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'Java Heat' Roundtable Interview Transcript
Q: What got you involved with this project (“Java Heat”)?
Kellan Lutz: For three years going back. You know what, I believe, you know, you have agents and you have managers and they are actively looking for new job opportunities and they read tons of scripts and then you have a director, in our case Conor, who has a short list of actors that he could see play the lead role of Jake and the two worlds come together. You know, I’m not sure if Conor reached out to my people or if my people had read the script and, you know, submitted myself for the role of Jake, but it ended up me taking a meeting with Conor and I read the script, I loved the script, so I wanted to do it right away and then Conor, I don’t think he knew much about me, so he wanted to meet me in person… So I met with him and I fell in love with him and he’s a really amazing director. You know he’s great to work with, but just a really great guy, so that’s why we’re friends to this day. I don’t think you really become friends with directors too often, but, you know, it kind of just worked out and, you know, we both loved each other for the roles…
Q: This was a very physical role for you. Did you have to train, especially, you know, to shoot guns?
KL: Well, I love action movies. I love being physical. That is one of my strong suits. Crying on camera? Probably not one of my strong suits. Some people are just good at different things. You can always work towards it, but I’d rather play towards my strengths, which are more physical, action-packed roles and, you know, with training in the numerous movies and projects I’ve done, especially military-based ones, I just have a draw to it… But for this movie, there was no special training as far as anything that just like I’ve known before and it was really just a giant choreography session of like learning the dance of the fight scenes and then, “OK, now jump out the window. OK, now run on the roof. Now jump down. Now hit the guy. Now jump on the motorcycle. Now flip him off.” So it was just, it’s just fun.
Q: Well, in case no one else gets to it, early this morning, it came through the Hollywood Reporter that you got “Hercules 3D,” which is a big-budget fill. Can you explain what that’s all about? I mean, a huge budget film.
KL: Yeah, it is and I’m very excited for that. Much like “Tarzan” was, I have dream projects that I’m able to try and fulfill… And, you know, this is something that I really want and it really shows that hard work pays off and, you know, now it’s horseback training and sword fighting and I’m gonna work on an accent because I don’t wanna be contemporary, but I know that, you know, I’m not British, so that’s not gonna come naturally. So I just wanna work and make the most real Hercules I can… We’re telling the story of a man who doesn’t feel like he is part god. You know, so there’s doubt and there’s a lot of human traits in that and a lot of things that we can relate to when you just don’t feel like you are good enough… And it’s still gonna be huge. There’s a lot of really great fight scenes and the story is amazing, but it’s real and that’s what really drew me to it.
Q: Well, my question was about “Java Heat,” back to “Java Heat.” It seemed like a very international film. Where did you guys shoot and what was that like for you?
KL: Well, Indonesia is a mysterious land that I had no idea existed, you know, until three years ago and I’m pretty worldly. I love traveling and I love what I do because it enables me to travel and allows me to go to worlds, parts of the world that I never knew existed. I think that’s one of the best luxuries that we can spend money on this day, is to travel… So that’s like with Indonesia, going there and seeing the culture itself, I could look at pictures, but now after being there, you can see that there’s not clean water in parts of the world and we’re shooting on I think 32 different locations… And the culture in Indonesia, it’s all about love. Like, really these people, they don’t have much and it makes me really, kind of upset with myself when I come back to The States and I complain about, you know, getting a flat tire and I’m lucky to have a car… We just take a lot for granted, especially on like productions with movies… You know, being able to speak their language and learn about their culture from them and understand it is what, like, I’m really in to.
Q: Is there a memorable experience that you had there that was fun for you? Or even in the set, just working with these crazy actors? Or being naked?
KL: That was funny. That was actually a really funny day on set. We had that naked scene, but I had, like, put a giant sock on and it was, like, a nude-colored sock and ‘Hashim,’ Ario, comes in and he, like, knows we’re doing the naked scene and it’s meant that I’m supposed to turn and do the whole, like, flashing him and as I’m turning, it’s a first take, it’s a closed down set, I have this giant, like, nude sock and it’s like I have “elephantitis” and he’s turning, he’s doing his thing and he turns to me and his face, his reaction and he just started busting out laughing and that was probably the funniest day on set and to this day, I still have that sock, which is just in the memory drawer and I always laugh… I had an assistant who got me in trouble by saying words to people. Nothing bad, but they’d be, like, “hitting on you” words… He’d always tell me to say it to like an elderly mom and they would always blush. So, I never really understood what it was, but they always liked it.
Q: I understand that you are from Dickinson, North Dakota, originally… How does a man go from being in a small, obscure town in North Dakota to becoming a star of “Java Heat” and the future star of “Hercules 3D?”
KL: God’s grace right there. I have no idea. My parents separated when I was young and my Mom took us south to, like, Iowa and then Denver, Colorado and landed in Arizona and remarried… I never knew what acting was until I was 18. Like, I never really watched movies… I just didn’t care. I didn’t care about it so much and I honestly thought that it was like Nascar, where you had to know someone… So then once I moved to L.A. and I was going to college for chemical engineering, I just fell into it cause everyone was an actor in L.A. and I remember working with my father at his real estate firm doing input of just numbers and everyone sitting next to him in this cubicle, older people, did headshots and I knew what a headshot was from modeling. I had got into modeling at age 14 cause I needed money and someone said, “You should try it.” I made 500 bucks for, like, a Dillard’s ad and at the time I was mowing lawns for five dollars a lawn. So it was a blessing to get in and I got in with Ford Models and I thought Ford was a car dealership… I really had no idea what I was doing, but it was a blessing… I was blessed with that opportunity, blessed with acting and I put all the trust into that… My Mom hated my guts for a long time for doing that and then she came back around, but then, you know, I love it. I found a passion. I really found something that was hidden deep down that I never knew existed… I have no idea how I am, where I’m here or how I got here. I know there’s a reason for it and I’m happy to see it through until, you know, it’s my time. I love what I do.
Q: Can you share with us a little bit on whether or not you learned anything from watching him (Mickey Rourke) work? I know you were the lead character, but just, you know, with his experience did he share any advice with you on how to survive in a long-term career in this business?
KL: Oh, Mickey. He would say a lot of things, half of it I couldn’t understand… He’s Mickey Rourke. I think there’s some actors who are just them and that’s what works and you can’t copy it. So the advice that he said would not work cause his advice was like, “Just don’t give a ‘f’ and say whatever you want. Conor doesn’t mind what’s on the script,” and he would. He’d say whatever, but it’d work and that’s what would work for his character. He’s very respectful… Everyone was just in it to win it and Mickey was just a really cool guy. So he didn’t really give me advice. He always said, like, “You’re doing a good job, kid,” and that was the coolest thing.
Q: Because you did have plans to study engineering, do you find that you apply those critical thinking skills or that methodical thinking to your role?
KL: All the freaking time. It is the most frustrating thing ever. I’m so analytical. Like, I just think, I’m in my head when I’m delivering lines, instead of being reactive. It’s the hardest thing for me to break… And then when I’m doing a scene, this is something again, like, I love what I do because I’m always getting better. Personally, I feel that way in my craft and I’m always learning and I’ve come a long way, which, you know, really means a lot to myself… So, it’s my own personal downfall, I guess, like a lot of actors have, but I do over think. I take that over thinking a little too far when it’s so simple, like a lot of things are so simple. You just got to let it be. Be in the moment.
Q: I understand you did a lot of your own stunts and you had some bloody scenes. Did you get hurt?
KL: I didn’t break anything– I bled a lot. Look, we shot a practical movie. So it was the first time that I put like gel, like fire gel on, where if they shoot a fireball, it’s just to prevent you from lighting yourself on fire. That’s when we jumped in the hot tub and that smoke in there, I felt like we all got pneumonia inside that place or whatever you get from breathing in smoke. When we were in the club they were doing fire twirling and, like, these fireballs had real alcohol or gel on it and that flew and there’s a part in the movie where, like, I wipe my forehead. My forehead was on fire, cause, like, some gel landed on it and I caught it. So we looked at playback and I was, like, “Geez,” cause it was close to getting in my eye, but it’s fun. Like, I don’t have tattoos, so my scars are my tattoos… But I like scars.
Q: So, just to get back to “Hercules,” cause that’s big news today. One of the last people that played it was Ryan Gosling. So, how do you feel? Are you gonna be in the same realm as Ryan Gosling?
KL: That’d be amazing. I love Ryan. He’s a really great actor. He’s picked some really great roles. Personally, I don’t compare myself or put myself in any kind of arena with anyone to try and compare. It’s like, I could compare myself to “The Rock” since he’s doing one. I’m no “Rock.” You know, we all have our own individual gifts and the way we’re gonna play things and for me I’m just proud to fulfill one of my dreams… So, I’m looking forward to it.
OTTF: Do you see this film as a career kind of transition for you? I mean, what’s the importance of this as far as, you know, moving forward, maybe kind of expanding your fan base a little bit?
Q: Man, I’m a business guy, but I never do something to expand my business in a sense like that. You know, I do passion projects and I fell in love with this one. A) because I got to blow a lot of stuff up and be a part of some great action scenes that were written there and the character was great… But I always wanna challenge myself and like being the lead of stuff as well. I like being on set versus waiting in the trailer. I like being active. You know, life’s too short, but also I love traveling. Like, I love learning and becoming more worldly and just traveling. So, I look for movies that take me to parts of the world that I have no idea anything about… It’s just important to, you know, if you have fans around the world to pay tribute to them and say thank you to them. It puts a smile on my face cause fans are the best.
“Java Heat” will be released in the United States in May of 2013
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