Kevin Hart, Taraji P. Henson, Samuel L. Jackson, Don Cheadle and Terrence Howard are dishing on their new series “Fight Night,” which is based on the infamous 1970 armed robbery on the night of Muhammad Ali’s comeback.
“Extra’s” Mona Kosar Abdi spoke with Kevin, Taraji, Samuel, Don and Terrence about bringing together an incredible group of actors and the genuine collaboration that existed.
Due to all the star power on set, everyone had to figure out a way to co-exist. Terrence explained, “All of us are scene-stealers by nature. We always walk away with the frame, so it was a hell of a head-cutting in this dance because everybody just kept coming up with sharper blades… until I think everybody ended up headless at the end of this.”
Kevin and Samuel also had some fun joking about why they’ve never worked together before!
Hart commented, “There’s a rumor in this town that I owe Sam money because of something we was supposed to do that didn’t happen.”
Sam chimed in, saying, “No, we had an opportunity to do a movie, and he told me he had an opportunity to work with an international superstar and I was kind of like, 'Who the f***? What the f***? ... I just hung up the phone. I ain't talk to him anymore.”
Jackson quipped, “Then he became an international superstar and I was like, ‘Damn! Where's karma when I need it?'"
Sam added, "I've worked with Don a few times, which is always, you know a wonderful experience because he's Don f***ing Cheadle. It works like that. But everybody else I hadn't worked with but was glad to be in the space with them, and it's always a collaborative space. It's not a space where the actors don't talk and they try to surprise you with some s***."
Terrence noted, "Half of the stuff I did as Cadillac Richie came from Sam being like... 'Why don't you do this?' You talk about literally helping each other out, building each other up, it's beautiful."
Sam agreed, "It's all about making something that's gonna be good for the culture and gonna be fun for us. These people work like I do. I do things that make me feel good, and when I'm doing them, when I'm done with them, I can look at the person on the other side and go, 'We killed it!'"
In the series, Kevin stars as Chicken Man, a hustler who hosts a party after Ali’s historic fight, a night that ended with the most brazen criminal underworld heist in Atlanta history.
This dramatic role was a departure from the comedy that Kevin is known for. He said, “Watching them really break down their characters, watching them find the reasons of the story of why, it was refreshing for me, especially taking on a new side of performance at this point in my career.”
The group also dished on the period costumes, including viral Terrence’s wig.
Taraji said, “One thing Terence will compete with you on is the hair.”
Referencing her time with Terrence on their hit show “Empire,” Henson commented, “He finally won with me, six seasons of ‘Empire.’”
Taraji noted it was “very different” to work with Terrence on this project, saying, “We didn’t have a lot of scenes together. I barely saw him.”
Terrence shared his two cents, saying, “We kind of stick to the characters. When you get into the work, you know, that becomes your friendship and your relationship. So every time I see her, I would pass by and want to hug her, but then there was a whole different nature of who this character was.”
Taraji added, “I think we sat down on the set one time and talked, like the first day we caught up and then that was it. We were never really on set together.”
“Fight Night” is streaming on Peacock.
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