If you're at all familiar with the slasher horror classics of the 80s and 90s, then the name Kane Hodder should be quite familiar. For those who don't dabble in horror all that much, if you've seen Friday the 13th: Parts 7, 8, 9 or X, then you know Kane Hodder—although you might not recognize him. Kane is the man behind the iconic mask. Every lumbering step, every machete slice, Hodder brought Jason Voorhees's reanimated corpse new life.
You may also know him from his work as Victor Crowley in Adam Green's slasher hit Hatchet. To coincide with my review of the his latest film, B.T.K., here's an exclusive interview with... Kane Hodder. Mr. Hodder talks to us about B.T.K., working in and out of makeup and how he got into acting.
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JPP: Most critics mostly talk about your stunt performing, but I wanted to say that I saw Michael Feifer's last film Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield, and I really liked your performance a lot.
Kane Hodder: Oh thank you, I appreciate that. Yeah, I really like working with Feifer. That's why I was excited about this B.T.K. thing.
What's it like working with Feifer?
He's the best. I've been very fortunate that there are basically 3 directors that have the confidence in me to give me a real dramatic role. First being Adam Green who gave me my first chance to do something emotional in a movie called Hatchet. I played the killer but I also played the killer's father in a flashback and I could do some emotional stuff, and then right after that Mike Feifer gave me a great part in Ed Gein. And a guy named Richard Friedman gave me a really nice part in a movie called Born. If it weren't for those guys, I'd still probably be hitting the ground—disposably. But with Feifer it's a pleasure because he usually writes what he directs, and I usually like that because who knows the material better than the writer? I really had a great time working with him in Ed Gein, and when he said he wanted me to play B.T.K., I was, "Oh, that's fantastic!" Because I, as a hobby, follow—not follow—but read about serial killers, true crime stuff. So of course I already knew the whole story and I said, "That would be great." What could be better than... From an actor's point of view... Doing the violent stuff, I think I'm pretty good at it, but at the same time, Dennis Rader was a likable guy to a lot of people. They thought he was great, so you have to pull both sides of your personality there. That was such a fun challenge for me to do.
I haven't received my copy yet but I'm really looking forward to it. About Adam Green, I've seen Hatchet probably more times than is healthy. I really love that film a lot, it's probably my favorite slasher of all time. I just adore your work in it, both in and out of the suit.
Well, thank you, I really appreciate that. Personally, for me, it's my favorite horror movie that I've ever done.
In terms of visual style, is B.T.K. similar to Ed Gein?
There are similarities, yeah. Just from Feifer's POV... Again, it's based on the story. Certainly, we're not trying to show exactly what happened, because honestly, there was stuff that Dennis Rader did that even I was uncomfortable putting on film, so... And that's saying something. Something that would bother me to put on film, it's not very often that that happens. I think it does have a similar feel. We did shoot some of it in the same locations as Ed Gein. All down in LA.
I want to draw on something pretty obscure... I'm a big fan of the House films, especially 1 and 3. Part 3: The Horror Show, I saw it only once when I was young, but it really stuck with me. A lot of that stunt work was really great. And I wanted to thank you for that.
Oh, thank you. I appreciate that, 'cause I always thought that the House movies were a little underrated. I thought that they were pretty well done and you know, a lot of stuff for me to coordinate the stunts but also perform the stunts. Especially on Horror Show, I had to do some pretty big stuff. The fire stunts. And you know, Lance Henriksen still talks about a scene that I did with him where I was doubling Brion James and he used to tell the story that, "You know, I was doing the scene with Kane Hodder and the whole time we were doing the scene he was looking at me right in the eyes... and acting." Everybody said, "Yeah, so?" And Lance said, "But he was on fire at the time!" [Laughs] So he was just so surprised. That was kind of cool. I like working with him, and I wish Brion was still around too.
I wanted to bring up something else... On the commentary for Friday VII, you note during the sleeping bag scene that there was a deleted shot where you hesitated a little bit. Other people who have played the [Jason Voorhees] role, I think might not have been worried about that kind of thing so much. Like Richard Brooker in Part 3, he watches his feet when he goes down stairs. The physicality of the role is all the role is, and I think you're the only one who's really perfected it. Including the remake.
Wow, that's great. I always just really try to be aware of not... I just didn't want Jason to look too... Uh, human is not the word, but too average. Like the little thing you said about looking down to see where you step. Because he had the hockey mask on, and you have tunnel vision. It's complete tunnel vision, you can't see your feet at all, so you can't help but trip over something. But for me, I just felt I had to resist the urge to look down, because I think that weakens him a little bit. He's actually looking where he's walking so he doesn't trip? I'd rather trip on camera and have to do the scene again than be looking down at anything. I did trip several times throughout my Jason experiences. Maybe someday it'll be on some extras or outtakes or something, but I fell down several times just because of that reason. To me, it was worth it to do anything to not look like I'm tentative.
The Jason blooper reel is something I would love to see.
There would be plenty of things on it, I know that! In fact, we just did a new commentary for Part VIII and part VII. They're re-releasing those two again. Well, I think all of them. All the Paramount ones. And so I did new commentary and they came up with... These guys who did the commentary are some of the guys who did that Crystal Lake Memories book which I think is fantastic.
I've got the first edition. It's brilliant.
Oh yeah. It's some of the same people, so I knew it was going to be quality. They came up with some footage that I'm told not only has never been seen by the public, but I've never even seen it! They told me of a scene that I was kind of doing to play a joke on somebody, and I never saw it on film, and I'd been told that they found it, so that's going to be amazing for the re-release. New commentary is always good. I did it with Scott Reeves and [Jensen] Daggett, all of us at the same time. And the camera crew was fantastic for the Part VIII one. I think it's going to make it a whole new piece of material to have, just because of the commentary.
I'm looking forward to hearing that.
Yeah, and I did the Part VII one with [the film's director John Carl Buechler], and you know, we know each other so well that always goes fine too.
His [special effects] work in Hatchet was also amazing.
I think the design was really great. And not to mention, not all that uncomfortable for me, for once.
Really?
The Victor Crowley makeup may look pretty bad, I mean it certainly is uncomfortable, but he always designs stuff to make the wearer as comfortable as possible without compromising the look. So I always appreciate that. [Laughs] Because if it's so uncomfortable, then no matter who it is, you get down to your 14th hour in the make up, and you're exhausted, and even more so because of how uncomfortable the makeup is, your performance is gonna be compromised, you know?
I think the Evil Dead guys refer to that as the latex point, when you just can't bear to be in it anymore, you go completely stir crazy.
Well, I never get to that point myself. I never get to the point where I can't wait to get it off, but I do get to the point where I think, maybe, I'm so tired that it's not coming across as powerfully as I would like. I know it sounds like a bullshit thing, but I really don't ever hate wearing the make up, even if I've been at it for 6 days in a row for 18 hour days, I love working in it, and... I don't know, I just enjoy it.
It's great to hear you say that, because I've heard stories from actors who just can't stand being in the positions they are in. It upsets me, you know?
Me too. Even more so when an actor, if his name has become widely known around the world for a certain character, for instance, and then once they move on from that, they try to ignore that they were in that movie. And sometimes it's the movie that put them into the public eye, and now you're trying to ignore it? I would never turn my back on Jason, you know? It did a lot for me, and I loved doing it.
Have you been in contact with Adam green about Hatchet 2?
Yes, I have. I certainly want to do it, because I know that he has an even better story for a sequel, and I'm sure, knowing him—I can't confirm it—but knowing him, I bet there's a third story in his head. I know he's told me some things about a possible sequel, and I can't wait to do it. Cause I love the character first of all, and his writing of scenes in-between the violence is so amazing that I think it's just like Tarantino. I really do. It could be a nothing scene to some people, but the way it's written, it becomes compelling even though they're talking about something like, y'know, a Royale with Cheese. Like in Pulp Fiction, you know, that scene was about nothing! But just the way it was written, it was so interesting to watch, and I think that's what Adam does with his writing. And I just did another movie with him called Frozen. And we were freezing our asses off in Utah in the snow for five weeks.
Back on the subject of B.T.K., would you work again with Feifer?
Oh, absolutely. In a second. In fact, ever since we did B.T.K., I've been harassing him in trying to get him to write a script in which I can play the title character again. I don't know if that would ever happen, because you'd like a better variety in your actors, but I've always tried to convince him to write a script about [serial killer John Wayne] Gacy. 'Cause I think that would be an incredible character to play too, with the clown aspect and the gay aspect and everything else. I just think he'd be so challenging.
Any final thoughts that you can say about B.T.K.?
Just that, from the point of view of—and I'm talking about myself—from a guy who's been very lucky in this career... Because I went into this business to do stunts. That's what I love to do. I still love doing stunts. But then, being able to be in the position of playing a character—whether it has dialogue or not—playing a character that is known around the world, I was incredibly lucky to be put in that position and to do it more than once. I felt real fortunate. But then, beyond that, to be able to play lead characters in movies when I had never had an acting class in my life—I have no actor training whatsoever—and to be lucky enough to get in that position... Again, I've just been very very fortunate to have people believe in me [and] to give me a chance. If I didn't pull it off, then fine, but at least I tried. To be able to play a major character in a dramatic role, too, and I think more than acting classes and things like that... I've spent so many years as a stunt person watching really professional quality actors work, that I think that's almost the best thing, just observing them. And one of the classic teachers being... You know, I did Monster with Charlize Theron and I was a stunt coordinator and I also played the cop that arrested her at the end. But I spent a month on the set with her everyday just watching her performance, and just seeing how she got the certain places in her character, and I think that was invaluable to me.
