Hard work pays off — just ask Cory Hardrict. The actor stars as Dallas in Tyler Perry’s Divorce in the Black, a role offered to him by Mr. Tyler Perry himself. Hardrict tells ABC Audio he received a call after Meagan Good suggested Perry look at his work.
“I did not know Mr. Perry at all,” says Hardict, noting they connected after Meagan named him as someone who hadn’t yet gotten his due and who would do the role some justice.
“I was the first name Meagan said … and he was like, ‘OK, well, I’m going to give him a call,'” he adds. “And then she told him to watch some of my movies, and he watched a few, and I got a phone call.”
What followed was a “great conversation” with Perry, a suggestion to read the script and Cory’s decision to portray the very “flawed” Dallas.
“It was definitely all on the page,” Cory says of why he took on the role. “It had a bunch of turns and twists. It shows [Dallas’] emotional side, everything, his passion, his vulnerability. You know, everything that he was going through. On why he became who he was and … the different arcs to the family dynamics from both sides. I felt like I could put some raw emotions in some things that I do well into this character and create something awesome.”
Cory says he initially felt the pressure of wanting “to do a good job,” but says Perry calmed him down, providing the creative freedom for him to excel.
“I want people to watch this movie because I think it’s my best work,” he says. “And people are going to be entertained by this roller-coaster ride for sure.”
Divorce in the Black premieres Thursday on Prime Video.
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