Decisions and choices have a great deal of power in the entertainment industry. Sometimes a choice made at the right moment can rocket an actor’s reputation. Other times, the wrong choices can cause regret and what-ifs. One such instance was when Kevin Hart turned down a role in the 2008 satirical action comedy Tropic Thunder starring Robert Downey Jr.
Hart has starred in a number of box office successes, such as the 2014 film Ride Along (and its 2016 follow-up), the 2017 film Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, and his 2022 film Me Time (in which he both acted and co-produced).
The stand-up comedian has played a variety of characters, but there is one type of role that he will not take on: a gay character.
Why Did Kevin Hart Turn Down Tropic Thunder?
In an interview with The Breakfast Club on Power 105.1 FM in New York, Kevin Hart acknowledged that he had declined the role of Alpa Chino in Tropic Thunder because he did not feel comfortable playing a gay character.
He even clarified that the shooting script differed from the draft he read of the script:
“The dude, he was doing a lot of stuff in the draft that I read. It was real flagrant. … I was like, ‘I can’t do this.’
Hart was then questioned about whether or not he would ever play a gay role:
“I can’t. Not because I have any ill will or disrespect. It’s because I don’t think I’m really going to dive into that role 100 percent because of insecurities about myself trying to play that part. Does that make sense?”
The actor, 44, also emphasized that he has no problem with the gay community.
“As people, I love you.”
The role (of Alpa Chino) was eventually played by Brandon T. Jackson.
Robert Downey Jr. Thought He ‘Buried’ Himself By Starring In Tropic Thunder?
In his lengthy acting career, Robert Downey Jr. has acted in a number of critically acclaimed and popular films. But it is undeniable that his role as Iron Man has made him famous all over the world. His professional fame continued with Tropic Thunder, the satirical action comedy film that Ben Stiller directed and for which Downey Jr. was nominated for an Oscar, BAFTA, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Tropic Thunder felt like a risk for the Chaplin actor because he would be portraying a character in blackface. Downey Jr. discussed his anxiety while being cast in Tropic Thunder (2008) in an interview with the LA Times:
“I signed up to do it and then I did Iron Man and I thought, ‘You know, I think I just buried myself. I did a movie that is going to reestablish me here in a little way and now I’m going to squander any good will I have.”
He initially needed some persuasion from Stiller before agreeing to play the part. But his concerns remained, as he once recalled to GQ:
“[Ben Stiller] said, ‘It could turn out really good and funny, and there’s a way to make it so it’s not offensive, where you’re clearly not just getting off on putting on blackface. This is an actor who takes himself so seriously he thinks he can express the black experience.’”
But ultimately, the actor did not regret taking the role:
“But I thought, Goddamn this dude. He knows I need the money. I need another job after Iron Man. He’s gonna bring me out there, make me part of his comedy death camp, and if it goes south, it’s on me!”
However, it turned out that Jack Black, who portrayed Jeff Portnoy in Tropic Thunder, had a very difficult time filming the movie as he told GQ:
“So Tropic Thunder was a rad project that dropped in my lap. Ben Stiller was gonna do this big, epic comedy out in Hawaii. Sounded like paradise. And it was hard. Comedy is supposed to be super easy, but dude, the locations were remote.”
Robert Downey Jr. was recently seen in Christopher Nolan’s epic biographical drama Oppenheimer, which earned $894.7 million globally on a $100 million budget, ranking as the third-highest-grossing movie of 2023.
You can rent Tropic Thunder on Apple TV.
Source- The Breakfast Club; GQ; LA Times; GQ
