Chris Rock has a complicated relationship with the city of Los Angeles.
“It’s weird,” Rock said in an interview with Variety. “I just bought a place there, so I winter in L.A. I love parts of it.”
“L.A. is a complicated place, man,” he continued. “Fame’s a complicated thing. I’ve seen the switch in my lifetime. It used to be that everybody wanted to be great — a great singer, great actor, great comedian. Now it’s just fame, and greatness is almost assumed. I mean, you’re always gonna be outed at some point if you don’t have the goods. But L.A. is the mecca of that.”
He described his conflicted relationship with the city, where striking beauty exists right alongside its harsh realities.
“It can be beautiful,” Rock told Variety. “It’s got the best weather in the world. But it also attracts an underbelly that people want to pretend doesn’t exist.”
Rock is also promoting his new film, Misty Green, which he says is a reflection of how the city is. It’s also his first as director since Top Five in 2014.
Co-starring Rock, the film is a Hollywood-set story that centers on Misty Green (played by Rosalind Eleazar), an award-winning actress whose career has stalled. As she fights for a comeback and addresses personal demons, she reconnects with her former agent and navigates complex relationships with those in her inner circle.
“The movie is about Misty Green, but a lot of it’s about L.A. L.A. has got very wonky priorities,” he explained. “There’s a real estate office on the same street as The Ivy on Robertson, and in the window, there are houses for $30-$40 million. In the window. But there’s a homeless guy sleeping right outside. The movie is about that crazy dichotomy.”
Misty Green will premiere in Toronto on Sept. 12 before its theatrical release on Oct. 9.