Fo𝐆r Lil Rel Howery’s — about a newly single father of two, whose wife had an affair with his barber — he looked at his own marriage. And Jay-Z’s.
“One of the things I love about Jay-Z and Beyoncé [is that] they talked ꧂about cheating,” the 38-year-old tells The Post. “People think that when you cheat . . . you did something wrong. Jay went and got help.”
𒆙Howery, whose show premieres Sunday night on Fox, says, “There’s a lot of things a youn𒀰g couple can do better.”
The Chicago actor, who made for a memorably hilarious TSA agent in Jordan Peele’s 2017 hit, “G🔜et Out,” says he based “Rel” on his own life. He and his ex-wife have two kids. That eight-year marriage ended in 2016 — though he won’t go so far as to say that she slept with his barber. And he doesn’t blame his ex, Verina Zonise, for the breakup.
“It’s kind of me [calling myself] on my BS,” says Howery, who admits he made his own mistakes in the marriage. “It’s watching a man grow up by learning what he could’ve♑ done better. Rel is not a victim. He’s part of the problem.”
Nevertheless, Howery says, marriage has taught him one thing: “I don’t think you should get married [if you’re] under 30, even if you fall in love . . . A man has to clean house first. There are so many doors🌃 that stay open that need to close when you meet the woman of your dreams.”
For now, Howery — re♍al first name: Milton — is fulfilling one of his dreams in mining his own life for a show. He’s using his pastor uncle’s actual church in the series, which is set in Chicago’s West Side. The comedian Sinbad plays Rel’s father; Jordan L. Jones plays Nat, Rel’s just-out-of-jail younger brother; and Jessica “Jess Hilarious” Moore is Brittany, Rel’s best friend.
That last relationship, he says, is based on his friendship with Tiffany Haddish, the acಞtress-comedian and breakout star of 2017’s “Girls Trip.” She played his ex in NBC’s “The Carmichael Show,” which ran three seasons before ending last year.
“It is b💎ased on a platonic friendship,” he says. “People [think] men and women can’t be friends and 🎃grow.” His relationship with Haddish, Howery says, “adds another strength to [the show] that I loved writing. It’s just a whole other vibe. It’s almost like I am the softie, where she’s always like the guy, in a way.”
When it comes to women in Hollywood, How🅠ery has nothing but🅠 praise.
“I think it’s cool that I can hit up great creators like Ava DuVernay, Issa Rae and Lena Waithe, and they actually answer back and we talk,” he says of the🧜 women responsible, either behind or in front of the camera, for “Selma,” “Insecure” and “Master of None,” respectively.
ಞ“It’s always been like that when I go to women” for advice, he continues. “I mean, that’s who the bosses are. That’s who I respect. That’s why I’m fascinated, especially with Issa. When I did ‘Insecure’ ” ꩲ— on which he played Quentin — “it was all women. I never seen nothing like that.”
💜He says he still enjoys the acclaim that followed “Get Out.” While he didn’t get an Oscar nod, he did win the MTV Movie & TV Award for best comedic performance.
“I will never get tired of people mentioning me [being] in ‘Get Out,’ ” Howery says🗹. “How many times you get to say you made a legendary movie? So this is a dream come true.”