It seems as if Robert Kazinsky (Ben/Warlow) is having the biggest summer in his career so far. He’s in a big blockbuster at the movie theaters called ‘Pacific Rim’ and is in our favorite HBO show ‘True Blood’. He was able to do to a phone interview with the LA Times about his new movie and that he actually likes the Sci-Fi Genre.
So when he first saw ‘Pacific Rim’ what was his first reaction to the project?
“My immediate reaction was “Holy crap, that’s cool.” In the hands of somebody else, you might sit there and go, “Well, this might be terrible,” but with Del Toro doing it, you kind of go, “This is going to be amazing.” We got the script eventually after we’d been cast, and I read it through. I was like, “This is the most incredible spectacle, I think, that I’ve ever imagined.” And the most amazing part for me — and it still sends shivers down my spine — on the very first day of shooting, on the first day of prep, we did a big read-through with all the producers and all the actors and a bunch of other people that I never saw again and probably were vastly, vastly important. After that, Guillermo pulled up a 45-second Industrial Light & Magic test that they’d done of what it was going to look like. It was a nondescript sequence that isn’t in the movie, it was just showing how they would do Jaeger vs. kaiju combat. He pulled down this giant screen and showed it and there was just this silence afterward — until I went [adopts high-pitched, excited voice], “We’re in that! We’re actually in that!” Now that I’ve seen the movie, it’s even more amazing. It’s just beyond comprehension unless you’re an 11-year-old boy, which I kind of still am. Most fully grown men are still 11-year-old boys.”
So what was the first meeting like with Gullermo del Toro also what drew him to that role?
“It wasn’t like a choice, hmm, should I do this part? It was like, “Oh my God, I might get this part.” That’s amazing. It was like, “Please, please give me the job.” The first time I met GDT he came to London. We did a very, very cursory read-through of a scene, and he was like, “OK, that’s great. Let’s go and have a coffee.” I was like, “All right, let’s have a coffee with Guillermo del Toro. No big deal.” We go next door, myself, Guillermo and Callum [Greene], the producer. We sat outside for an hour and we talked about the movie and we talked about the character, and we talked about our lives. I was just absolutely blown away by how human this titan of cinema is. We were just chatting normal rubbish stuff. He’s just a fascinating and open man. He was so passionate about the movie. I kept sitting there, saying, “If I don’t get this, I’ve just had the biggest tease of my life because this is everything I ever wanted to be in.” I’m a massive science-fiction fan. I was like, “Please God, just make this one thing happen for me.” Now that I’ve sat here on the other end of the experience… I’m still, not even pinching myself, more like battering myself with fists and hammers to make sure that I’m awake.”
So how was filming and him being on set?
“I keep on extolling the man’s virtues and it sounds like I’m just sucking up in the hope of getting another job, but I’ve worked with some difficult characters in my time and it’s amazing to find an amazing human being. He’s an immensely powerful man with a dream and an image who is so passionate about his craft and so capable who is genuinely the nicest human being I’ve ever met… You’ve got a man here with no ego whatsoever. We would sit down with him and we would talk over scenes and he would listen to suggestions and then he would rewrite. You’re talking about a man who on a movie of this pressure, we’re working 14, 16 hours a day, and we’re exhausted. We’re in tip-top shape — we had to get for this film — we’re busting our asses off and we’re falling asleep during lunch breaks. We’re getting just enough sleep each night to carry on. He’s even working through his lunch breaks and he’s there for three hours before everybody else. It’s insane to see this man’s work rate. And I never, not once, saw him get angry or stressed or impatient. He’s still a fan, he’s still a fan of what he does. And that’s wonderful. While it’s been my privilege to work on the film, to work with him has been an even greater privilege.”
So in the movie Max Martini played your father. So was there any father and son bonding that happened before he started shooting the movie? Also how was Max on the set?
“He hated the fact that I was his son! I’m only 13 years younger than him, and he’s used to playing the young male guy. So, we made sure that every single day we reminded him how old he was. Max became and has remained one of my favorite people and a good friend. Because we were working so tight together, we would finish and then we would go out for dinner every night and we would go to the gym together on days off we had. I still see him. We have coffees or dinners. The emotional scene toward the end with the father-son parting, it was very easy for me to play because I had grown to actually genuinely love Max as a man and as a friend. Sitting there, I didn’t have to imagine that I cared about him, you know what I mean? I got to work with a guy I came to think of as family.”
We have to know who had the idea of the bulldog?
“That was Guillermo’s idea. It was a bit of a bone of contention for me. I even said to Guillermo, I said, “Dude, can I just have one scene where it’s about me and not the dog? Can I have one scene where I can really do some really heavy-duty acting?” He said to me, and I’ll never forget it, “There is not a single scene in the world that’s not made better and more poignant by having a dog in it.” The dog’s name was Max, ironically, and we ended up using Max for so many things. The story was that Herc and Chuck have difficulty communicating, that they communicated via the dog, and all the love that they couldn’t show each other they would show the dog. Max became a very important part of this triumvirate of me, Max and Max.”
Did working on ‘Pacific Rim’ help prepare him for his role that he was going to be in on ‘True Blood’?
“Working on “Pacific Rim,” there was a lot of green-screen stuff — look out at this big green screen and then Guillermo would come and show you sketches of what you were going to be looking at and what the scene was going to be. There was still a great amount of imagination needed to try and match up and convey the reality of the fantastical moment. Perhaps it was that freedom to use your imagination, which you kind of stop doing as you get older. To be allowed to use your imagination and to imagine things which are unimaginable has also allowed me the freedom to express my imagination more in a fantasy setting like “True Blood” too. To be able to play fairies and the magic of it all, it’s as ridiculous as 2,500-foot-tall monsters and robots.”
So he mentioned that he is a huge Sci-Fi fan. So what are either his favorite Sci-Fi novels or films?
“I’ve read everything that Isaac Asimov ever wrote, for a start. I’m massively into my fantasy genre, anything by R.A. Salvatore or David Gemmell. I’ve read every single book those writers have written. When it comes to favorite science-fiction films, that’s huge. I’m a massive Trekkie. I’ve got original artwork from the ’70s. I’ve got outfits. Yeah, I have actual “Star Trek” outfits that I wear. I’m a massive, massive “Star Trek” fan. When the films were being made, when the second one was being made, I called my agent, I was like, “Just call Bad Robot. Just tell them that I want to be an extra. I would do anything.” “Star Trek” is my absolute favorite.”
To read more of the interview all you have to do is go here.
Source: LaTimes.com – “‘True Blood’ actor Robert Kazinsky talks genre, ‘Pacific Rim’ role”
Image Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
