When Meek Mill was talking about turning tuna into lobster, he must have had actor Cory Hardrict in mind.
Did you know that with $75.00 in his pocket, Hardrict followed his dream and moved to Los Angeles to cement his career? Just like the money turned Meek Mill into a monster, so too did Hardrict in following his dreams to be great.
While many folks are familiar with Hardrict’s character of Dandridge in the Clint Eastwood directed movie, American Sniper, as well as the independently produced, Brotherly Love the Chicagoan has always had his hand in the arts. A child prodigy, Hardrict began his professional career at 13 years old, first appearing in regional print ads, commercials, and TV movies. He got his first big break when he landed a role as an extra in Oprah Winfrey’s film There Are No Children Here. Imagine being from the Chi and appearing in Chicago-based Oprah Winfrey’s film. That’s like Michael Jordan picking you to be on his fantasy basketball team. He was lit! “I waited in line with like a thousand kids,” said Hardrict.
“That’s how it all got started. The bug hit me and I’ve been following it ever since.”’
Ordinarily folks in show business have muses that make them want to be who they are when they grow up. Kobe Bryant for example, grew up liking Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan and Eddie Murphy had Richard Pryor. According to Hardrict, the movie Cooley High made him want to pursue acting. “It was something about that movie,” he said. “I was like wow; this is what I want to do. It was in my city and it had that black and white movie feel.”
Fast forwarding to Hardrict’s career, he’s landed roles in Never Been Kissed, Crazy/Beautiful and Golden Globe nominated feature Gran Torino, which was produced by Clint Eastwood and He’s Just Not That Into You. His flow is versatile having appeared in sci-fi, comedy and action movies all he’s looking to do is being consistent. “I’m just focusing on doing great work,” he said. “I buy into doing great work and staying focused at the goal at hand and one day win an Academy Award. That’s a long time goal for me. I already went this year, but my goal is just to be in that presence and hopefully when I go back, I can be nominated or win. I’m ready to turn it up!”
When Hardrict is not on the big screen, Hardrict is a homebody. He enjoys kicking back, relaxing and spending time with his family—his wife, actress Tia Mowry-Hardict and their son, Cree Taylor Hardrict. “I like swimming with them, going in the backyard and having a good time,” he said.
With his face recognizable in movies, where is the craziest place that Cory’s been recognized in these streets? According to Hardrict it’s been the airport. “I was in an airport and someone told me that they saw me in Battle: Los Angeles,” he said. They told me that they loved me. I was like ‘he saw me in that movie?’ I guess it did make $300-$400 million worldwide.
Having appeared in Brotherly Love this year, he’ll appear next year in Spectral, a 3D supernatural action film directed by Nic Mathieu.
