As his stature in acting and comedy gets higher, Kevin Hart feels as though he’s only gotten started.
“So whether it's in the craft of standup comedy and how much of a well-oiled machine I've become in that regard, or in the space of acting and how good you've gotten throughout the years because of the alignment with all the great talent that you've been able to work with, meet, writing, producing. The more experience you get, the better you get at it,” he tells Complex.
But the newest Mark Twain Award Prize recipient isn’t just reveling in the amassed roles and comedy specials he’s fulfilled throughout his storied career, Hart has also become a multifaceted changemaker. His tequila brand, Gran Coramino, which debuted in May 2022, is launching a Reposado, complimenting the likes of its current lineup of its Cristalino and Añejo variants. The brand also supports underrepresented entrepreneurs through giveback efforts, like the Coramino Fund where $1,000,000 in grant funds were distributed to 100 Black and Latinx small business owners.
As the Gran Coramino carries a sleek bottle appearance and rich taste, the brand also reflects Hart’s maturation in terms of drinking. “So sitting at the age of 44, now about to be 45, it's a much slower pace and it's a much more enjoyable world for me here, dealing with the way that I drink when I drink and my love for how I drink,” he says.
The new reposado, which is made from 100% Blue Weber agave and aged in American and French white oak barrels, is available at retailers and over at grancoramino.com.
We spoke with Hart about his tequila venture, how comedy is changing with influencers like Kai Cenat and Druski, hosting the “legendary” Tom Brady roast, and much more.
Read the interview, which took place before Hart’s Sleepover Stream with Cenat and Druski, below.
When you're having tequila, what's your signature cocktail, and what's the ideal place where you're having a drink?
In the perfect world, for me, is home. I'm a straight-up type of guy. I’ll go Cristalino as well, but I'll do them both on the rocks. I'm not a big mixy guy with drinks. I'm a savor-the-taste type of guy, especially if it's a good tequila and you can get to the world of the notes and the texture.
So I like to drink it straight. And by on the rocks, sometimes it's like a wine ice cube type situation, or I'm not afraid to sip it neat as well. So I get to it, I get right to it. But my house is, I think, where I'm most comfortable just because that's where I'm relaxed and probably enjoying a movie or a game or conversation with the fam.
Would you say that your drinking habits have changed since you've gotten older?
Of course. I think the younger years of drinking were attached to almost drinking for sport to some degree, right? You're out and it's just trying to see how much you can drink and how fast you can drink it. And I think the older you get, of course you slow down a little bit and you become a little more responsible. And there's this concept attached to drinking that your younger years are about getting sloshed or getting to the point of no return.
I think as you get older, you realize that there's an amazing synergy and energy that you can find in great groups, great environments with great conversation. And a leisure-like opportunity within having a drink. It's a celebration or celebratory moment, A mixture of after work or pre-dinner or after dinner night caps. There's a lot of different ways to partake in the space, a place of drinking, but for me, my younger years was just [about the] party and it was party hard.
It was going to the club and nothing but drinking was the priority, et cetera. And I think that that energy is great. But for me, when I was younger, I think that I could have took the foot off the gas a little bit. But I was excited; you're young, you're free, you are independent, and you’ve got to learn. So sitting at the age of 44, now about to be 45, it's a much slower pace and it's a much more enjoyable world for me here, dealing with the way that I drink when I drink and my love for how I drink.
Now I'm curious, because a little bit ago you were talking about feeling comfortable drinking in the house. I think we all saw in a video recently where you Latto and Usher were out. It kind of looked like you would rather be anywhere but there.
This is true. That moment was a real moment. Both of them are amazing people. Usher's a really close friend of mine, and he told me we were going to a little lounge atmosphere, which is my vibe. I don't mind. But we ended up being at what I would consider to be a club. So what you saw was just somebody who has the days of nightlife and partying at that scale, and I was ready to go home. I was ready to take my ass home.
And whoever took that picture or had that video just captured a real moment and a real face. And it's nothing against the club, by the way. I want to make that very clear. I think the energy in the club is great, and there's a time, there's a place where maybe I can enjoy that or maybe I partake in that. When we do the HartBeat Weekends and there's nights where we have artists that come and perform, I'll do it and it's a part of an event, but it's not a recurring thing for me. Not at this point in my life.
My fear is just looking like the old guy in the club. I never want people to look up and [and people] go, ‘Why is he here?’ That to me, that's aggressive. ‘Oh God, you see Kevin over there in the corner? Why is he here? It's 21, 22 night. Why did he come?’ Bumping into my kids' friends from school, that's just aggressive. I don't need those problems. I'll take my ass home and be happy.
You were at the Tom Brady roast. You were hosting it, and Robert Gronkowski was giving some major frat boy energy, and I think he took a shot of your drink. At what moment during the show did you realize he was buzzed?
Here's the thing: first of all, Rob can drink. To the audience watching, it could appear that Rob was buzzed. Rob was drinking Gran Coramino with me all night at that show. So he was never buzzed or crazy. That's just who he is. That's his energy. He has just an exciting energy to him, and he's a very energetic personality, energetic, high octane. And what I love about him was he was excited to talk in that manner. They got to get a lot of stuff off their chest in regards to Coach Belichick, to Tom, to the systems, to the Patriots. And it was fun.
You looked at a person that was not necessarily in his environment, but it was very comfortable being outside of his norm. And when he did the thing and threw the shot glass on the ground, that's just him being him. You can't plan for that. You can't predict that. And I won't blame that on him drinking. I will blame that just on him being unpredictable and such a captivating presence, man. And he's always been like that throughout his career. So I'm glad that the world got to see a dose of that behind that podium. He was very funny.
Who impressed you the most during the roast?
I was impressed by everyone. I think it's very hard for the athlete that doesn't do that to get up and do that. So I take my hat off to the Randy Mosses, to the [Julian] Edelmans, to the Robs, to the [Drew] Bledsoes, these guys, they got up there–even Coach Belichick–they don't do standup. They don't perform in front of thousands of people in a sold out arena, even Tom. So for them to put their nerves to the side and go up there and do a good job, I thought that was huge. And the comedians did what they're supposed to do. Nikki [Glaser], Tony [Hinchcliffe], Jeff Ross, Sarah [Tiana], I mean, that's just to name a few. We had an amazing amount of talent that was on that podium, Andrew [Schulz], right? People got up there and destroyed.
So, I personally think that that was a roast for the ages. It was necessary. It was needed. And I think the idea of getting back to comedy and removing just this temperature that's been attached to it for the last couple of years for a moment, and having people set that aside and really laugh and enjoy it, I think it was a big deal. So to all the comics that participated, if I left anybody out just now and rambling names, of course it's not on purpose, but it was a legendary night. It was a legendary night attached to a legendary moment with legendary record-breaking numbers. So everything came together the way it was supposed to. Shouts out to Netflix and shouts out to Casey [Patterson], my producing partner and friend who did an amazing job at helping put it together. Jeff Rosss played a great role in that too, helping produce and put it together. So we had a lot of amazing pieces to that puzzle.
I also wanted to ask about the Twitch stream between you and Kai Cenat, because that was pretty big this month. What's your opinion on how streamers and influencers like him and Druski [are] changing comedy?
I love what they're doing. If you notice, I try my best to align myself with them from a place of support, not a place of trying to do what they do or learn how to do it so that I can.. It's a place of just amplifying their names and their brand. I think what you're witnessing is a smart, groundbreaking approach to entertainment that the industry is now paying more attention to that fans have gravitated towards. And I think it was only a matter of time before those opportunities for them get bigger. And as a friend and a future partner, I'm trying my best to figure out how to crack the concept attached to television and or movies to get them over that hump to the next stage. And to do it, just take some vetting out and really thinking about the right things to do.
And that's kind of what we've been prioritizing. So I think Kai Cenat has built a crazy brand, crazy following, him and his friends. I can relate because I too shared energy with a group of guys. We called ourselves the Plastic Cup Boys, and there's nothing better than finding success as a group. And this group is doing great things. And I want it to continue. So right now we're talking about doing something else and trying to find the time to do it with Kai, Druski and myself. But it's just being silly, just being funny and more importantly, just really engaging with that audience in the way that the audience loves, which is real authentic.
Can you detail what your idea was behind the Gran Coramino bottle designs? Because I noticed they're extremely sleek.
The whole idea and concept behind the bottle was to give a smooth look and hopefully grab, what I would like to call, some shelf appeal. When you think about how many SKUs you have within a product where you want to always think about your display, and now as we're about to set up and gear up to have three SKUs in our cristalino añejo, and now, reposado, what's that look like on a shelf?
I think the display of those bottles, the curvature, it's almost like a ski slope. And if you ever ski, when you go down, smooth is the best way. It's always smooth when you're going down. That's how you get the best results when you're skiing. And I think the best results come from a smooth taste and a smooth response to the taste when you're drinking tequila. So that was the mindset behind the bottle, that was the reason for it. And it came out amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better display.
Why were you eager to develop this new Gran Coramino Reposado considering your busy schedule?
Regardless of my busy schedule, when I see an opportunity for innovation, I move on it. Reposado is driving the tequila category, so we knew our consumers wanted it. We already have a lineup of accessible, aged tequilas with incredible quality and wanted to bring that quality standard to the Reposado category at a more accessible price point.
Were there any challenges you faced when finding the best flavors for the new Reposado?
When we started the process of making our Reposado, I said to the team that it needed to be just as smooth as our Cristalino and Añejo variations, and I meant it. And it took putting in the work to make sure we got it right because we're bringing something new to a large category to show customers that they deserve quality, no matter the price point.
Consumers love our Añejo and Cristalino for the smooth flavor and subtly sweet finishes. And we delivered the aged flavor we’re known for in a Reposado. It’s aged for several months in American and French white oak barrels before blended together and we only use first-fill barrels during the aging process for a more intense and controlled flavor. It’s complex but easy-drinking, and has a slightly sweet agave finish.
There's an element of giving back to the sales of Gran Coramino as well, donating to underrepresented entrepreneurs across the U.S. and Mexico, how important is it for that to be a major part of this project for you?
Both Juan [Domingo Beckmann] and I have worked very hard to get where we are, but not all entrepreneurs have the same resources as we did. It’s a value that's extremely important to us, so very early on we made our give-back commitment to support the communities we serve.
Aside from being an actor and comedian, with all the companies and businesses that you have under your belt now, do you feel like your motivations have changed?
No. If anything, they've gotten a little more aggressive. I think the older you get, you get better. I'm not an athlete, so a lot of athletes slow down as they get older and they’ve got to change the way they play and get smarter because the people around 'em get younger, faster, stronger, et cetera. In this case, the more life you live, the wiser you get. The wiser you get, the better you can do your job or jobs that you foresee yourself doing in the future.
So whether it's in the craft of standup comedy and how much of a well-oiled machine I've become in that regard, or in the space of acting and how good you've gotten throughout the years because of the alignment with all the great talent that you've been able to work with, meet, writing, producing. The more experience you get, the better you get at it. Directing the space of venture investing, evolving, building brands, ambassadors, all these things are things that just become a little more reachable. In the concept attached to them being big goals, big ideas, the older you get, once again, the smarter you get. It's not about working harder, it's about working smarter. So to answer the question again, I don't think they slowed down. If anything they've amplified.
