As Killer #2, McKidd dresses like a dandy and dances his way through fight scenes. But while most dances don't end in the death of a participant, anyone who tangos with Killer #2 finds that dance will be their last on earth. He's brutal, unrepentant, and a character unlike any McKidd has ever played before. And in our exclusive phone interview, McKidd talked about why he found playing Killer #2 impossible to resist, training for the film, and Guy Moshe's vision for Bunraku.
Exclusive Kevin McKidd Bunraku Interview
What was the appeal of playing Killer #2?
Kevin McKidd: "Well, this film we shot before I started on Grey's Anatomy and back then I'd just finished a long stint on a TV show called Journeyman, which was an amazing experience. But this script came along and I'd never read anything quite like it. I'm always very excited by something that's a curveball or from left field. Having just come out of a very network - which is great - but mainstream network situation on Journeyman, it felt like a great palate cleanser for me to do that, play that kind of villainous role in the movie. I thought I'd have a lot of fun with it, which I did. And, also, speaking to Guy Moshe who wrote and directed it, he had a very particular vision right from the start. None of the way the movie looks is by accident. He had this kind of weird vision at the start. And when you meet a filmmaker who really does have that very clear, it's always good to see where that leads, you know?"
When a filmmaker has such a 'weird vision' as you said, it could also go horribly wrong. What made you so sure this would work?
Kevin McKidd: "Well, you can never be sure. [Laughing] It's a roll of the dice in the movie business. I mean, every single movie is a roll of the dice. Any movie on paper could look like it's going to be fantastic. You know what I mean? I've done movies that I've been advised not to do. Dog Soldiers, the movie I did 11 years ago now, I remember my agent at the time was like, 'You shouldn't do that. It's a weird film about werewolves,' and it became a cult hit. And I've always used that as my example of how you should kind of go with your gut. At the end of the day none of this is brain surgery, so the risk is worth it, I think, nine times out of ten. As long as you feel that there's something there that's either going to be fun or worth telling as a story."
And Killer #2's such a different character from anything you've ever played before, so that has to be part of the appeal too, right?
Kevin McKidd: "Absolutely. That's a huge appeal for me. I generally play villains once every three or four years by choice because I get offered villainous roles a lot, because of the way I look and whatever. And I tend to avoid them because I think you can end up in a cul-de-sac of your own making if you're cast in that. So, when this one came along it just seemed like a good fit. I'd come from this very heroic sort of family man in Journeyman, which I liked, and my twisted mind sometimes likes to throw the baby out with the bathwater and do something 180 degrees away from him. So Killer #2 was definitely very antithetical to the characters I've been playing recently."
Did you come up with a name for the character, or was he always just Killer #2 in your mind?
Kevin McKidd: "No. [Laughing] He's called Killer #2, which is a very weird concept but I get it. I think Guy had the idea with Bunraku that he very much wanted it to be almost like a performance art piece. It's out there and I liked that. I kind of like the dehumanization of him. Although, in a weird way, you kind of feel for the guy because everything's pitch dark in his soul as an individual but there's obviously some kind of pain there, you know? He was a fun character to play."
If you didn't feel for him somewhat, it would have been tough to play him.
Kevin McKidd: "That's right. You have to have some kind of empathy for any character that you play. But I think I latched on to it very quickly that he obviously has unfinished business with Demi Moore's character and she very much basically hates every atom in his body. And I think that kind of breaks Killer #2's heart, you know? I think he's secretly pining for her, and that's partly what fuels his fire to deal with the dastardly deeds that he does."
Did you put together a detailed backstory for Killer #2 when you preparing to play him or just the basics?
Kevin McKidd: "I try and create a backstory for my characters. I did my best because he lives in this very fictitious world. But, yeah, Ron Perlman and I sat down and had dinner and talked about it. The main backstory is kind of Ron and my character. There's a big power struggle between Nicola and Killer #2, so I think we felt it was important for us to have a strong backstory where we all started from. Guy Moshe actually had a very detailed backstory for all the characters, so he was very helpful too."
Even the way you move your body in this is different from anything else you've ever done. How tough was it to physically do this role?
Kevin McKidd: "It was tough. It was, really. I remember I pulled a muscle I didn't even know that I had in my groin on my right leg and could hardly walk for about two weeks. All that stuff I basically did myself and it took a month to train. And that was one of the other things that really attracted me to it was I've never been asked to, apart from all the sword fighting, to be really smooth and almost balletic. I really had to see how far I could push my body and learn these martial arts skills that I've never done before. It was a real challenge, and something I really rose to and hopefully pull off in some way. And having come from kind of having done zero of that stuff, yeah, it was a real challenge. There was a lot of pain and a lot of ice packs, and a lot of long salt baths. It was a tough, tough pre-schedule - the training portion. There was a great team of stunt guys who drilled us and trained us like we were in boot camp."
Was doing this dance-style fighting and pulling off those balletic moves more difficult than you thought it would be?
Kevin McKidd: "Yeah. My character had a lot of cane work. My character has this cane that turns into a sword, and we wanted him to be very deft at that. Guy Moshe had this idea that Killer #2 was almost like the Fred Astaire of the killer world, you know? He dances his way through these fights and that's what made him so deadly. And so I had to go to dance class as well as doing the martial arts. We tried to sort of feed some of that in there to get what Guy wanted."
Are you a good dancer?
Kevin McKidd: [Laughing] "Not particularly. You should ask my wife that question. It's hard. Dancing is harder than you think."
And I heard that you, Josh Hartnett, and Gackt did 95% of your own stunt work.
Kevin McKidd: "Yes, we did. It was all in camera. There were no effects, really. There were a couple of wires, but that was it."
Did you end up with any injuries, besides the one to your groin?
Kevin McKidd: "I'm trying to think if I did... I didn't get hit or struck by anyone. You know, these stunt guys are so professional. There were a few moments where Gackt came a bit too close with his [hits]. In the big mano mano fight, Gackt and I have a big sword fight in the Japanese garden and, yeah, there was a few times where I could feel the wind whistle past my nose as his blade came a little frighteningly too close to my face. But luckily we didn't actually get to the point of contact."
Were you familiar with Bunraku prior to this film?
Kevin McKidd: "No, I had to ask Guy. I was like, 'What is Bunraku?' And he said, 'Japanese puppetry - the second most popular form of theatre in Japan,' which I didn't know. He said that was kind of his jumping off point for the movie as it stands. Although there are references to puppetry throughout the entire film."
Your costume, in addition to your dance moves, is interesting. Did just putting on the outfit help you get into the character?
Kevin McKidd: "It did, because you feel almost like an alien. Guy wanted everyone to be very deconstructed. He wanted me to be in a suit but not a suit, a suit that had all this angularity to it. Guy and I sat down and sort of figured that out. He would stand and watch me try on different things. Eventually we landed on this idea of what he should look like. So, yeah, getting that hat and those crazy glasses that Guy wanted me to wear - those pink, feminine glasses that just clipped on his nose - yeah. As soon as you put stuff like that on because a lot, especially playing villains, I think, is just stepping inside the skin of that character and sort of trying to fill it. Because there's a theatricality to Bunraku that I think if you didn't go there, you'd fall flat on your face."
