Farrell and Hart on their new movie Get Hard

By Shannon Dwyer

When you put two notoriously limit-pushing comedians in one film, the expectations are high. And Get Hard delivers. The new comedy stars Will Farrell as James King, a wrongfully convicted investment banker who hires his car washer, played by Kevin Hart, to help him prepare for prison life. Directed by Etan Cohen and written by Etan Cohen, Jay Martel and Ian Roberts, the one-liners and comedic timing make Get Hard memorable. Both Farrell and Hart spoke with WEBN about the film and working together.

Q: As two very successful comedians, is there anything that you guys learned from one another while working on the film?
Hart: I’d say the one thing that I’ve taken from Will is just his approach to his craft. Very professional, very humble. A guy who really appreciates everything, and is grounded. And I think that’s why he’s in the position he’s in today.
Farrell: I think Kevin and I kinda share the same philosophy in terms of, you know, we obviously like to have a good time. We’re so thankful to be doing what we’re doing professionally. At the same time we try to stay grounded and work very hard.

Q: What was it like working with your director Etan Cohen, given that it was his first time directing?
Farrell: It was a great experience working with Etan. We surrounded him with a really good team. In terms of, you know, first AD, and director of photography, and all the key department heads. So he was allowed to do what his strong point is, which is monitoring the comedy. It’s a real benefit when you have a writer as strong as Etan kinda feeding you extra jokes.
Hart: From my side, I’m picking up on what Will said. We got lucky. We got a guy who is a first time director but who has been behind the camera a lot where he’s soaked up some knowledge. He was protected with a team of producers who knew what they were doing as well. And I think all in all everyone helped each other. And Etan’s confidence grew as the movie progressed. And you know, we got a final product because of it. I take my hat off to him, he did a good job.

Q: What is it about Etan and his style and flair that drew you two to want to work with him in his directorial debut, and what made the experience different than some of your past products?
Farrell: yeah you’re right, Etan is obviously an established comedy writer her in Hollywood with a pretty great track record. And I think he was, he was just in town. Kinda on the list of one of those guys who was next in line to direct a feature. He had done a short film that I think had attracted some notice. And when you talk to him about a script in terms of his articulation of story, you can just tell he sounded like he was a director. And I think that’s kinda what gave us the confidence to want to work with him. Plus, he also, in kinda a 1920s, 1930s way, he wore those old khaki director pants and spoke through a bullhorn, and used a writing prop. So those things really made him appear like a director.

Q: What made you guys interested in doing this movie?
Farrell: This was an idea that my friend and writing partner Adam McKay had had for a long time, we kept talking about it. So we kinda generated the idea from our company. And as we started digging into the casting, figuring out who would be great to kinda pair up with. The first thing we started with was Kevin. Called him up, pitched him the idea. Lucky for us he was into it, he was into it and he kinda helped right away in the development process of the script and his character. And that was kinda how the whole project came together.

Q: With your experience on set during Get Hard’s production, Will, do you feel that you are now hard enough to survive prison?
Farrell: I unfortunately don’t feel any more qualified or any more confident that I would survive in prison. My best strategy would be to, to not go. I would just have to act crazy to keep people away from me. But they’ve seen that before.

Q: A lot of your movies involve ad libbing and improv. How closely did you stick to the script in this movie and how much was improvisational? Does that matter when hitting comedic punch lines?
Hart: Ah well, you know, if you don’t have something funny on a page in the beginning it’s kinda hard to improv in the first place. You need a foundation. We had a good foundation. You know, and from that foundation we felt the need to play in certain areas. But only when we can elevate a scene. We always wanted to get what we had on page because we felt that our writers did a great job with doing it and when the time permitted us to play and move around, we did.

Q: If you guys were to team up again and re-make any classic comedy, which one would you do?
Hart: Turner and Hooch. It would be amazing.
Ferrell: I believe that was Tom Hanks with a dog.
Hart: Yeah, and if you think you’re playing Hooch you’re wrong. I want that part, I want Hooch.
Ferrell: Okay. Oh, remake of a classic comedy- Kramer versus Kramer.

Q: This film was shown at the South by Southwest Festival, which is usually devoted to small independent titles. How did the atmosphere differ from what you usually get at premiers?
Hart: I think the atmosphere we had at South by Southwest was amazing, personally. That was one of the most energetic theatre crowds that I’ve ever seen. Not only was the reception good, just me and Will’s introduction, but staying and watching the movie with them, it was unreal. We laughed the whole way through, you know. In Hollywood it’s just different, it’s what they’re used to.
Ferrell: Yeah, the town industry, so to speak. When you really take it out amongst the people, so to speak, that’s when you get that authentic reaction.
Hart: I think that, you know. I hate to say it, not that it’s bad in Los Angeles. It’s just better when you go out and you take it to places that don’t normally get it. You know in LA, like you said, it’s the norm. So it’s not that we’re not excited, not that people aren’t excited to be there. It’s just what we get.

Q: Why is it important to have the ability to laugh about some of the serious social tensions you punch on in Get Hard?
Farrell: I think that’s it’s just a great way to kinda.. as we explore our differences. Once you kinda get through the chatter you realize how similar we all are. And, you know, kinda through that examining through the filter of comedy we’re just able to point out how silly these attitudes are that seem to pop up from time to time.
Hart: Well I can’t say it better than that.

Q: When you were preparing for this movie was there anything that helped you?
Hart: For me, yes, I watched a lot of M.A.S.K. and Sanford and Sons. That kinda put me in the position where I was able to come to set everyday and go to work and bring something to the table. And I don’t know the last time you watched M.A.S.K., but that’s a great show.
Farrell: I watched a lot of shows on the cooking channel. It didn’t help me at all. In fact, it totally, it was a waste of time. And if I had it over again I wouldn’t have watched those shows.

Get Hard opens in theaters March 27th.