Joel Kinnaman can shoot you from 135 yards now — and possibly more on a good day. Not that he would use his newfound skills for that purpose, but the actor has been training with handguns for the "RoboCop" reboot, which requires a lot more action skills and gunplay than his role as a Seattle cop on "The Killing" ever did. "We can put some action hero shit in there for Holder now!" he laughed with glee about his new abilities.
Kinnaman told The Playlist while doing the press rounds for the American release of "Easy Money" that he's been taking lessons with "Uncle Scotty" Reitz, the lead firearms and tactics instructor at International Tactical. "Uncle Scotty spent 30 years in the LAPD, and was in the Metro Division and SWAT," Kinnaman enthused. "He's written books on gunfighting," including "The Art of Modern Gunfighting," "so he's the leading expert. I'm in the right hands. I'm learning a bunch of cool stuff, and I would have been happy to save up money to pay for this."
Kinnaman's been learning to hit torso-sized paper and steel targets, and is very proud that the other day, "I actually hit a 190-yard shot on film." The actor is about to phase into higher level physical conditioning, tactical, and Navy SEAL-type training, because "I would like to be able to do as many of my own stunts where I can," he said. "Alex Murphy has one level of skill, but RoboCop handles situations differently, so I need to do both."
Prior to training these few weeks, Kinnaman thought he would have to bulk up as well, but that turned out not to be the case. "I can't gain that much weight, because they already took measurements for the suit," he revealed. "It would be very snug if I gained too much. I mean, I gained a bit because I'm getting strong and working on balance, and doing boxing and martial arts, but it's more about finding a center where I can be in control of my body and open up my movement. So I need to be in very good shape for that."
Although his concentration right now is on the physical side of the action film, Kinnaman said this "RoboCop" — which will also feature Hugh Laurie, Gary Oldman, Samuel L. Jackson, and Abbie Cornish — will be "intelligent and substantial."
"[Director] José [Padilha] is an actor's director," Kinnaman said. "When I met with him, I was already a big fan of his because of 'Elite Squad,' but I wasn't one hundred percent sure what the remake would be like. It could go any number of ways. But when I heard his version, his take, I knew it would be realistic. It would be grounded. If you look at his movies, they're serious and gritty, so it will have that quality, but it won't be deadly serious. It will have a satirical quality, and it will have throwbacks to the original. It's going to have that wink in the eye, but we're not looking to replicate the Verhoeven tone."
The first taste of that, he said, can be seen in the viral video recently released, an OmniCorp advertisement for the ED-209. "I thought that was great," Kinnaman said. "It was right on." But whether this means we can expect a long-lead viral campaign for "RoboCop" a la "Prometheus," the actor was unsure. "That video of the Fassbender robot was really cool. For us, so far everything looks really amazing, as far as the art direction is concerned, but right now, we're more focused on starting to shoot."
Kinnaman starts shooting "RoboCop" in September, but so far, he doesn't know when he's due back to work for "The Killing." The cast have yet to be notified by AMC if they'll get a third season, he said, but he's not worried: "They took their time before telling us if we'd get a season two." In the meantime, he has a few suggestions on how to spice up the show and soothe fans who were ruffled by the two-season wait to find out who killed Rosie Larsen.
"The attention span of the American audience did not tolerate a two-season mystery, so I think we should tell everyone that the next mystery will play out in one season, but actually take three more seasons to tell it," he laughed. "No, no, on second thought, we shouldn't do a fake out. But seriously, let's get deeper with the characters. Let's find out more about Holder's back story. Let's get in there with the things in his personal life and his relationship with his broken-up family."
And for the fans who don't really care about the plot anymore but just want to see Holder in his element, Kinnaman has an idea for a "Killing" spinoff — the Holder cooking show. "People love it when he makes the breakfast burritos, so let's have him do the shootouts while making breakfast," he joked. "It'll be brilliant!"
