Kellan Lutz talks fighting Mickey Rourke in Java Heat, the plot of Hercules 3D and walking around in a loincloth.
Kellan Lutz is a busy man racing to get his Hercules 3D filmed before The Rock’s Hercules: The Thracian Wars. He’s also got two movies opening in theaters and VOD. We put in interview requests for both Java Heat and Syrup and Java Heat happened to come through first, but we asked Lutz about both. Java Heat is an action movie where Lutz plays an American teaming up with an Indonesian detective (Ario Bayu) to find the perpetrator of an terrorist attack. It opens New York May 10, LA May 17 and VOD May 13. Syrup is now on VOD and opens theatrically June 7.
CraveOnline: You’ve gotten to do a few action hero roles. Was this a tough sell on producers or directors at first, and has it gotten easier since you did Arena and Immortals?
Kellan Lutz: Yes and no. Doing independent movies, they have the freedom and we had the freedom and some people aren’t available, some people really just think you’re the guy. When you meet on them, I know for Arena my management company was producing that one as well, so it was kind of easy to be like, “Hey, I want to do this one.” And they’re like, “Oh yeah, okay. Let’s see what your take on it is and let’s see if we can do it.” By no means did they feed it to me, but I was like, “I really like this.” It’s just all about selling yourself.
With Java Heat, it’s all about passion I guess. I want to do all the stunts but I just loved the character of Jake and what he represented and what his journey was. The whole throwback to the buddy cop movies of the ‘80s that I love, having that passion and having the directors and producers see that you have that passion. They want to work with someone, like you said there’s a whole list of actors that can probably do it, the physique and acting chops that go with it, but I would want to work with someone who’s very passionate about it, who wants to travel, who doesn’t mind leaving their home for two months to live in Asia. So there are a lot of factors that go into it but I think passion really played a big part in it.
I’d imagine it would. Did you see Java Heat as a classic fish out of water story?
Oh yeah, oh yeah. I just love how my character just didn’t really care, he’s trying to get away with it even though he’s quite terrible.
Was the Twilight joke in the script?
No, we decided, because when I got there, there were so many bootleg movies. I was like, “This is crazy.” Some movies that weren’t even out yet in the States, you had all these DVDs for super cheap. While [director] Conor [Allyn] wanted to showcase the culture of Indonesia with the warias and the language and the DVD sellers, all these different things to show the culture itself. That was a funny little line that we were just messing around with, because I was like how funny would it be if they have Twilight? So it was just a fun little throw to it and it worked out really well. It was one of my favorite scenes to watch with an audience because they were just cracking up.
I think girls are going to really like your massage scene. How did you feel about that scene in the script?
[Laughs] I’m not for nudity. Again, I’ll get topless. That’s one of my strengths but by no means am I like, “Hey, can I be topless in this scene?” or am I topless in my life when I’m at home being normal. I don’t love to take my shirt off, but for that scene, I love the comedy behind it. I think when I read the script, I actually laughed at that scene in seeing myself do it. So I was talking to Conor, I was like, “I’m cool doing this. Can we do it this way?” That was probably the funniest day on set, seeing Ario Bayu’s face and bringing that scene to life.
If you like the ‘80s buddy cop movies, you must appreciate the value of a good butt shot.
Yeah, yeah [Laughs] I definitely didn’t love the movie because of that but they had a lot of fun with it.
Was the story of Jake’s military brother also important to you?
Yes, yeah. The military is very near and dear to my heart. I just love ‘em and I think they’re the heroes from my time growing up because I didn’t really watch tons of movies or look at tons of action heroes or watch tons of sports or have my heroes of Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan or Brad Pitt or anything like that. My heroes growing up were the guys out in tanks and flying jets. The ones on camera just weren’t being a hero to me. While being an actor, I just really love military projects because they are the hero role and I love being the hero.
This might be a bit of a spoiler but I think people can imagine if Mickey Rourke is playing the villain, it will climax with you facing off against him. When someone has that much history in the genre, let alone movies overall, what is a fight scene with Mickey Rourke like?
I really expected it to be crazier than it was. I think at the end of the movie, you see me just really pissed off at him and I spit on him unintentionally, like vengeful for him killing my brother. He just took it. He didn’t comment. He was down for the stunt. I think he really enjoyed the opportunity of being in Indonesia. I think he’s calmed down from whatever people say he might’ve been wild to work with. He really respected everyone on set and I think he had a lot of fun shooting and being this character.
Does Java Heat prepare you at all for Hercules?
Oh man, this one pushes me beyond. It’s a lot of work in every regard. Just more stunts and rehearsals. We’ve only had about two weeks to rehearse and I have to be an ace at riding a horse and swinging the sword. These are all things that I grew up wanting to do and it’s such a dream to be able to do it, but I’ve never been so sore in my life. You’re doing yoga and every mixed martial arts in one day. Your muscles are growing muscles that you never knew existed. It’s work but I’m loving it. It’s a good day when I can’t walk when I get home.
Hercules is the role of a lifetime, but you knew The Rock is doing a Hercules movie too. Was there any pause for you about embarking on another one?
No, no, and I love The Rock. I grew up watching wrestling. He’s such a great actor. I wish them the best. They have a great cast but the story is completely different. He’s much older and our Hercules is the man’s journey from him being a boy to a man, and it’s very real and human. Our character goes through being lovestruck and then heartbroken and then anguish and loneliness, sadness and remorse. It’s really a story about a man, a man and the journey to get back to his love. So it’s not a man with super powers. A man not understanding the strengths that he does have and he’s in denial because he doesn’t believe in gods at first and doesn’t believe that he’s the son of Zeus and just really feels rejected by who he thinks is his father. It’s just really going through the story of what a normal boy would go through and the situation that he’s forced into.
I saw a picture of The Rock’s costume and he’s unrecognizable with long hair and a beard. What is your look going to be?
You know what, I wish I had the long blonde locks. I was really fighting for that just because I always envisioned Hercules as that but we have so many fight scenes that are beyond epic. And riding a horse, if it’s not your natural hair, it’d be a lot of work and we don’t have time for that. So my look’s just, I have short hair in this. It’s very cropped and manly.
Will you have any mythological powers at all?
Well, even Renny [Harlin] himself, he’s like, “Kellan, I don’t want you getting bigger. Just get your abs to pop more.” I’m like, “All right, cool.” And I like being bigger. Even I saw Hercules as this giant guy, but the powers that he harnesses, it’s not like he’s throwing bears into the sky or really fighting off any of the monsters like Clash of the Titans or anything like that. It’s really just Gladiator pretty much.
Have you tried on the loincloth yet?
Yes, we walked around all day in that today and did some camera tests.
We haven’t seen your Tarzan yet either.
Yeah, that comes out in October. I was very happy to be a part of that one and do that, another dream come true. That one is motion capture and animated, so quite different. No hair, no makeup. You’re wearing a wetsuit with a bunch of pink balls taped to you. I didn’t have to wear a loincloth which I auditioned wearing one, with my underwear pulled really high and a wig. They’re like, “This is animated and motion capture so no need for that next time you come in” and I’m like, “Really? What’s that mean?” Then I had the time of my life doing it.
Is that in the original period of Tarzan or a modern update?
It’s very modern and contemporary. It’s very up to date and just smart. It deals with the situation with being green and not ruining the earth, being eco friendly.
Even though it’s motion capture, do you get to swing on a vine?
We had to fake it. We had ropes in the studio and we had a pool, a toy alligator I had to wrestle with that they then will create and make it real, so it’s tough acting. It really is acting in the round and you really have to envision the world. There would be a pole in the middle that you had to act was like a giant branch from a tree that you had to move. They built the world it definitely wasn’t the jungle that you will see in the movie. When I was doing ADR, I was just really blown away because I remember being there and I remember playing with the alligator or just being in my treehouse. That was just a frame of a treehouse that they then create. You just sit back and you’re like, “Geez, we’ve come so far with technology and being able to create a world that’s real.”
Do you do the Tarzan call too?
Yeah, yup. That was a lot of work and we can’t share that yet.
You also have Syrup coming out. What type of character do you get to play in that?
An antagonist. I very seldom play an antagonist and that’s all about marketing and the advertising world and how sex sells. It’s the story of two companies and it’s not really the taste that matters or the presentation or what consumers might like, but how it’s sold and the idea behind it and how marketing is so important. My character is Sneaky Pete. The book that Max Barry wrote is so smart and satiric. I loved it and I loved the script that Aram [Rappaport] wrote. My character was supposed to be Japanese I believe so it was just really great to play that character and that they were able to tailor it to me. It’s fun playing a character that doesn’t say much but you have to act with your mannerisms and your facial expressions to sell a feeling. That’s what I got to do with that one. I just really loved embodying a character.
Do you have some dramatic face offs against Amber Heard?
Not dramatic but I definitely get to frustrate her with how I am presenting myself I guess. I’m sure her character just is annoyed because I am her boss and I screw with her.
Source: CraveOnline
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