How Kevin Hart Went From ‘Undeclared’ to Unstoppable: A Timeline

Hart has been cracking people up since he was a teenager, getting his start at Philly's Laff House and briefly using the stage name Lil Kev. While his stand-up has grown to be some of the most successful in the world, Hart had a rough start: He got booed off the Laff House stage multiple times. 

Judd Apatow has given plenty of comedy's biggest superstars their first shot, even if the shows he featured them on weren't huge successes. Like his high school dramedy Freaks & Geeks, the college-aged sitcom Undeclared lasted for only one season but predicted some of today's most popular actors: Seth Rogen, Charlie Hunnam and a young Kevin Hart. For a few episodes, Hart played a Christian student who gets main character Steven (Jay Baruchel) to convert.

At 24 years old, Hart's first televised stand-up special came in the form of a Comedy Central Presents half-hour. His episode previewed the type of self-deprecating, family-obsessed comedy — jokes about his height, marriage, etc. — that fans would love for years to come. Also launching during that season: Mike Birbiglia, Tig Notaro and Demetri Martin.

Still an emerging stand-up and actor in 2004, Hart made a humorous cameo in the video for Terror Squad's hit "Lean Back." Fat Joe, Remy Ma and the rest of the Terror Squad are throwing a house party when Lil Jon and his own crew arrive. Hart tries to tell them the place is at capacity but, in the middle of the crunk era, there was no party Lil Jon couldn't crash.  

In the early Aughts, Hart had gotten some screen time in massive, star-studded films like Scary Movie 3, Along Came Polly and Soul Plane, but it was a reunion with Judd Apatow and a scene-stealing cameo in the director's own breakthrough film that helped make him a big-screen comedic force. Hart butts heads with Romany Malco's Jay in the scene that sees some friendly bartering escalate into full-blown beef.

Hart has appeared in more than 20 episodes of Nick Cannon's long-running improv series Wild 'N Out, becoming one of the first celebrity guests to become a recurring one. Not only has he served as a celebrity guest captain for the improv teams but he's stepped in to fill Cannon's shoes as host. As always, he steals every scene he's in.

As he began to conquer the screen, Hart began growing his tour empire with I'm a Grown Little Man. His first tour soon became his first comedy album and first full-length special. While still as self-deprecating as he had been five years prior on Comedy Central Presents, a couple of big changes in his life began to take over his set: the birth of his two children Heaven and Hendrix.

Music video cameos signify a new level of fame, the recognition that a star is just as desirable enough to be featured as models, dancers and the main performing talent. Hart in "Booty Wurk" isn't given a spoken role and instead gets to follow T-Pain and his troupe of dancers through what looks to be a half-dozen different rap video sets. The slightly meta angle of the video is heighten by Hart's humorous attempts to figure out the right dance moves.

In 2011, Kevin Hart grabbed the mic as host of the BET Awards. He even stretched his talents and performed with a step troupe during the broadcast.

The moment Kevin Hart went from comedian to superstar may have been when his Laugh at My Pain tour earned more than $15 million in ticket sales. He played in 90 cities and broke Eddie Murphy's two-day ticket sales record — no African-American comedian had grossed $1.1 million until Hart. Hart released a film about the tour that included him performing at Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre, where the record was broken.

Hart joined the ranks of Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy and Jimmy Fallon as the host of MTV's always controversial Video Music Awards. While his performance fell somewhat flat and the ratings tanked that year, roughly 6.1 million viewers still meant performing on biggest stage to that point. His promos are of some historical interest since they were used as an official coming out of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West as a couple.

Think Like A Man, loosely based on Steve Harvey's book Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man, was an ensemble romantic comedy featuring Taraji P. Henson, Terrance J, Meagan Good and Gabrielle Union. Hart ended up stealing the film, though, with a hyperactive performance as a recent divorcée purposely avoiding the romantic weeds he sees all his friends wading through. It knocked The Hunger Games from atop the box office charts and ended up making more than $96 million.

Kevin Hart co-created Real Husbands of Hollywood, an openly scripted parody of the Real Housewives franchise. The show, now entering its fourth season, has been a ratings powerhouse for BET.

His latest stand-up film, 2013's Let Me Explain, sees Hart's humor getting a bit darker after dealing with various personal life struggles. The set, filmed in front of a sold-out Madison Square Garden audience, shows just how much progress the comedian made in only a few years. Hart's humor here remains personal as he exhumes the dour days of his divorce.

Kevin Hart and Drake traded off for the January 2014 cover of Vibe's Race Issue. On his, Hart appeared between a white woman's legs with the headline "Kevin Hart Has White Power." The controversial image kicked off a year of the comedian and actor making headlines.

This reluctant buddy cop film — starring a gruff Ice Cube and Hart unafraid to play goofball — made $134 million, outselling 2014 comedies like Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb and Dumb and Dumber To. Ice Cube sneers, Hart screams a lot, but the duo understood how to play off their own strengths — all of which will likely be seen again the upcoming sequel.

There is a certain level of having "made it" to be a host of SNL. And while the Wild N' Out veteran shined in his 2013 debut, his 2015 return featured a memorable sketch about the gentrification of Bushwick and was one of the season's highest rated episodes.  

Pop star Justin Bieber's roast was a special case of celebrity roasting — no surprise, it was Comedy Central's highest rated roast since Charlie Sheen's — so the celebrity needed someone special to act as the master of ceremonies. Host Kevin Hart delivered scripted material and improv with aplomb, and no one seemed to be having more fun watching Bieber get burnt.

Following a massive movie presence in 2015, where he led four films, Hart was rewarded with a special achievement trophy at the 2015 MTV Movie Awards: the inaugural Comedic Genius Award. While accepting the special tub of golden popcorn, Hart brought his kids to stand by his side. "You all wonder why I work so hard," he said in his speech. "My kids are with me because this is why. I do it all for them, and I'm trying to leave a legacy behind so that when it's all said and done, the last name Hart means something."

The NBA's obsession with fashion finally hit a fever pitch at this previous February's All-Star Weekend. Kevin Hart and Anthony Anderson hosted a fashion competition that saw NBA players stunting their finest outfits for a panel of judges from GQ to men's fashion designers. Hart, to his effort, did not try to show up any of the professional athletes that were hitting the runway, though his red leather jacket certainly brought some Michael Jackson-esque flair.

Kevin Hart is comedy's rock star, so it's only natural that he's about to headline the biggest tour not only of his career but in comedy history. Tickets are selling out across the country and Hart is even playing two shows a night at some arenas and stadiums. Before the tour kicked off in April, it had already grossed $35 million. He'll also make history when he returns to his hometown of Philadelphia to be the first ever comedian to headline a NFL football stadium. A film about the tour is already slated to be released in October of next year.