Kevin Hart always finds a way to get us laughing, whether that’s through his hilarious stand-up sets and his hugely-successful movies, such as the Jumanji films. The comedian and actor was forced to put some of his projects on hold back in 2019 and 2020 following a significant car accident that he suffered major injuries from. Over a year later, Hart can say he’s about “97%? 96%?” recovered from it, but the event has left another lasting impact on him.
The September 2019 accident occurred while one of Hart’s friends was driving his 1970 Plymouth Barracuda and the car veered into a gully about 10 feet off the road. The driver lost control, and the car rolled down an embankment, with the vehicle’s roof becoming completely crushed. Kevin Hart recalled what he learned about the crash:
(It was) an eye-opening experience of realizing you’re not in control, flat out. You may think you’re in control, but you’re not.
As a result of the accident, Kevin Hart had spinal surgery and was transferred to a rehabilitation center, before returning home to work through 18 months of intensive physical therapy and training. The actor has been open about the experience to his fans, initially saying that he “felt like God told me to sit down.”
When Hart recently talked more in depth with it to USA Today, he talked about his realization that everything “can end in a blink of an eye,” after the accident. Following the life-altering event, Kevin Hart also said he takes “every second of my life to be thankful” for his life and is in touch with how “very precious” life is. An event such as Hart’s car crash certainly puts things into perspective, and the actor’s story is a solid reminder for all he shares the experience with.
Just six months after Kevin Hart’s accident, the COVID-19 pandemic also closed down around the world, including around where Hart lives in Southern California. The current state of the world also allowed the comedian to get in touch with his family more after years of being away for work for the most part. In his words:
I was able to truly tap into fatherhood. Tap into the role of a husband more, because I’ve never been home this long ever. Ever! Because of my job, I’ve never been home for this many weeks – or weeks, period. Never have I been able to eat dinner with my family and talk to my family as much as I’ve been able to through the course of this pandemic, and it made me just realize some of the things that I missed, some of the things that I didn’t put as much value on that I probably should.
Kevin Hart just struck a huge deal with Netflix and signed on to work on the Borderlands film with Cate Blanchett. Eli Roth is directing the video game adaptation, which will center on the abandoned fictional planet of Pandora and the search for a mysterious relic. It sounds like it’s been a truly transformative time for Hart, and he’s seriously getting back to work now.
