Tiffany times 3
Tiffany Haddish will be seen in a new film each month. We get her thoughts on what makes each one special.
Night School
Why she was right for the part:
“The role of Carrie in ‘Night School’ was different than Dina in ‘Girls Trip’ because Tiffany has to deliver plot, drive scenes and at times be the straight one as opposed to landing the improvisational joke,” said Lee, who also directed “Girls Trip.” “However, because of Tiffany’s fearlessness, sharp wit and ability to improvise against an established comedic genius like Kevin, I thought she could not only handle the role but elevate what was on the page in her evolution as an actor.” Haddish says:
“When we did ‘Girls Trip,’ it was a lot of hours and a lot of takes. And when we did ‘Night School,’ the difference is that we had Kevin Hart and he’s, like, ‘All right! You’ve got 30 minutes! This is it!’ [Laughs] So it was kind of like working with two directors. Malcolm was, ‘All right, we’re going to do this, we’re going to do that’ and then Kevin was, ‘Hurry up! All right, let’s do it!’ Which was really fun and funny to watch them kind of battle each other.”
The Oath
Release date: Oct. 12 Directed by: Ike Barinholtz in his directorial debut.
About the role: Haddish costars as Kai, a wife and mother who tries to keep the peace between her husband (played by Barinholtz) and in-laws after the government pressures citizens to swear an “optional” oath of loyalty to the president and causes deep divides among those with differing political views. Why she was right for the part:
“When I first saw Tiffany in ‘Keanu,’ I was taken with her authenticity and toughness,” Barinholtz said. “She only knows what’s real. She was the singular face in my head when I was writing the character of Kai in ‘The Oath.’ And, much to my dismay, she was the crew’s favorite person on set.” Haddish says:
“With ‘The Oath,’ I was working with my best friend Ike Barinholtz, who was also starring in it. So it was like he was giving me directions but also we were helping each other and supporting each other. It felt really good, like how when I take acting classes and I’d be, like, ‘Hey, try this,’ or ‘You should try that.’ It was really a great team effort, and it was a very positive and easy, fun set.”
Nobody’s Fool
Why she was right for the part:
“The role of Tanya was written for her,” Perry said. “I wanted Tiffany to cut loose, I wanted her to have as much range and fun as she wanted to. I didn’t want to put a chain or net around her talent. She’s best left in her brilliantly raw, talented self. And, boy, did she deliver.” Haddish says:
“Tyler is a comedian. He needs to be doing stand-up comedy; the man is hilarious. And it was fast; it was like doing improv games but we’re not improv-ing because we had the script. It was just so much fun, like comedy sports. It was, like, ‘How can I one-up myself? How can I one-up this situation?’ Super fun. And fast.”