Michael Ealy may be one of Hollywood’s hottest men, but he hasn’t always had it together when it comes to love.
The About Last Night star admits that when he was younger he was like his impetuous character Danny in the remake (opening today) co-starring Kevin Hart, Regina Hall and Joy Bryant.
“[Danny’s] 28 in the movie and I was about the same at 28,” he admits at a press roundtable. “I was at the beginning of my career and it required so much focus and dedication that any relationship that I was in at that time was in second position. I, like Danny, took out my frustrations of the industry on whoever I was dating.”
Ealy, who married longtime girlfriend Khatira Rafiqzada in October 2012, admits that like many men, he wasn’t ready for love. “One of the things that I’ve learned as a man is that men tend to need their sh-t together before they can be valuable contributors to a relationship.”
While he admits that it can be frustrating to meet a wonderful guy at the wrong time, Ealy cautions against trying to change a man into being what you want him to be.
“I think often times, and this is just an observation, women want to mold a guy into what they need him to be,” he says with a hint of a smile. “But you can’t change someone.”
It’s a theme that runs through About Last Night. The film takes a no-holds-barred look at what happens to a relationship when the honeymoon wears off. The film is hilarious, raunchy, and very real. According to Ealy, About Last Night, is the first movie since Love Jones that really illustrates the highs and lows of relationships.
“It’s the first time that I’ve seen a relationship movie that dealt with the falling in and the falling out of love as good as Love Jones,” he confesses. “Love Jones was the first movie that I saw that it wasn’t so romanticized. They got sick of each other and we all been there.”
The film is irreverent and stacked with memorable punch lines, but Ealy also thinks viewers will leave the theater having seen themselves on screen.
After seeing About Last Night Ealy says, “You will walk away feeling like, ‘Wow that’s real.’