ENGLISH SPEECH KEVIN HART Be Persistent English Subtitles
Daniel: You’re one of the most successful
comedians in the world.
You have built your career on comedy.
I am curious, what made you want to do a more
serious role?
Kevin: You know, just to show growth.
I think with anything in life, you always
want to progress.
Having the opportunity to step outside of
my comfort zone of comedy and making a segue
into what can be considered the world of dramatic
acting, but done in a way that where my following
can be a part of the journey of me eventually
going over there.
This was a baby step, you know?
This is a more dramatic role, but there is
still some comedy undertone to it.
Very personable, grounded and authentic but
just someone who had the chops to do it.
So the movie after this one will then be one
I can be another level past this one.
It can be a little more serious.
But my fan base would have seen this one and
said, “Okay, wow.
We know that he can do it.
We believe that he’s going over here.
Oh, I’m curious to see how he is in this one,
too”.
Daniel: So do you set 10-year goals?
Five-year goals?
Kevin: 100%
Daniel: Really?
Kevin: 100%.
I think you have to, with anything that you’re
doing, because that’s your reward.
Seeing that you can say things and watch those
things become your reality is what puts you
in a position to just keep going.
Once you see, “Oh, wow.
I said I was going to do this and I did it”
– And now that I am here, I’m not done.
I’m going to set five new goals!
And I can’t wait to achieve these and have
the same conversation with myself in years
to come.
It’s just always – It’s playing a game with
your own mental, I think, and that’s why I
love writing things down.
That’s why I love the vision board.
That’s why I love team meetings and conversation.
There’s just nothing bad that can come out
of them.
It’s only an upside, no pun intended with
the movie.
You know, I’ve been doing comedy and acting
for years, but when I stepped on the set and
I was with Bryan Cranston and Nicole Kidman,
regardless of my level of success or my star,
I was a sponge.
I was willing to soak up as much information
as possible.
I was listening, I was watching and pretty
much taking away whatever I could from the
moment of working with these two unbelievable
people, you know?
This is an amazing actress and an amazing
actor.
These are both – They are at the top of their
games.
They are of the elite
So the fact that I’m in that company, I want
to make sure that I put myself in the best
position to be in the conversations that they
are in, in years to come
Daniel: The path of your career is a really
interesting one because you actually hit in
big pretty early.
You were in a Judd Apatow TV show, which I
think people aspire to, and then Hollywood
just kind of stopped working for you and you
went on the road and started doing comedy
and working your way back up and becoming
big.
And then when you came back to Hollywood,
totally different Kevin Hart at that point.
Kevin: 100%.
I did the shows, I worked with Judd and while
working with Judd I found that – You know,
it’s so amazing to create, but I was like
“This is not enough”.
Like, I’m not going to be able to take care
of myself.
I’m not going to be able to feed myself.
So I made a decision to go and focus on stand-up
comedy.
I said, “I know that this is here, but I can’t
just wait by the phone”.
I needed to go put myself in a position where
I can create and where I can be active.
So I went and did stand-up comedy.
I said, “I want to focus on my stand-up comedy”.
Over the course of three and a half, four
year, I built my fan base up.
My fan base was now selling out all shows.
So now I don’t have to do comedy clubs because
now I can do little theaters.
Now, I’ve built all of this up, by just being
persistent and saying “Idle time is an idle
mind”.
Daniel: So, this whole time you’re making
these tours, is Hollywood calling you also
or are you starting to, and did you turn down
work that would have brought you back?
Kevin: Well, it wasn’t like I was turning
down a crazy amount of work because it wasn’t
coming in.
Daniel: All right… but you were able to
stay focused.
Kevin: I was not only focused, I was just
determined to make you realize what I am,
because I know what I am.
Nobody else knows what you are but you.
You are your own competition, and when I’ve
realized what I was, I was like, there’s no
shot at me losing focus.
There’s no shot at me not finishing the job
at hand.
By the time I’m done, Hollywood is going to
go, “Woah, that guy’s out there moving tickets.
Who is this new star?”
Keep in mind…
I’ve been around for years.
They don’t know me and they don’t have any
real reason to, but now I’m going to force
your hand.
I’m going to make you aware.
That’s the beauty of stand-comedy.
Daniel: I’ve read something you said before
where you talk about not wanting to be work
for hire, that during this process you realized
that you were the product and you wanted to
own the product.
How did you come to that realization and what
has that meant in terms of how you guide your
career?
Kevin: You know….
If you need me, you need me.
If you don’t, you don’t.
That’s not good, you know?
How am I going to really support those around
me?
How do I position myself to be so much more
than that?
How do I learn?
Where am I supposed to figure it out?
I went out and I used some examples.
Will Packer was doing a bunch of movies and
he was producing them.
He approached me to produce a movie that he
wanted to do and he was like, “Kevin, this
is something that’s dear to my heart.
I want to do it, I would love for you to be
in it.
You can star in it.
I think it’ll be great for you.”
Alright, dope.
I want to do it, but then I watched him.
I watched how he put stuff together, and doing
that I was like, I can do that.
I can do what he’s going.
I’ve already got the infrastructure.
I’ve already got the company set up.
I’ve got the office building.
I could easily get the rest of the buildings.
I could easily get space – because I’ve got
money from stand-up.
My money from stand-up can help me leverage
and do the things that I want to do.
Once I figured out how to get HartBeat Productions
running and off the ground, things started
to click so much easier because –
Daniel: Was that the turning point, starting
your own company?
Kevin: Yeah!
Well, because now I’m producing for me.
Oh, my God.
This is huge.
It clicked - and when it clicked, it kept
clicking - because now I know how to add onto
it.
Now I know how to get more deals.
Now I know how to not only develop, produce
– I also know how to engage.
Daniel: What are you like as a manager?
Are you a hands-on guy?
Do you build this –
Kevin: Hands on.
Daniel: Really?
Kevin: Hands on.
Daniel: Like daily meetings, monthly?
Kevin: Hands on.
Daniel: You’re following?
You’re looking at the spreadsheets?
You’re seeing what’s going on inside the business?
Kevin: Hands on.
Daniel: You’re hiring?
Really?
Kevin: Hands on.
Daniel: Do you like doing all that?
Kevin: I like it because right now it’s my
baby.
Daniel: Right.
Kevin: I’m watching it evolve because I’m
putting the pieces to the puzzle in place.
I’m hiring the right people.
I’m having the people that I hire feel comfortable
enough to know that they are a part of something
that’s much, much bigger.
Much, much bigger.
Daniel: You’ve spent a lot of this week talking
about the Oscars controversy.
You talk about helping out young comedians
and guiding the way for them.
What lessons should they take out of what
you’ve just been through?
Kevin: Take a lesson from what I’ve been through?
Just pay attention.
Pay attention, man.
Just – One man’s misfortune is another man’s
fortune, you know?
There’s a lesson learned in all of this for
everyone and it’s just – It’s very easy for
things to go away.
It’s hard to achieve them.
It’s very hard to get there, but it’s easy
for it to go away.
And you’re living in a time where, because
it’s so easy, you have to just be careful.
Just make sure that you’re always handling
yourself correctly, you know?
You’re not going to be perfect.
Nobody is perfect.
Nobody is perfect, but within your imperfections
come perfection.
So give yourself time to grow and understand
the state of the world today.
It’s different.
It’s different.
But also - be true to you!
That’s another thing that I will say, you
know?
Be true to you.
Don’t let other people dictate who you are
and what you should be.
I think we’re all smart enough to know right
from wrong and we’re all smart enough to fix
whatever the wrong is to make it right.
In doing so, do it while staying true to you.
Daniel: That’s a hard line to walk, right?
You have to be true to yourself but also think
about –
Kevin: It’s a very thin line, because you
can easily get off-balance.
Daniel: Right.
Kevin: But as long as you’re conscious and
aware of it, you know, you’ll be okay.
That’s what I’ll say.
You know, just be aware, man.
Be aware.
But I will say that it only gets tougher as
you get bigger.
Daniel: Right.
Kevin: But there is an approach to still trying
to be edgy.
You’re a comedian.
If you’re a comedian, you’re supposed to be
able to say the things that other people think,
but they won’t say.
In you doing that, you know have to just make
sure you’re doing that, you’re doing it correctly.
Make sure that there’s a high level of professionalism.
And if you are a comic that chooses to go
down that insensitive road, just understand
that there is going to be backlash for it
and be prepared for that.
If that’s what you want, and that’s who you
want to be, then by all means do it.
I’m not here to change you.
Do it.
I’m not here to change you at all, but just
be smart in your approach to it.
I would say I think that’s the dopest thing
about my change, is that I have done that
and that’s why I have decided just to be done
with the situation because the change came
in the last ten years that acts as proof of
somebody that got it, understood and adjusted
it and adapted it to the times of today.
Daniel: You must get people that come to you
all the time that are like, “Hey, I’m working
in a fast food job” or “I’m working this job
which I hate and I really want to be a comedian”
or “I want to be an actor”.
What kind of advice do you tell them?
Kevin: That’s tough, man.
That’s tough.
Daniel: Do you say “Don’t do it?”
Kevin: No!
You definitely don’t say that.
I’m not a dream killer.
I just don’t like talkers.
So many people love to say what they are going
to do.
So many people love to voice it, just so they
can hear themselves say it.
“Yeah man, you know what I’m thinking about
doing today?
I’m probably going to go and –” or “Hey,
you know what, man?
I just started this.
Probably tomorrow, I’ll get up in the morning
and go down and do some –” Just like to hear
yourself say it.
Daniel: Right.
Kevin: It’s so hard for some people to follow
through and actually put action behind the
words.
So my advice is not be a talker because you
can.
Be the person that actually puts action behind
it.
And when you know that you’re that person,
then start picking people apart for advice
and direction and what to do and what not
to do, because you know that you’re going
to take it and you’re going to apply it.
But when you don’t know if you’re even capable
of taking information and going and using
it, don’t ask for it.
So my advice is to not be a talker.
Be a doer.
Be a person that wants to put punctuations
on sentences, not just keep running them on.
Run-on sentences are the worst.
They just don’t stop.
It’s like, where’s your period?
You didn’t put a period on one sentence.
Finish something.
You’ve got to finish something.
Daniel: All right.
Well Kevin, thank you very much.
Kevin: Thank you so much.