10 Questions with Chris Rock

You’re in your third Madagascar installment. Is your most successful movie role that of a zebra?
Zebra, yes! When I play an animal, everybody better look out. It’s like Will Smith, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt are saying, “Oh my God, Rock’s taking the voice of an animal. We gotta push our movies back!”

Your zebra wondered at one point if he was black with white stripes or white with black stripes. Is race still an interesting subject comedically for you?
Sometimes, yeah. And sometimes I’m bored with it, to tell you the truth. The world isn’t where it was 12 years ago or whenever I did my first special. Some of those jokes don’t work anymore. There’s one other black girl in my daughter’s class. And some of the kids mix up their names. And my daughter goes, “Yeah, well, we are the shortest kids in the class.” Isn’t that beautiful that we live in a world where she’s like, “They confuse us because we’re short”?

You told black drama students that if they weren’t making history, they weren’t doing anything. What history are you making with Grown Ups 2?
Let’s see. When Grown Ups 2 comes out, chances are, unless Tyler Perry has a movie out, I might be the only black person starring in a movie. It’s gonna be big to somebody. Everything’s not the Underground Railroad. Everything’s not Jackie Robinson. Sometimes you’re the first black guy to eat four M&Ms.

You were a campaign correspondent for the presidential election in 1996
Back when white men were President.

If you had that job again, what stories would you chase?
I’m into the whole [Mitt] Romney Mormon thing. It’s an odd choice for Republicans four years after a black President. It’s like, “Let’s get the guy whose religion thought black people were the devil until 1978. That ought to do it!”

Who could he choose as a VP nominee who might make you think again?
I’m not that into politics. The country’s like a ship. It’s not a car. You can change [its direction] a little bit. Bush — that was choppy seas. Ooh, we’re at war. Ooh, the money that was in there is gone. But it just keeps sailing.

What kind of a captain do you think Obama has been?
Pretty good. People are complaining, but it’s like complaining about your team winning by one: “I can’t believe we keep winning by one! What the hell’s going on? Another close victory?” Meanwhile, it’s like a 30-game win streak.

Is it harder to be funny when you’re famous?
If anything, this time of YouTube and cell-phone cameras makes the process of creating stand-up comedy harder. I want to go on tour next year, and I’ve got to figure out how I’m going to prepare an act without it getting out. It’s like anytime you tell a joke, somebody’s got a camera. The beauty of jokes is the surprise. Plus, when you think you’re being watched like that, you’re less likely to take chances.

How has being a father changed the way you work?
I think I focus more, because you have this other time that you have to be with your children. I’ve never been with my children and been like, “Boy, it would be great to be on a movie set right now.” Anybody who says their job is better than their kids shouldn’t have children — should have their children, like, taken away from them.

Your grandfather was a preacher. Is that where the sermon-like quality of your comedy comes from?
I try to make it musical. When I’m doing stand-up, it’s like, “What’s the chorus?” “What’s the verse?” “What’s the bridge?” and “Let’s go back to the chorus.”

But it’s sort of moral, like preaching, no?
It’s not — what’s [New York City Mayor Michael] Bloomberg trying to do, outlaw 20-oz. sodas? That’s preachy.