‘Death at a Funeral’ Star Chris Rock on Death, Comedy and Keeping It Real
Renowned for his stand-up, Chris Rock has had a mixed track record on the silver screen, making healthy hits, a few bombs and some interesting, unexpected choices. As the producer and star of
"Death at a Funeral," the new remake of the 2007 Frank Oz comedy, he's clearly hoping to have a hit. He's even more clear about how, when the time came, he had to step aside to let director Neil LaBute take the reins. "Once you hire a director you trust, you take off your producer hat," Rock said. "I always say if you want to be a good producer, the secret to being a good producer is to hire your boss. So when I hired Neil, I hired my boss. And it made my job a lot easier."
And for all the door-slamming comedic action, blackmail and hallucinating guests of "Death at a Funeral," it is, ultimately, about death, a down-but-real note Rock knew he had to respect. "It's about the passing of a father," he said. "And you have to believe it. You know what I mean? You have to believe that this is a family. You have to believe that this guy died. You have to believe the relationship with me and my wife [
Regina Hall] -- you have to believe these things. And if you believe these things, everything will be so much funnier."
And Rock finally notes how paying a husband, a son, a brother is different (and, to him, better) than a situation-driven plot in which he's running for office or shooting at someone. "I hope to do more movies like this, that are more character-driven; I think the audience laughs harder, to tell you the truth, when it's not like these big set pieces that obviously wouldn't be there otherwise, the kind of things that only happen in movies," he says. "I know in my stand-up, it works because it's like life. And I think if I continue to make movies that are like life, I'll have a decent movie career.