Hollywood, Are You Listening? Can Cory Hardrict Have NEXT?
As an actor, longevity is hard to achieve. But Cory Hardrict has done that. In a career spanning over 25 years, he has steadily worked, making his presence felt in the smallest of roles to the biggest. Some know him as Coach Marcus from All American: Homecoming, Dante on The Chi, June in Brotherly Love, Cole from The Oath or D from American Sniper. Over the summer he was buzzing with his portrayal of Dallas in Tyler Perry's Divorce in Black opposite Megan Good. While the film, written and directed by Tyler Perry, didn’t get the best response from critics and is still standing at 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, it set viewing records. According to Variety, “Nielsen reported that the film hit more than 498 million minutes watched in its first four days of availability on Amazon Prime Video; and according to Amazon, the soapy drama has also driven more sign-ups to Prime Video in the U.S. than any Amazon MGM Studios-produced movie to-date.”
For Hardrict, Dallas was a real departure from his largely "good guy" roles. At the American Black Film Festival this past June, Hardrict said he could have played this role ten years ago, but not in this way. "You probably wouldn't have gotten this performance," he admitted. "Dealing with some things in your personal life. I like to bring it all out, how I'm feeling and what I'm feeling, I like to put it all in the camera and exhaust all my creative space and be authentic and true. And that's what I did for this movie. So it was therapeutic in a way."
His work in the business and maturity over the years has shown that he’s been ready for more leading roles. With Denzel Washington and Will Smith still leading the pack as far as Black leading men on the big screen, we have yet to find the next Black actor who can get on that level on a consistent basis. We’ve seen several talents come in with leading roles and have some success, but it hasn’t led to producers giving them consistent work. Visibility is key to bringing in audiences and having box office success. While the storyline in Divorce In The Black didn't appeal to some, Hardrict’s performance was frequently praised. Besides playing the abusive husband in Divorce this year, he's also given emotional performances in All American: Homecoming, shedding light on Black men's mental health through Coach Marcus. In his independent film Destined written and directed by Qasim Basir, he played two roles--flipping from the drug dealer Sheed to young Black professional Rasheed--showing two different paths that could have been possible to a young Black man from one of the hardest areas in Detroit.
What Hardrict has proven throughout his career--whether it's a role in Clint Eastwood movies- American Sniper and Gran Torino or taking a chance on independent filmmakers like Basir and Brotherly Love's Jamal Hill is that he has both versatility and range. He's a veteran that can be trusted with any role. So it's been time for Hollywood to recognize his hardworking efforts with more profile leading roles.