Martin Lawrenceis taking the idea of a one-on-one interview very literally.
And then there was the time he almost died.
More on that later.
Credit: ILLUSTRATION BY RYAN MELGAR FOR EW
“I don’t have any regrets,” declares Lawrence, 54.
Lawrence’s career began in Washington, D.C., comedy clubs in the late ’80s.
“I was a young kid and I was fearless,” recalls Lawrence.
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“I wanted all eyes on me.”
That persona might not have clicked forLorne Michaelsand NBC, but it did with audiences.
WithMartinthriving onFox, Lawrence scored his first lead film role with 1995’sBad Boys.
Ben Rothstein/Columbia Pictures
“It was one of the best decisions I ever made.”
Lawrence was also riding high, indulging in the perks that come with success in the industry.
“It was hot,” he says of his celebrity status.
The lifestyle and grind would sooncatch up with him.
The following year, he was cuffed again for punching a man at a nightclub.
The onscreen couple has since publicly reconciled, with Campbell-Martin recently calling it a “healing process.”
Adds Lawrence of their current relationship: “It’s all love.”
He also says that Campbell-Martin had previously been on board for a possibleMartinrevival that never came to fruition.
“There’s no handbook for it.
I had to learn by trial and error,” he says.
It just caught up."
But the run would end with him collapsing on his front yard from heatstroke and falling into athree-day coma.
When he woke, Lawrence had a new appreciation for life.
“I know there’s a God,” he says, getting choked up.
“I had to learn to walk again, to talk again.
), but Lawrence says his hiatus truly began when “life happened.”
“I was dealing with loss in my life,” he says.
“So, emotionally, I was a little fragile, but I kept pushing on.”
“OnBad Boys for Life, we just rely on the stuntmen a lot more.”
Despite increasing physical limitations, Lawrence says a fourthBad Boyshas been discussed.
“I think we have something special, and I want that to keep going,” he shares.
“I’ma bet on myself,” Lawrence says, “all the time.”
