For a
guy who is such a hulking and dark figure in the world of WWE Wrestling,
Kane (aka Glen Jacobs) has to be one of the nicest and most cordial guys
I’ve ever talked to. Having worked
in the ring for many years, Kane is stepping onto the big screen this summer
in the balls out horror film SEE
NO EVIL.
Kane
plays a reclusive psychopath named Jacob Goodnight, a disturbed man with
demons in his past and murder on his mind. And
when a group of young delinquents get sent to clean the Blackwell Hotel, the
lair of Mr. Goodnight, one thing is for sure – there will be blood. (And
with visual Director Gregory Dark helming this one, the blood is guaranteed
to look good!) SEE NO EVIL is Kane’s
first foray into feature films and he sat down to talk about playing Kane
vs. playing Jacob Goodnight, working with Director Dark, and his thoughts on
the horror genre.
Kane
What
made you want to do this kind of film?
I knew
I could have a lot of success being Jacob Goodnight, based on my experience
with the WWE. So I knew I could
take that to another level in the movie.
And I’ve always been a fan of horror movies.
I’ve never aspired to be a movie star, per say, but if I was going
to do a movie, that would be the one I want to do.
How
different is the character of Kane from Jacob Goodnight?
There
are some differences. One thing
I think, the motivation between Kane and Jacob is different.
There are some similarities also, a lot of similarities actually.
Both act the way they do based on childhood experiences and of
course, there is the physical dimension of Kane and Jacob.
You know, an extremely large male, 7 foot, 300 plus pound man, so
he’s intimidating, he can pretty much impose his will on everyone that he
wants to and does.
Was
it hard to portray a character on screen that doesn’t speak very much?
No,
especially in my early years with the WWE, of course, I wore a mask and
didn’t talk for over three years. And
had to portray emotion with my body language, without any facial
expressions. So I’ve actually
had a lot of experience doing that and I think that makes the character of
Jacob; when he does speak, it’s important.
The rest of the time he let’s his actions show the state of what
he’s thinking.
Even
though you’ve already created the dark WWE character of Kane, was there
any other additional research you did to help you in portraying Jacob
Goodnight?
Not
really specifically, you know because of my experience with the WWE, I drew
a lot from that. I had questions
like everyone else, especially about serial killers and why they do what
they do, stuff like that. So I
wouldn’t consider myself an expert, you know, but I’ve read somewhat
about some real serial killers. Also,
I’m a really big Thomas Harris (Author of all books involving Dr. Hannibal
Lecter) fan and the characters in his books, not that they had a direct
impact, but the interesting thing about what he does is he gives you once
again, a glimpse in the mind of these monsters.
So I didn’t really sit and read anything that he’d done, but
probably did draw upon some of the stuff in his books.
Director
Gregory Dark has kind of come up in the ranks being known for having a very
strong visual style. What was it
like working with him?
It was
my first experience with a Hollywood director, per say, and Gregory had a
certain vision. You know, you
talk about visual style, sometimes like I don’t think that maybe I saw it,
but on set Gregory was always “this has to be like this”.
As far as even when it’s like background stuff, just little bitty
details, and I wouldn’t see it on set.
But then when I finally got to see an almost finished version of the
film, all the stuff comes through very clearly and you can see why he was
so, almost obsessed with what I would consider to be small details.
A lot of it is so in your face.
Can
you talk a little bit about the small amounts of prosthetics in the film,
how long was the process, what was it like and how much did it help you with
the character?
It was
about a two hour process, my make-up artist was very competent, she was very
good at what she did. And yeah,
anytime you’re able to put on props, even when I was on the set, you were
emotionally disturbed because it just had that emotional impact on you.
And I didn’t have this done everyday, the fingernails stayed with
me, the fingernails and teeth just because they actually, more so then
anything else, those were the tools, not so much the teeth, but the
fingernails is like one of the tools that Jacob uses as a weapon.
And the teeth just, for some reason, had sort of an impact with me
also.
Which
do you prefer wrestling or making movies?
(Laughs)
I still love wrestling. My
experience at WWE has been tremendous. The
major difference between the two is WWE involves twenty thousand people and
you get that energy and instant gratification of knowing that you’ve done
your job and knowing that you’ve entertained people.
Whether they hate you or they’re cheering for you, you know
you’ve done it. In contrast,
soon, I’ll know what the audience thinks about something I did almost two
years ago. So just the delayed
gratification of the movie, you know, is something that is completely alien
to me and being an adrenaline junkie, as all of us are to some extent,
there’s just nothing like going out there in the WWE ring.
What
are your thoughts on the horror genre? Would
you like to do more of these types of films?
Yeah,
absolutely. I’d absolutely
love to do another See No Evil. Horror
movies and suspense movies are my favorite.
I think its escapist, it’s terrifying in itself, and a horror movie
lets you escape into something. It’s
an alternative world that usually, especially in movies like Halloween and
Friday the 13th, the protagonists are able to overcome the evil
in the movie. But I’m a fan of
the genre.
What
are some of your favorite horror films?
I like
the first Halloween, I like the first Nightmare on Elm Street.
I like The Exorcist, even thought it’s more of a suspense movie.
I like Silence of the Lambs because of Anthony Hopkins.
Do
you plans to make more films?
I
don’t have any plans, but I’d like to do another one.