photo by Darren Tieste

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Guy We Heart
: Cory Hardrict


The perennial TV and movie sidekick graduates to blockbuster fare with Battle: Los Angeles

By Neil Miller Jr.
Published: March 14th, 2011 | 12:00am

Cory Hardrict may not be a household name yet, but he’s married to one: Tia Mowry of Sister, Sister fame. He’s not riding on her coattails by any means, though—he has worked with Clint Eastwood, is on Jamie Foxx’s basketball e-league team, boasts a slew of TV credits, and he’s got a more than one buzzworthy film slated for release in 2011.

The Chicago native’s first big project is March’s Battle: Los Angeles, an alien action-adventure flick costarring Aaron Eckhart and Michelle Rodriguez and directed by Jonathan Liebesman (The Killing Room and 2012’s Clash of the Titans II). Hardrict landed the role of Corporal Lockett, a Marine who “deals with a lot of emotional pain from past deaths in his family,” Hardrict says. “He only wants to be accepted by the Corps and be embraced by guys who will lose their lives for another Marine in a minute.”

Despite the sci-fi bent of Battle, Hardrict promises that the story line is firmly grounded with doses of reality. “We are at war while filming this movie,” he says. “Everybody gave it all they had, so hopefully it resonates with audiences. We were also trained by Sergeant James Dever and Sergeant Tom Minder, who were trained Marines and experts in their field. They whipped us into shape and turned us into warriors.”

Hardrict is a city boy at heart whose mother introduced him to the world of acting as a kid.  “My mother took my brother and me to be extras in a film,” he recalls. “They picked us to stand in the rain for a month full of non-stop 12-hour days—I loved it and was sold.” His “no pain, no gain” attitude was further inspired by Eastwood, with whom he worked on the critically acclaimed Gran Torino. “His words to me were, ‘never worry about what you’re gonna get, kid, just show them what you got,’” Hardrict says. “I will never forget that.”

His post-Battle films include Mud Dog Blues, an exploration of the cultural importance of blues music in the South costarring Mowry and Gregory Alan Williams, and 4chosen, a still-in-development project with Laurence Fishburne attached. Hardrict is anything but concerned about his future prospects. “Just know this, he proclaims. “I will win an Oscar for the next role I will be playing—coming soon!”

**********

Pump You Up

Hardrict shares the tunes that get him amped up for action.

• Eminem, “Not Afraid”

• Kanye West, “Power"
• 
Nas, “You’re da Man”

• 2pac, “Me Against the World”

• Wiz Kalifah, “Black and Yellow”

• Drake, “Forever”
• 
Lil Wayne, “I’m Me”

• Anything by Linkin Park

• Jay-Z, The Blueprint (the album)

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