Hart: Die Hearter, in which he plays an exaggerated interpretation of himself as a comedian looking to make the jump to becoming an action star. But Hart in real life is serious about his business. While you may expect him to throw jokes or quips throughout the conversation, he doesn’t. He is an actor and a businessman, and he is serious about his work.
For Hart, the Die Hart project, which started as mini episodes for Quibi before the company went under, has expanded into a Season 2 and a full-length movie that lives on Prime Video. The actor also has projects with nearly all the major streaming networks—from his Netflix movies to his talk show Hart to Hart on Peacock, to executive producing FX’s Dave for Hulu, and now his partnership with Roku on Die Hart. He’s always looking to expand his brand and work with as many platforms and talent as possible, and he sees it all as a business opportunity to not only expand his career but to also help others coming up in the business.
“There’s a lot that I haven’t done that I want to do. There’s a lot that I have my eyes on, you know? That stuff is to be continued, right? I think the world of discovery is bright as long as you’re open to the opportunities that present themselves. For me, the world of business and evolvement in [the business], gets my biggest attention,” Hart tells Complex. “Finding opportunities for the next generation, the next wave, that’s what my priorities are. I can only hope to do that. Creating more jobs, and creating more success for others is a focusing point and I can only hope that I continue to go in that direction.
Die Hart Season 2, arriving on Roku on March 31, has added John Cena and Ben Schwartz to the cast, and sees the return of Game of Throne’s Nathalie Emmanuel as Jordan King, who was in Season 1 and in the movie. Cena has proven to be an incredible addition to any cast, while Schwartz, who plays Hart’s overzealous and dedicated assistant Andre, takes the humor to new heights in Season 2. After proving himself as a bona fide action hero in Die Hart, Kevin now wants to cement his legacy as the greatest action star of all time in Die Hearter.
In the exclusive clip above from Episode 4 titled “Like Mother Like Son, provided by The Roku Channel, Kevin and Jordan are laying low at Andre’s house and meet his mom who is also his roommate. Andre tells his boss about his family’s history of working with famous comedians and shares how his father put his life on the line for Richard Pryor. Instead of showing compassion for his assistant’s loss, Hart can’t get past the idea of someone wanting to hurt the iconic comedian.
Check out the hilarious clip above and read our conversation with Kevin Hart about Season 2 of his show, working with John Cena and Ben Schwartz, and why he doesn’t box himself in when it comes to his partnerships.
![Another thing that I have noticed is that you don’t limit yourself. You did this with Roku and Quibi, but you also have the movie on Prime Video and you have so many specials and projects on Netflix. Can you talk about not tying yourself to one specific platform and being able to reach more people that way?
Well, I mean, that’s the beauty of the business that we’re in today. There are so many opportunities for partnership and alignment and I think if you’re approaching the business from a perspective of how do I make a business make sense for who I’m being involved with, while at the same time not putting them in the space to compete or I guess you can say cannibalize themselves and the market or space that they wouldn’t have interest in doing.
This being a Roku original is amazing for Roku. Having the opportunity to go and do international deals is amazing for the international opportunities that presented themselves for Prime Video in South Africa and myself in part one. There are tiers and there’s a certain blueprint that you can follow if done correctly. My business of movies personally, the bigger side of movies, Netflix is who I partner with to develop and produce. And now you have the tier of this genre that I’ve created, that I’ll be able to do and expand on based on the other talent that I can align myself with.
HartBeat is a studio, so operating and managing like a studio is our priority. Being able to maximize our potential and getting deals that are unprecedented but that are groundbreaking in the world of what exists today is something that I feel I can be extremely influential in. And more importantly, just be an example. So if I can continue to touch from Peacock to Roku to Netflix to the world of what once was Quibi, there’s so much. But there’s so much room for success with everyone and everywhere if you have the operation in your mind to see it and not think that it just has to be narrow and only one. Everybody can exist together if done right.
We are premiering an exclusive clip of you and Ben Schwartz when you’re talking about the Richard Pryor story. Can you talk about working with Ben on that?
Absolutely. Absolutely. Ben Schwartz, man, I mean look, he comes from the world of standup and also improv. A very talented guy for many reasons, of course. To see Ben have the success that he’s had over the years and to be able to align myself with him, right? I mean, it was a space for improv that didn’t have to stop. We not only had great scenes together, but we set up the world for our actors and actresses around us to springboard off of the things that we were doing as well.
And you know, it tied the strings in. He helped make that false reality world of Kevin that much more—not only funny but grounded in the crazy space of comedy that we were presenting. So between Ben, John (Cena), between Nathalie, once again we were very lucky to get the cast that we got and have them perform at the level that they performed at.
Can you also talk about John Cena being part of this season?
John Cena is huge. You know, we were lucky to get him. I was a fan. He was a fan. And we said this could be something dope that we do, if you’re interested. He responded to the material and jumped at the opportunity and we hit it off. We had a great time on set, in scenes and out of scenes. So it’s an honor to call him a friend and a brother and to have shared this workspace with him. I can only hope that we do more in the future.
In Die Hart, your character is talking about the future and what he wants to explore as an action star. Is there something that you as Kevin Hart haven’t accomplished yet in your career that you have your eyes on?
I feel like there’s a lot that I haven’t done that I want to do. There’s a lot that I have my eyes on, you know? That stuff is to be continued, right? I think the world of discovery is bright as long as you’re open to the opportunities that present themselves. For me, the world of business and evolvement in [the business], gets my biggest attention.
Finding opportunities for the next generation, the next wave, that’s what my priorities are. I can only hope to do that. Creating more jobs, and creating more success for others is a focusing point and I can only hope that I continue to go in that direction.](https://img.youtube.com/vi/zjGHWdVmgds/mqdefault.jpg)
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Another thing that I have noticed is that you don’t limit yourself. You did this with Roku and Quibi, but you also have the movie on Prime Video and you have so many specials and projects on Netflix. Can you talk about not tying yourself to one specific platform and being able to reach more people that way?
Well, I mean, that’s the beauty of the business that we’re in today. There are so many opportunities for partnership and alignment and I think if you’re approaching the business from a perspective of how do I make a business make sense for who I’m being involved with, while at the same time not putting them in the space to compete or I guess you can say cannibalize themselves and the market or space that they wouldn’t have interest in doing.
This being a Roku original is amazing for Roku. Having the opportunity to go and do international deals is amazing for the international opportunities that presented themselves for Prime Video in South Africa and myself in part one. There are tiers and there’s a certain blueprint that you can follow if done correctly. My business of movies personally, the bigger side of movies, Netflix is who I partner with to develop and produce. And now you have the tier of this genre that I’ve created, that I’ll be able to do and expand on based on the other talent that I can align myself with.
HartBeat is a studio, so operating and managing like a studio is our priority. Being able to maximize our potential and getting deals that are unprecedented but that are groundbreaking in the world of what exists today is something that I feel I can be extremely influential in. And more importantly, just be an example. So if I can continue to touch from Peacock to Roku to Netflix to the world of what once was Quibi, there’s so much. But there’s so much room for success with everyone and everywhere if you have the operation in your mind to see it and not think that it just has to be narrow and only one. Everybody can exist together if done right.
We are premiering an exclusive clip of you and Ben Schwartz when you’re talking about the Richard Pryor story. Can you talk about working with Ben on that?
Absolutely. Absolutely. Ben Schwartz, man, I mean look, he comes from the world of standup and also improv. A very talented guy for many reasons, of course. To see Ben have the success that he’s had over the years and to be able to align myself with him, right? I mean, it was a space for improv that didn’t have to stop. We not only had great scenes together, but we set up the world for our actors and actresses around us to springboard off of the things that we were doing as well.
And you know, it tied the strings in. He helped make that false reality world of Kevin that much more—not only funny but grounded in the crazy space of comedy that we were presenting. So between Ben, John (Cena), between Nathalie, once again we were very lucky to get the cast that we got and have them perform at the level that they performed at.
Can you also talk about John Cena being part of this season?
John Cena is huge. You know, we were lucky to get him. I was a fan. He was a fan. And we said this could be something dope that we do, if you’re interested. He responded to the material and jumped at the opportunity and we hit it off. We had a great time on set, in scenes and out of scenes. So it’s an honor to call him a friend and a brother and to have shared this workspace with him. I can only hope that we do more in the future.
In Die Hart, your character is talking about the future and what he wants to explore as an action star. Is there something that you as Kevin Hart haven’t accomplished yet in your career that you have your eyes on?
I feel like there’s a lot that I haven’t done that I want to do. There’s a lot that I have my eyes on, you know? That stuff is to be continued, right? I think the world of discovery is bright as long as you’re open to the opportunities that present themselves. For me, the world of business and evolvement in [the business], gets my biggest attention.
Finding opportunities for the next generation, the next wave, that’s what my priorities are. I can only hope to do that. Creating more jobs, and creating more success for others is a focusing point and I can only hope that I continue to go in that direction.
