by John Bear
Daily Lobo
When people think of Chris Rock, his abrasive manner of speaking during his comedic routines might come to mind.
But when he is not on stage, Rock is pretty reserved.
He talked of his new film, "The Longest Yard," a comedy about a football team of prison inmates.
The movie stars Adam Sandler and was filmed in New Mexico.
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"Adam just asked me," Rock said. "It's his movie more or less. I get a call from my friend Adam, and he says, 'Hey, let's hang out for three months in New Mexico.' And I'm like, 'OK, let's do it.'"
He said this was the first time he's worked with Sandler.
"Even when we were on 'SNL' - it's weird - we shared an office, got hired the same day," he said. "We've known each other for about 20 years working in the clubs and never really done anything together."
He said they were waiting for the right thing, and people will notice the chemistry of the real-life friendship on screen.
He said he and his "Saturday Night Live" castmates still help each other out with material. David Spade helped him write some of the jokes for his hosting gig at the Academy Awards.
"Spade's good with the last-minute jokes," he said. "We help each other out all the time and we hang out all the time."
Rock said he appreciated his time on "Saturday Night Live."
"What show has produced more, you know, big stars, comedically? None," he said. "Adam Sandler, Eddie Murphy, the list goes on. I am very proud to be a 'SNL' alum."
Rock said filming "The Longest Yard" was easy for him, because the cast members knew what they were doing.
"All I had to really worry about is myself being funny," he said. "I write a lot of my movies, and I got to worry about everybody being funny. This one I got to take a break, kind of."
The film is a remake of a Burt Reynolds movie of the same name from the 1970s. Rock said in spite of the large number of remakes being produced, he didn't see anything wrong with them as long as they improve on the original.
"Make a different movie," he said. "That's what we did. The original is more like an action-comedy, and this is more like comedy-action. We're really going for the jokes in this one."
Rock said he sort of plays himself, which sets his performance apart from the original version in which Jim Hampton took on the role.
He added, "I think I'm a little funnier than Jim Hampton - just a little bit, though."
He said the role of caretaker excluded him from playing football, but he worked on getting into shape because he knew he "would be outside in the blazing heat, ugh, you know, in New Mexico."
Rock said that there is a difference between his movie persona and his stand-up persona. He said he sometimes comes across as more subdued in movies.
"People don't realize if you do an HBO special and you do a joke about the tossed salad man, if that were in a movie, it would be rated X," he said.
He said even though his stand up often focuses on his personal life, in reality, there's a difference. He gave his wife as an example.
"It's like I have two wives," he said. "I have my real wife who's a lovely women, mother of my children. And I have my comedy wife, this crazy bitch who won't have sex with me. One wife laughs at the other one."
He said in spite of his often politically charged tone, he doesn't intentionally push any specific agenda.
"I try to write an act that doesn't bore me," he said. "That's pretty much it. I have to hear it a lot more than the audience, so I'd hate to be bored up there."
Rock just turned 40, but he said that isn't going to affect his work.
"I hope I've mellowed out a little bit," he said. "I don't think my art's mellowed out. But I think I've mellowed out."
Rock said he ignores his critics.
"I don't really trip out on the critics," he said. "I'm just into what the people are into. I can't respond to the critics. If they don't like a movie, they don't like a movie. I just try to make movies that everyday people can laugh at."
