Kevin Hart and the Rock are making the press rounds for Jumanji: The Next Level , and the interviews are getting pretty emotional.
After Kevin Hart’s near-fatal accident, he is a totally changed person — and no one knows that better than the Rock.
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Kevin Hart was injured in September.
He was severely injured when his friend, Jared Black, lost control of Kevin’s vintage 1970 Plymouth Barracuda. They, alongside trainer Rebecca Broxterman, were not wearing seatbelts at the time.
He initially walked away from the crash and back home, but was later hospitalized.
He spent 10 days in the hospital.
His injuries, alongside Jared’s, were so severe that they required back surgery.
He’s been on a media hiatus since then. The Jumanji press tour is the first time he’s given interviews post-accident.
The interviewer had an incredibly insightful question for Kevin.
“This movie is such an embodiment of love, family, getting older. And I’m curious, after what happened with you recently, how has your life perspective changed?” Asked Kevin McCarthy, who the Rock and Kevin Hart both wound up praising later in the interview.
He wanted to know if Kevin’s life had changed.
“Like, have priorities changed for you at all? Like in, the sense that — do you wanna do less work, and more family? How has that divide happened for you?”
The long and short answer: absolutely.
“It’s unreal that you would ask that. The answer is so spot on what you’re saying. It’s not about not working the same or not having the same level of hustle or energy within my profession, but being present to the ones around you that matter most.”
He sees life completely differently now.
“It’s more of a priority now. The level of appreciation for life is extremely high, because you do kinda take it for granted, you know?”
And he appreciates how quickly things can change.
“You do bypass the fact that things don’t have to be the way they are, that they could change like that.”
You can tell Kevin really appreciated the thoughtfulness of the question.
He just wants to be present now.
“So when you have experience that shows you that, you understand what that is and what it was, and you make sure that you make the matters — that being present matters most. Does that make sense? For me, that’s the new version of myself that I’m happy about.”
McCarthy then asked the Rock how he felt about the accident.
He wanted to know how it felt to see Kevin speak so differently about life and family.
“His situation could’ve gone another way. He knows that, we know that,” he began.
His reaction was completely understandable.
“When I heard the news, my heart stopped and I lost my breath.”
Kevin McCarthy said he had the exact same reaction as the Rock. They both care so much, you know?
The Rock has nothing but love for him.
“Kevin’s one of the good ones, he’s a good egg. So I’m really proud of not only his ability to overcome, but we’re here, we’re in Cabo, we made Jumanji. “
And they really are like brothers.
“The beauty of our relationship is, we hugged, we had a real strong conversation when he finally came back, face to face, about what this meant and how it had changed him.”
He knew exactly what Kevin was talking about.
“It’s almost as if life and the universe takes this shade and lifts it from your eyes and you view the world a different way. It’s really beautiful.”
They have serious conversations, but they’re also still able to be funny together.
“To hear him talk like that, it’s like, ‘Man, you are so…same guy, but a different guy now. You’re empowered with a different kind of spirit. And then 20 minutes later, we’re giving each other [expletive].
Case in point: Kevin Hart’s halloween costume.
You can watch the full interview here.
There’s a really nice part at the end where both the Rock and Kevin Hart praise how deeply McCarthy cares not only about them, but of the art of film. It’s amazing!
