Phil Caruso

‘Wife’ goes on: Chris Rock plays a man whose encounter with a seductress (Kerry Washington) puts his picture-perfect marriage in jeopardy.

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With his sophisticated new comedy, “I Think I Love My Wife,” coming out this weekend, Brooklyn-born comedian and filmmaker Chris Rock had a chat with GO Brooklyn about what it was like writing, directing and starring in the remake of a 35-year-old French drama, a definite departure from what he is best known for. Rock dished about casting his film, the importance of getting serious and what his own spouse thinks of him making a film about a happily married man who considers chucking it all for a sexy new friend.

GO Brooklyn: How do you think this film will be received by the people back home in Bed-Stuy?

Chris Rock: Hey, man, I saw “Hannah and Her Sisters” and “Annie Hall” when I lived in Bed-Stuy. People see all sorts of movies, no matter where they’re from.

GO: Why is it important to you to make this film now?

CR: You have a finite amount of time in front of the camera, especially in movies. It is really important for me that I had a movie that existed that I felt represented what I do and fit me. I don’t think I had a movie that was at the level of my standup.

GO: How did your wife handle you doing this film?

CR: My wife’s fine with it. The fact that it’s a remake of the Eric Rohmer film, I’m sure helps. But we have an agreement; I have a real wife who’s lovely, a lovely woman and the mother of my children, and then I have this “comedy wife” who’s just this bitch that won’t sleep with me. And it all works out. My goal was to make a funny Adrian Lyne movie. Adrian Lyne makes movies that are so uncomfortable and so provocative [“Unfaithful,” “Fatal Attraction”] and they just have you talking for hours after the movie is over. You may not like it. You may hate the movie. But you will talk about the issue at hand.

GO: How did you cast this film?

CR: First of all, there are some people that when you see their face or hear their name you just assume the movie is going to be mediocre. So, I absolutely refused to cast any of those people. I call them “the usual black suspects.” Yes, I know I’m a hater. So what? When I did “Head of State,” I cast for comedic ability. This time, I was determined for dramatic ability and made sure the drama was right. I just trusted that the comedy would come out of dramatic situations, as opposed to moments when people just turn it on, like a sitcom. Kerry Washington is the finest young actress we have and Gina Torres is beautiful. They both can act.

GO: You are a politically astute guy. Would you say your film is political?

CR: It’s more political than “Head of State.” I’m not here to spit on anybody’s movies, but most of the time the portrayal of the black middle class is just clownish, totally out of touch with everything that’s going on, and you need somebody from the hood to show you what’s really going on.

©2007 The Brooklyn Paper