› Interview with Kerr Smith from My Bloody Valentine 3D (Jan 11 2009)
Kerr Smith appears on the hit ABC series "Eli Stone" alongside Jonny Lee Miller and Victor Garber. He's also well known to television audiences for his starring role as Jack McPhee on the much-loved series, “Dawson’s Creek.” MoviesOnline sat down with Kerr to talk about his new movie, "My Bloody Valentine 3D," a reimagining of the 1981 film which Quentin Tarantino called "the best slasher movie of all time. Directed by Patrick Lussier, “My Bloody Valentine 3D” also stars Jensen Ackles, Jaime King, Edi Gathegi, and Megan Boone.
Kerr, who plays Axel, the sheriff of Harmony, a small mining town where the love triangle has gone slightly awry, appreciated the director’s commitment to surpassing the usual limitations of the horror genre. "We go to movies to feel things that we may not normally experience. People don’t get that scared that often, but it can be fun. To have that added element of really caring about the people makes it a much better film."
Lussier found the character of Axel the most difficult to cast. "Axel is a very conflicted man with dark tendencies,” he says. "Kerr’s choices in playing the character are so unique and so deep, and the moments that he draws on and the surprises that he brings to his performance are fascinating.”
“I’m the kind of guy that likes to get in there with no ideas set in stone,” says Kerr. “I have maybe a couple of points I want to hit, but essentially what this is all about for me is exploring it while you’re doing it, and finding the truth in the situation. Patrick allowed me a lot of freedom, which was great.”
Kerr Smith is a fabulous guy and we really appreciated his time. Here’s what he had to tell us about his new movie, “My Bloody Valentine 3D”:
MoviesOnline: What scares you?
Kerr: Spiders.
MoviesOnline: You see a tiny one and it's ewwww?
Kerr: Tiny, big, it doesn't matter. Anything with more than four legs just freaks me out.
MoviesOnline: How many were in the mine?
Kerr: I didn't see any. I saw a couple of bats though which I'm not a huge fan of either, but I can deal with a bat.
MoviesOnline: Can you watch the spider scene in "Dr. No" or do you shut your eyes?
Kerr: I shut my eyes. I actually run out of the room screaming like a little girl.
MoviesOnline: Had you seen the original 1981 version of this film?
Kerr: Absolutely. I watched it in 1981. I did not watch it before we started shooting. I waited until afterwards to give it another look.
MoviesOnline: Do you like the look of this one?
Kerr: Oh man, it's unbelievable. It is more of a ride than I even expected. The whole 3-D element just brings a whole new deal to movie watching.
MoviesOnline: How did you get involved in the project?
Kerr: It came about through the normal process. It just came up as an appointment and I went in. Patrick brought me in I think, three or four times. It was a whole big process and I think at the beginning, he wasn't sure if he wanted to throw me in the Axel role or the Tom role. For me, the character of Axel was so intriguing and that's what really attracted me to the project initially. He's got a lot going on and it's a lot to juggle and those are the fun roles to play.
MoviesOnline: He's walks a tightrope never knowing which side you are on. Axel could have gone either way.
Kerr: He could have gone either way and I did my best to try to keep that ball in the air the entire film.
MoviesOnline: For a while, he's on the verge of exploding.
Kerr: Yeah. Well, come on, he's the sheriff of the town so it's his responsibility to find the killer. People think that he is the killer. From frame one of the film, his relationship with his wife sucks. He's cheating on his wife.
MoviesOnline: He's screwing a hot chick.
Kerr: I know, but that doesn't make it any better. It just makes it worse.
MoviesOnline: He's still insanely possessive of his wife.
Kerr: Well, who wouldn't be? Her high school sweetheart is back in town and what husband's gonna like that? He's second fiddle to his own wife. He's kind of gotten the girl by default. What husband is going to like that?
MoviesOnline: What did he do to deserve all this?
Kerr: Hmm, backstory. Let me think....
MoviesOnline: Was there a scene cut from this? There was only one naked girl. Your character and Megan have a love shack. Did they cut a love scene?
Kerr: There is a 20-minute scene with me running around the police station buck naked (laughs). I'm just kidding. Nobody wants to see that. Yes, there were some scenes cut, some funny scenes actually. I don't know the reason why. I saw them in the first cut and thought they certainly worked. It was probably a time issue just trying to tighten everything up.
MoviesOnline: No more nudity?
Kerr: Oh, more nudity? No. That's it. What's the matter? A seven-minute scene with a buck naked girl, that's not enough for you? That was it for the nudity in the scene between Megan and I if that's what you're asking. That's all we did.
MoviesOnline: Did you shoot anything extra or special for the DVD?
Kerr: There are alternate endings.
MoviesOnline: Do you prefer one of the alternates?
Kerr: No. I like this one. The ending to the original script is really funny. Axel is the killer and he's being held by Harry Warden in his basement in caged bars and he's down there writing crazy poetry. It's the weirdest thing ever. Our writers got ahold of the first script and were like “Okay, let's just change all this around.”
MoviesOnline: Are we looking for a sequel already?
Kerr: Yeah, they're talking about it, actually, already which is great and to answer your next question, “Yes, I'm in!”
MoviesOnline: What was it like shooting in the actual old mine? What was the vibe like for the cast?
Kerr: The mine was tough. The group that we put together is fantastic. We just had a really good time. Jensen and I knew each other from working together previously (on the TV series "Dawson's Creek") and Jaime and I got along immediately. She's just a real easy person to know. In terms of location, Kittanning and Ford City in Western Pennsylvania; small mining town. I felt like I was in a Stephen King novel. It was interesting. I'm from Pennsylvania but sometimes I think maybe they should slice that state in half and just be two different states. I'm not saying bad. I'm just saying different. And, working in that mine was tough. It does not accommodate you and it's dangerous and it's dark and it's eerie and it's damp and it's a constant 55 degrees and you've got a lot of equipment and a lot of people. It was tough but I've got to tell you, we couldn't have done it on a soundstage.
MoviesOnline: I'll bet it informed your performance to be there.
Kerr: Oh, completely. Being in the elements...I love shooting on location.
MoviesOnline: Did any safety issues come to your mind while working in the mine?
Kerr: Yeah, there's always that element. The further you walk into that mine, the scarier it gets. It's kind of weird but, in terms of rock falling down and things like that, it stopped being an operating mine in like 1955 or something like that. It's been used for educational purposes for the last thirty, forty years. They've been bringing kids in there for a long, long time with no mishaps so I was okay with it.
MoviesOnline: What was the name of the stuntman who played the miner/killer throughout the film?
Kerr: His name was Chris. I don't recall his last name. He did a really good job with his body movement and the breathing. It was really good.
MoviesOnline: Did you have a stunt double?
Kerr: Chris was my stunt double. Took a couple of falls for me. But, I believe, everything you see in the movie stunt-wise was Jensen and I. I don't think they used any of the stunt guys. That whole fight scene at the end, that was highly choreographed and we got out of that with minor scrapes and bruises.
MoviesOnline: But isn't it more fun, as an actor, to do it yourself?
Kerr: I love it. I didn't think they were going to allow us to do it. For insurance reasons, they usually don't. But, they did and I got a nice knot on the forehead one day. I'm gonna blame it on Jensen. Why not? I'm kidding. He brought the pick-axe into my head and I brought my head into the pick-axe.
MoviesOnline: Does the cost of insurance go up if you do your own stunts?
Kerr: I don't have an answer for that. I guess their premiums are probably higher.
MoviesOnline: Did the Guild oversee this as well?
Kerr: We have a SAG rep on set every once in a while to make sure everything was copasetic and safe.
MoviesOnline: Did anything weird or scary happen while making the film?
Kerr: I don't think anything weird really happened. There weren't any ghosts in the mine, but we did have a pet bat, a little baby bat, just hung out for three weeks straight and I don't think it moved. It was hanging on the ceiling so people were feeding it. Feeding it what, I don't know. I don't even want to know. I guess that was weird.
MoviesOnline: Did you have a favorite horror movie growing up?
Kerr: I was one of those kids that really loved horror films but I was too young to watch them so my parents wouldn't let me but I snuck some tapes into the VCR at some point. I'm talking, aside from your obviously Freddy, Jason, Michael, "American Werewolf in London," "The Beast Within" and "The Thing." Movies like that that didn't get as much recognition but, in my book, are fantastic.
MoviesOnline: You've performed in a lot of genres. Do you have a favorite?
Kerr: I really don't. My most favorite thing to do is to switch it up, just try and do something new every time.
MoviesOnline: You've switched it up on TV.
Kerr: Yeah. But, it's tough to get away from a doctor, lawyer or a cop these days. The last couple of roles I've done have been cops and lawyers. But I do my best. I take pretty much anything that comes down the pike.
MoviesOnline: Is there another movie unreleased yet?
Kerr: No film on the docket as of now but I do leave for Vancouver tomorrow morning to shoot a pilot for The CW, called "Light Years." It's an hour-long dramady, I guess is how you would classify it.
MoviesOnline: Vancouver has been having its worst winter in decades.
Kerr: They got a lot of snow. I heard that.
MoviesOnline: Can you talk a bit more about the pilot? Who do you play?
Kerr: I play a character called Ryan Scott and I'm doing it with Shiri Appleby (of the TV show "Roswell"). I have to get that right by tomorrow. We have a radio show and it's all about bantering about politics, any subject we can. But, behind the scenes, we're dating. In the pilot, I ask her to marry me. In the process of that, she has a child that shows up out of nowhere that she gave away back in high school and this child is now 15 years old.
MoviesOnline: It's every dude's nightmare.
Kerr: I know. It is. And within lies the comedy and the father of the child is this degenerate kind of guy, shows up out of nowhere as well and calls up the radio show and says, “Hey, look, we've got a kid” and he comes in and I've just asked her to marry me and there's all this chaos. In the end, we do get married and the three of us decide to raise this child. Me, the weirdo and Shiri.
MoviesOnline: So you are all "Light Years" apart?
Kerr: The child's, the girl's name is Lux and Lux means light. I don't know who plays her. This just happened a few days ago and I haven't done all my homework yet.
MoviesOnline: Do you think this movie will bring back some of the classic slasher movies that we haven't seen for a while?
Kerr: I think it might. I think a lot of people are going to want to go see this especially because of the 3-D element. I think Harry Warden has been sitting on the bench. Michael, Jason and Freddy have been running around on the playing field. I think it's time to put him in.
MoviesOnline: There hasn't been any new "blood" so to speak...for a horror icon.
Kerr: Yeah. Harry Warden, to me, is an iconic killer. What I like about him is he's mortal. You can knock this guy down. You can slow him down but he's gonna keep coming after you in an emotionless, remorseless, because of the mask, type of way. He doesn't care who you are or what you've done. He's gonna come after you.
MoviesOnline: Did they have all the deaths planned out or did you come up with more creative kills on set?
Kerr: I think it was kind of planned and, because of the 3-D, every day we were exploring new ways to make shots more visually interesting. I think they tweaked the way people were getting killed.
MoviesOnline: As an actor, does the fact that this film was shot in 3D change your marks or your performance?
Kerr: Performance-wise, no. Technically, yes. Shooting 3-D requires an enormous amount of light so you're looking at big, bright, hot lights and it takes a while to acclimate to that. When they're pulling convergence and they're bringing something through the screen, you have to hit your mark very precisely. The convergence puller has a very small margin of error with that. Aside from the fact that the process is still a little bit slower because of the amount of equipment and lights that are required, it is still a relatively new technology. It's a little bit slower but I think that will change over the years.
“My Bloody Valentine 3D” opens in theaters on January 16th.