Kevin Hart says Barack Obama got involved with Netflix's 'Fatherhood' because its shows a 'Black man being a good father'

• Hart told Insider why Barack Obama got involved with his new Netflix film, "Fatherhood."
• He said the former president saw an opportunity in showing a "Black man being a good father."
• Hart added that Obama has always been a supporter of his work, "which is dope as hell."

The Netflix movie "Fatherhood" is not just unique because it features Kevin Hart in a dramatic role, but also because it's one of the rare times onscreen where a Black father is portrayed in a positive light.

Because of that, the movie grabbed the attention of Barack and Michelle Obama, whose production company, Higher Ground, is attached to the Netflix film, out Friday.

"I got to talk to Obama," Hart told Insider, adding that the former president is a film buff. "He really saw the opportunity in this movie for positive messaging attached to a Black man being a good father."

In the movie, Hart plays a father who raises his daughter alone after the death of his wife during childbirth.

The comedian said even before the Obamas got involved in "Fatherhood," Barack was a supporter of his career.

"He has always shown a high level of love and support for the things I've done, which is dope as hell," he added.

The Obamas formed Higher Ground in 2018, signing a multi-year deal with Netflix to produce TV and film projects that lift diverse voices.

Previous to "Fatherhood," Higher Ground was involved with the 2019 Oscar-winning Netflix documentary "American Factory," about a Chinese company that takes over a shuttered General Motors plant in Ohio; and 2020's "Becoming," which looked inside Michelle promoting her memoir on a national book tour.

Based on Matthew Logelin's 2011 memoir "Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss and Love," for years "Fatherhood" lingered in development hell (at one time Channing Tatum was attached to play the lead) until Hart got his hands on the script in 2019.

The film, where Hart is also a producer through his own HartBeat Productions, marks his first major plunge into dramatic acting.

Hart plans to follow this up with another dramatic work for Netflix, the HartBeat-produced limited series, "True Story," in which he plays a fictional version of himself: a Philadelphia-born comic whose relationship with his troubled older brother (played by Wesley Snipes) could destroy the career he's trying to build.

No release date has been announced yet for the series.