Tracy Morgan refused to consider his new comedy Fist Fight his movie comeback in a bid to keep his nerves under control following his near-fatal traffic accident in 2014.
The former 30 Rock star was left fighting for his life in June, 2014 after a limousine, in which he was a passenger, was struck by a truck on a New Jersey highway. The crash killed his comedian pal James ‘Jimmy Mac’ McNair, and left two other passengers injured, too.
Tracy spent months in hospital and had to learn how to walk again as part of his recovery, and he made his comedy return on hit U.S. series Saturday Night Live in October, 2015.
Around the same time, he also started work on Fist Fight, his first film appearance since the accident, but Tracy reveals he tried not to think about the role as a comeback, and instead forced himself to “stay in the moment” as he adjusted to life on the big screen again.
“If I’d have thought about it, I might have got shook (nervous) (sic),” he told Entertainment Tonight. “So I didn’t think about it. I got back on the bike and started riding.”
Tracy is thankful he didn’t lose his sense of humour in the deadly accident, and credits his co-stars, including Ice Cube and Charlie Day, with helping him get back to work on the comedy, about two rival teachers.
“They believed in me and… they gave me the space to be creative on set,” the funnyman explained. “So, with that comfortability, I just started being funny again.”
