MoviesOnline caught up with the one and only Snake Plisskin, Kurt Russell, to talk about his new movie, Grindhouse, a double dose from long time collaborators Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino that recalls both filmmakers’ favorite exploitation films. Tarantino’s Death Proof is a white knuckle ride behind the wheel of a psycho serial killer’s roving, revving, racing death machine. Rodriguez’s Planet Terror is a heart-pounding trip to a town ravaged by a mysterious plague. Inspired by the unique distribution of independent horror classics of the sixties and seventies, these two shockingly bold features are presented together on a drive-in style double bill, replete with fake trailers, missing reels and plenty of exploitative mayhem.
While Planet Terror brings us a retro-futuristic vision of horror that’s been weathered, stripped, and aged to perfection, Death Proof fuses the slasher film with high-octane car chase action. For Austin’s hottest DJ, Jungle Julia (Sydney Tamiia Poitier), dusk offers an opportunity to unwind with two of her closest friends, Shanna and Arlene (Jordan Ladd and Vanessa Ferlito). This three fox posse sets out into the night, turning heads from Guero’s to the Texas Chili Parlor. Not all of the attention is innocent: Covertly tracking their moves is Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell), a scarred, weathered rebel who leers from behind the wheel of his muscle car. As the girls settle into their beers, Mike’s weapon, a white-hot juggernaut, revs just feet away… Also starring in Death Proof are Rosario Dawson, Tracie Thoms, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Zoe Bell, Rose McGowan, Omar Doom and Eli Roth.
Quentin Tarantino announced the casting of Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike at Comic-Con, the yearly comic and genre film convention in San Diego, just weeks prior to the beginning of principal photography. Russell’s fans, who had admired his work in John Carpenter’s Escape From New York and The Thing hollered and cheered upon hearing the news of the casting.
Tarantino comments on the choice of Russell for the role, given Death Proof’s distribution with Planet Terror. "It seemed like there was a real symmetry to it. In the course of watching Robert make his movie, and watching the footage come out, and seeing it put together is that it started feeling like the John Carpenter movie he should have made in between Escape From New York and The Thing. It was unmistakable.â€
But the casting of Russell goes far beyond an appreciation for his work in Carpenter’s movies. Russell has shown tremendous range since his days as a child actor and Death Proof provides him a departure from leading man-hood to create a truly evil, devious, deranged lunatic. Russell recalls a conversation he had with the director about the role. Quentin said to me, "I’d like for you to add this to your rogue’s gallery of characters.’ I said, ‘Boy I’d like to do that.â€
Stuntman Mike has to charm and cajole and flirt, then incite fear and ultimately switch into someone who is maniacal and energetically terrifying. Creating a character who has such a wild range of emotion, and who is so deeply disturbed, was a true challenge for Russell: "The fun part has been working with Quentin in creating that character. It’s different from anything I’ve done. There were some key words here that I took to heart. One of the fun things I think is that character you do not see where the movie’s going, not for him anyway. His behavior is true to form, but quite radical.â€
Thankfully for his co-stars, Russell would leave Stuntman Mike in his scenes. "He comes in everyday with the biggest smile on his face, and he laughs, and he has so much joy when he does this,†Sydney Poitier says. "He made it feel so warm on set. Anytime he’s around he’s cracking up and Quentin’s cracking up. They just have these huge laughs. I can’t say enough good things about Kurt.â€
Kurt Russell made his film debut at the age of ten in the Elvis Presley film It Happened at the World’s Fair, marking the beginning of a career that now spans more than four decades. During his successful career as a child star, he appeared in ten Disney movies, including Follow Me Boys!, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, The Barefoot Executive, and The Strongest Man in the World.
In 1979, Russell was cast as Elvis Presley in director John Carpenter’s acclaimed television biopic "Elvis,†earning an Emmy nomination for his remarkable portrayal of "the King.†Russell later re-teamed with Carpenter on four films: Escape From New York, The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, and Escape From L.A., the last of which Russell also co-wrote and co-produced.
Russell earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Mike Nichols’ true-life drama Silkwood, opposite Meryl Streep and Cher. He subsequently starred in such films as Jonathan Demme’s Swing Shift with Goldie Hawn, The Mean Season, The Best of Times, with Robin Williams, Garry Marshall’s Overboard with Goldie Hawn, Robert Towne’s Tequila Sunrise with Mel Gibson and Michelle Pfeiffer, Tango and Cash, Ron Howard’s Backdraft with Robert De Niro, Jonathan Kaplan’s Unlawful Entry, Captain Ron, Tombstone, Roland Emmerich’s Stargate, Executive Decision with Halle Berry, Breakdown and Soldier. His recent film credits also include Sky High with Kelly Preston, Ron Shelton’s Dark Blue, Cameron Crowe’s Vanilla Sky with Tom Cruise, 3000 Miles to Graceland with Kevin Costner, Poseidon and Dreamer.
Kurt Russell is a fabulous person and we really appreciated his time. Here’s what he had to tell us about his latest film:
Q: You were awesome in this film.
Kurt Russell: Thank you very much.
Q: How about the comment that Entertainment Weekly reported about Gerard Butler and Escape from New York?
Kurt Russell: I was just kidding around. I think that a long time ago John and I had a lot of fun making the movie. It was a John Carpenter creation the Snake Plissken character and how it plays -- my creation. Our movie will always be there. They've done a television series off of Stargate. They did a television series off of Backdraft. They're going to redo The Thing. Remake Escape from New York.
They did some Disney movies that I did. [Laughs] Listen, I had a long career and I'm only happy to have had it. Good luck to everybody and see if you can keep up. Cool. My personal statement was "wait until Stuntman Mike hears about this.†He might want to rethink that. [Laughs] Like anybody else, I'm concerned about Grindhouse. I want people to have fun at this night which I think is a tremendous invention of the two fellows--Tarantino and Rodriguez. I think it's going to be a hoot of a night and I was really happy to have a part in that.
Q: Did you ever go to grindhouses?
Kurt Russell: Oh sure. I went to double features all the time and I was also interviewing for them because I was an actor. I do remember we used to sit around the room and sort of look at each other and say how did he get this part, are you actually going to play it? We look at each other and say "Man, I really need the work. I have to put food on the table.†"What about that scene where you're eating the rat?†"Hey, man, I don't even know how they're going to do that but I'll worry about it when it happens.†I never had to cross the bridge. I never really did anything that qualified for that world so I’d just go watch them. It was a lot of fun.
Q: What were some of your favorite grindhouse movies of all time?
Kurt Russell: Well, the one that qualifies I guess for me was Vanishing Point. I always thought that Vanishing Point was on the existential level really cool in that world and I kind of liked Death Proof in that regard. Death Proof has that kind of sort of just off thing. It's just off. It has sort of spectacular moments.
Q: What was your preparation for this role? The character was very specific with the clothes, the car and stuff. How much of that was in the script and how much of it was you?
Kurt Russell: You know, when you read a script, to me it's kind of becomes very clear and there's quite a bit of stuff that’s not there and it's not in the movie. Quentin and I got together and once again it was like, yeah, the scar should be over the eye, right? We looked at the first one and I said ‘this isn't big enough’ and he said ‘no, it’s deeper’ and I said ‘right.’ There was a standee or something and I said ‘more like that guy's right there but deeper and just more obvious, right?’ ‘Yup, more obvious.’ So we came back out and I said ‘like that?’ and he said ‘yeah, there it is.
Yup.’ [Laughs] We did some wardrobe things but we said a black t-shirt. Keep it simple. Kind of black pants, cowboy boots, stunt man. We got that jacket and started fooling with the jacket and sort of that kind of looks like Burt Reynolds in Hooper and that kind of looks like ....yeah, we want that and do the old 50's, yeah that'll work, it kind of retro’s him out. What about your hair? I said (Kurt makes a swooshing sound) just right. [Laughs] So it took about 8 minutes -- there it is. [Laughs] But playing the character was a little different because there were a lot of different versions and when we rehearsed, I said ‘I really have to go through some crazy things that might look really bad and sound really bad’ and he said ‘no, no, no. Absolutely do them.’ I did all those for 3 or 4 days. He was great. Never said a word, just let me do it. I was doing Marlon Brando at one point, I was doing it as John Wayne. I was just going all over the map I was just doing it as a complete screaming queen at one point. Trying all these different things, sort of a Snake Plissken version. He never said a word. Then finally the day before we started I said ‘I'll try that thing yesterday at the end of the day where we redid something where it was just sort of a loose straight thing’ and he said ‘yeah, I think that's pretty much it, isn't it?’ I said ‘yeah.’
So we started it out and by the time we got to the end I said ‘you know, you did write one word here that I really didn't take to heart and I think it's the core of all of these psycho killer characters, especially this one, the one that kills women.’ He said ‘what word is that?’ I said ‘coward.’ I said ‘I really want to do that.’ I said ‘I want to get there’ and he said ‘ok, absolutely.’ I said if we're going to talk about character arc, the guy knows who he is, and I think a lot of times these characters cover who they really are, so I thought that would be fun to do because I've actually never seen that, one of those characters at the end of the movie completely fall apart. [Laughs] Actually the only time in the whole 3 or 5 months of shooting whatever that Quentin ever came over -- and Dennis Leger the makeup man who I've done 20 movies with was standing there working on the blood and stuff and he sees Quentin coming over -- and Quentin had never come over to me during the entire shoot of the movie.
So I kind of look at Dennis and I'm thinking what can this be? Quentin is kind of holding his mouth and thinking and I said ‘what is it?’ And he looks at other people and drifts backwards and he says ‘just maybe a little less?’ I came out of the car and said ‘I finally did it. I finally went too far.’ [Laughs] Guess what? What that was...I saw the movie the other day with him and at the end of the movie when I’m screaming, he said, ‘I used that take!’ [Laughs] So in fact, I never did go too far, I never reached that level. That was sort of what the whole thing was, just having a great, great time. This is why you get into this business. This is what you hope to do. Every great once in a while it happens and boy you certainly relish it when it comes along because it may never happen again.
Q: Can you talk about the importance of science fiction in genre movies?
Kurt Russell: Every one turns out to be important if something really good is done. There's no great need to have westerns unless there's some really good ones. There's no great need to have mystery films unless there's some great ones. There's no need to have these kinds of films unless they do what they set out to do which is deal with in an exploitive way, deal with three things: sex, violence and extreme subject matter.
If you deal with extreme subject matter and you deal with it in an extreme fashion, then if you do something that the audience remembers and has a great time with, then it was important to do. You never know ever when you're making a movie if it's important or if it matters. It always only matters to you. Everybody on the show, you go out there and give it your best every day, every take you try to hopefully come up with something and try to make a movie that people are really going to embrace and have a great time with and at a certain age also maybe be memorable to them.
Q: Recently Dean Devlin said that he was talking to the MGM folks to try to bring the Stargate films back with the original cast. Has there been any talk or anything on that?
Kurt Russell: I heard that Gerard Butler was doing that. (massive laughter in the room)
Q: In the bar scene, Jack Burton's shirt is on the wall, are you aware of that?
Kurt Russell: Quentin goes ‘look, look, look, look!’ ‘What?’ ‘Look, look on the wall.’ I'm looking on the wall, ‘what Quentin?’ And everybody's standing around and I said ‘wait a minute. What is that? Is that my shirt? And I said ‘it looks vaguely familiar.’ I didn't want to burst the bubble, but after a while I said ‘oh yeah, that's great!’ He's crazy for that stuff.
Q: How many hits landed at the end when the girls were beating the sh*t out of you?
Kurt Russell: They were fabulous and I liked the kid Zoë because Zoë, of course, was the real stunt girl there. She's the only one who hit me. [Laughs] They were great. They did a phenomenal job. I've done lots of those scenes with way less punches than that and been hit way more. They were fantastic.
Q: What's the difference between playing a bad-ass character like this and playing some of your straighter, more adult roles? Is it more fun to play this? Is it easier? Is it just as tough?
Kurt Russell: It's not as tough because the perimeters are kind of wider. No, it's easier because you know that in the context of the screenplay, this character is turning all the moments. So just by virtue of what those characters do when they do something, the audience has to follow it. They have to see the result of it. By nature, that's I suppose egotistically more fun thing to do than it is to do something that’s more subtle and have it go unappreciated. [Laughs] But anyway…you keep trying to do them. When you're dead and gone, somebody looks at it and goes, ‘you know, they missed the boat there.
That was actually pretty good, very subtle, very real.’ And when you look at it closely, it was very good. It's a bit thankless those other things sometimes, but they're not to me. I like to see if you can accomplish with the other actors and the director that capturing the moment that supposed to be captured just as much as if it were something as broad as Stuntman Mike being shot in the arm and reacting to that the way he does
Q: Did you ever drive any 70's muscle cars back in the day? I'm from back in the day too so I can ask you that.
Kurt Russell: Back in the day, like you probably, I didn't think that much of those cars. I just thought they were big and ugly.
Q: They got hot later.
Kurt Russell: I never quite got it. I was in high school at the time or high school and college age. I didn't go to college, but I was college age. The only thing was I could never figure out why girls actually responded to those cars and those guys. You've got to be kidding me. What is it? Years later, actually about 1998, I was doing a picture and I bought a 1932 three-window Ford Coupe. Beautiful hot rod. Real thin windows so they can't really see who's in it. Dark and very cool and I suddenly got it. Women just go crazy for funny cars. They see something that has a loud throb to it; a loud noise and it's got a goofy paint job and it's obvious the guy has a sense of humor and a big cock.
That's what you get. [Laughs] From 8 to 80 they're going ‘oh, look look. Give me a ride in your car.’ Clearly it wasn't me because they couldn't see me, and there was nothing unusual there, but I said this car is amazing and I thought back on those guys in high school and said oh they really did know something I didn't know which is girls love hot cars. I'd get in this thing and to me look like a complete goofball and they'd come by and go ‘it's hot.’ What are you talking about? But they respond. I mean I’ve got to admit. You hit that thing once and they turn their head. So there's some kind of DNA connection that I never figured out. [Laughs]
Q: What's next for you?
Kurt Russell: Don’t know.
Q: I heard there was some sort of deal and you got something you wanted to do like the first one with John. Was there any truth to that?
Kurt Russell: Oh no. One day we were going some where. Quentin, Robert and I were riding on the airplane. We were going somewhere. We were kidding ourselves and talking about Grindhouse. We were talking about what they really did do back in that day which was they'd sign up an actor for like 6 shows and he'd shoot his part in all 6 movies in 1 or 2 days.
I said we could make an announcement that I signed a deal with Grindhouse Inc. that I'm going to make the next 6 pictures and they'll all be shot in a 3 day period and we were just kidding about that. I don't know where that came out of.
Q: There's a very famous story about Travolta when he signed up for Pulp Fiction that they bonded over playing the Welcome Back, Kotter game. Did Tarantino bring out the Escape From New York game?
Kurt Russell: I'd be like sitting there falling asleep in the car waiting while they were lighting a shot and all of a sudden I'd hear ‘You're going to have to go in after the President.’ I'd look around and then I'd hear ‘The President of what?’ I’d look out there and they were all on the monitor...all the time. I'd hear something from Used Cars. They loved Used Cars and they would go through Used Cars and he'd come to me with some part and he'd say ‘It's too fucking high’ and they'd all....they are a moving party.
They are a movable feast. It's really as much as you may enjoy his movies or his approach to making them and understand how intelligent he is about them, I wish you all could spend an entire movie working, come prepared, I do warn you about that, it's not easy. I watched people come in who weren't quite ready to go and that's not good, and I don't blame him, but boy it's what you figure it’s supposed to be when you want to have fun going after something and just really work hard. Really work hard and then when you get it, it's just the joy of watching someone who really cares.
Q: Any chance you might be in Sin City 2?
Kurt Russell: I never know about anything. I was in Tahiti eating pineapples and hear Tarantino wants you to do...what, that sounds interesting. I'll be back in a week.
"Grindhouse†opens in theaters on April 6th. I invite you to read my interviews with the two directors, Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, and the rest of the cast.
