USA TODAY International Edition
Lil Rel Howery hoops it up in ‘Uncle’
Chris Webber dunked on many people in his heyday. Lil Rel Howery has the pleasure of being dunked by the former NBA star — in a baptismal pool.
“He’s a very strong, large man,” Howery says of his 6-foot-10 co-star in the hoops comedy “Uncle Drew” (in theaters). “I told Chris, ‘Just do whatever and I’ll just go with the flow.’ ”
The stand-up comedian, 38, started on sitcoms such as “Friends of the People” and “The Carmichael Show” before breaking out as a TSA agent in Jordan Peele’s 2017 horror hit “Get Out.”
In “Uncle Drew,” Howery plays Dax, a down-on-his-luck streetball coach who teams with the legendary Uncle Drew (Kyrie Irving) to get his squad of old folks — including Webber, Shaquille O’Neal and Reggie Miller — ready for a basketball tournament.
Come fall, the Chicago native hits the small screen with his Fox show, “Rel” (Sept. 9 then moves to its Sunday time slot Sept. 30). And Howery is friends with such A-listers as Sandra Bullock, his co-star in Netflix’s “Bird Box” (premieres Dec. 21).
USA TODAY talks with Howery about hoops and Marvel movies:
Question: Was it just nonstop basketball when filming with Kyrie and Co.?
Lil Rel Howery: There was a lot of shooting around. Kyrie don’t know how to put a basketball down, man. That dude would dribble on grass.
Q: We see a little bit of Dax’s childhood in a flashback when he’s posing next to the Michael Jordan “Wings” poster. Was that like Lil Rel back in the day?
Howery: I was a huge Michael Jordan fan but also just a huge basketball fan. That’s my son (Judah, 8), actually. It was fun watching him do that because it reminded me of my childhood.
Q: You also get to work with your “Carmichael Show” ex, Tiffany Haddish, in “Uncle Drew.”
Howery: There’s a few more projects I’m in that where I got to do things with my friends. The problem is, my friends are becoming famous (laughs). Hopefully, if me and Tiffany do something else, we’ll stay together instead of her breaking up with me.
Q: What can your fans expect with “Rel”?
Howery: It’s loosely based on my life (about) being a long-distance dad and rebuilding your life after divorce . ... I just want to put a show on TV that when you literally look at the name — “Oh, ‘Rel’s coming on” — you know you’re coming to laugh.
Q: Jordan Peele is working on a thriller called “Us.” Are you going to be in that, too?
Howery: I wish, man. We’re going to try to figure something out. Everybody got really busy.
Q: You can bug Daniel Kaluuya about getting into “Black Panther 2.”
Howery: Well, I know Ryan Coogler, so that’s who I’ll talk to directly (laughs). There’s a Marvel movie up in the air that I was supposed to be in.
Q: What’s your dream Marvel role?
Howery: Man, they got rid of everybody (in “Avengers: Infinity War”). They’re going to have to make somebody up for me. I’ve got to look at all the one-issue comic books that never made it.