“Stand-up is fun, but you have to travel,” Chris Rock says, explaining the appeal of his role in the Broadway play The Mother——With the Hat , a role that will allow him to spend time with his family. “I wanted to do something in New York.”
Rock says he is not concerned by the 8 show a week schedule. “I do that many shows when I’m on tour, and I have to fly every day. Now I’ll be able to take my kids to school, eat with them some days, even take them to an activity. And I’ll be home in time to watch Letterman.”
Rock found the premise of the show intriguing. “It’s a dark, dark, dark comedy about — about the human condition. Is that vague enough? I read a number of plays, but when I got to this one, I was like, ‘Whoa.’ This is going to shock the world. They made me read for the part. And after that, I had to sit with Stephen. Don’t let anybody tell you, ‘Oh, we begged him …’ No, I had to jump through some hoops to get this thing.”
Rock says he even enjoys the rehearsals. “It’s an amazing process. You really take your time and break down the script. And you don’t make a move without consulting the writer. When you’re doing a movie, they hate the writer. I know, having written a movie or two. It’s like, ‘Thank you — goodbye.’ ”
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