Age of The Nerd
During the press day for Kill Me Three Times, we were given the opportunity to chat with actors Alice Braga and Luke Hemsworth. The dark comedy stars Pegg as a hitman who comes to take out a target only to discover three tales of “mayhem, murder, blackmail and revenge” in the small town. And of course madness ensues.
During our interview, the duo talked about the appeal of the script, the challenges of shooting the film, the chemistry between their characters, and much, more. You can also read our review of the film here, and you can watch the trailer here.
Did you see this project as a vacation?
HEMSWORTH: [Laughs] Fuck Yeah.
BRAGA: [Laughs] For someone else, not for me. It was more of a torture. [Laughs] No, I’m kidding. It was beautiful. I’ve been to Australia only in 2000 to visit my sister. But no it wasn’t a vacation—It was a lot of work.
HEMSWORTH: It was a vacation for me. [Laughs]
BRAGA: He was surfing.
HEMSWORTH: Nah, I would look at my schedule and be like yes—I’m not working for 4 days and there is a huge swell. And I’m in Western Australia, where there are great waves, and big sharks. And I would go surfing. I took my own surfboard—and originally we surfed in the film, but it didn’t make it—I spent a lot of my time off in the water. Just surfing.
You said “big sharks”, is that part of the appeal?
HEMSWORTH: It’s not. It’s part of the reality. Yeah, sharks are a weird part of a surfer, especially in WA. WA tends to be notorious for having huge sharks and a lot of sharks. Um, Yeah… I haven’t seen any yet or touch one [laughs].
So what was the appeal for you? What intrigued you? Did you know you were going to get banged around and bashed up?
BRAGA: When I read the script, I was like ok, this is going to be interesting. I think it’s going to be a lot of work. [giggles] Its funny because I got connected to the project way before everybody because I knew the producer, Laurence Malkin, for a long time because he is my agent’s brother. So, they knew each other, they knew about me, and we talked about the script. And they sent it to me and I liked it, but it was something way, way in the beginning. And then they hired one director that ended up not doing the film, and then they hired Kriv. So when the thing started getting together, I got very curious about it. One, because I never worked in Australia. I never worked with an Australian director, and that’s something that always appeals to me when I‘m going get a job or something. Like who is the director, what kind of connection could I have, what can I learn from him. And I saw his work, “Boxing Day”, which is a beautiful film that he directed. I really enjoyed the work with actors, and the story was very interesting. I was curious to know who was going to be the cast, especially because it is such a film that is a balance of being comedy, action, and greed, and dark, and violent, and you know, having a little bit of everything to put that together. I was very curious how it would be made. And for me specifically, I thought it would be a lot of fun to play a character like that. Even though, it’s more of the emotional part of the film. I thought it would be a nice challenge. Being Brazilian—if you get a chance—I feel very lucky that I got a chance to work abroad. In every part of the world that I work, I meet different people, different crews, and different actors that inspire me so much. The idea to go to Australia and work with an Australian director, Australian crew, in a really different film with a phenomenal actor like Simon Pegg, which is someone who is always been on my list of people that I wanted to work with. And I always admire his work so much. It was just perfect. And I answered all the questions. [Laughs] Sorry guys, you asked a question and I was like dada…dada…da [laughs].
Luke, is it far to refer to this as your first U.S. release?
HEMSWORTH: It is, definitely. Yeah. I’ve done two films before this that never got U.S. released or distribution. But this is sort of—popping my cherry.
What does it ultimately mean to you? You’ve seen what its done for your brothers’ careers. You know, what it feels like to be breaking through. Like was City of God the one for you in the U.S.
BRAGA: For the U.S., yeah definitely.
HEMSWORTH: Um, I never really look at it from that point of view. It’s a bonus if it works. I always see it from the point of view of enjoying that moment and hoping that it works. And hoping that if it doesn’t, it will be whatever. Hopefully I’m growing as a person, as an actor, and in terms of doing those things with wonderful people. You want your baby to be successful. Sometimes they are just not up to it. [Laughs] Hopefully this is. [Laughs] I think it is.
What has been sort of the interesting part of having family members paving a way for your acting dynasty. For you, seeing that happen first, and has there been any downside to having them come before you?
HEMSWORTH: Um, look, yes and no. I don’t think, I never think about it as a huge part of our lives. It creeps in, in terms of when we’re together there is the definite negative part is the exposure in terms of paparazzi. You know, it’s a huge part of this world that I never thought I would hate so much. But I can’t stand it, and none of us can. They deal with it a lot better than I do, but for some reason I cannot get into my head why these people are allowed to stalk you. And it’s basically stalking when you boil it down. So that’s a huge negative. Um… Whether I’m allowed to have that view is always another question.
Is it different in Australia with paparazzi?
HEMSWORTH: It’s a little different. In some areas, I think the access here is a lot easier. You know, Australia is a huge country with not many people at all. It is very easy to get lost and get away from things. Where as here, you get areas that are very, very concentrated. There is Malibu Point, West Hollywood, hot spots that you kind of stay away from. Chris and Liam both live there, but that’s what they do. Yeah, It’s something I never get used to. Never get use to someone popping out and take your photo. I literally had that the other day and I said “why, why?” And he said, “we weren’t even waiting for you.” And I said, “why are you taking photos?”
On the plus side, do you think you came to Hollywood a little more prepared for the different kinds of career experiences?
HEMSWORTH: Yes and no. Those doors are open because of Chris and Liam, and there are also things that are a lot more difficult, I think. There is a preconception; people have an expectation of you that sometimes you can’t meet. It kind of forces you to be on top of your game I think. It kind of maybe made me a better performer. At least I hope so. Ultimately, it’s great. Usually, its positive and warm regards.
Did you have fun on SNL with your brothers?
HEMSWORTH: It was great. [Laughs] It was a wonderful day. It was really kind of surreal. We got flown in a chopper from our airport. It was like Air Force One. [Laughs] I thought, “Why, why are we doing this?” And then we got to where ever we were. I have no idea, because my directions are all scrambled. We got in our car, and there was a police escort in front of us. We took off, and we were stopped in the traffic. And the police escort has their lights on. And I’m like, “no one is moving.” And the driver says, “yeah, welcome to New York.” [Laughs]
Alice, what was the part of the movie that you didn’t realize was going to be so challenging when you said yes?
BRAGA: Oh, this is going to be interesting. Um, I don’t know what part because it’s funny…
HEMSWORTH: Kissing me [laughs]. It was really difficult, right?
BRAGA: It was very hard. Very hard. [Laughs] It was hard, because he became a brother, and you want to punch him all the time.
HEMSWORTH: Yeah, it’s a bit weird. [Laughs]
BRAGA: Um, no, it was very physical. So by the end—when you’re like barefoot and covered with sticky blood—People would touch me, and I’m like, “ok, can you not touch me because I got the blood all over my face.” I remember sending a picture to my mom, and she asked, “when are you doing the romantic comedy you promised me again, because you keep doing zombie, action, kind of crazy, insane, dramatic films.” So, no, it’s a joke. But I thought, I knew it was going to be a hard one. But definitely being barefoot on set everyday, and being thrown into a trunk by someone who isn’t a very gentle person. [Laughs] No, I’m kidding. But it was very physical, but I loved it. I love films like this.
What did you do to come up with the right chemistry for your relationship?
BRAGA: The good thing is that we became friends right away.
HEMSWORTH: Straight away, yeah.
BRAGA: It’s funny; we met at the screen test together. We did the reading sitting on the floor and talking. It was great—and I knew Chris before because we share the same manager—so I knew Chris before. As I said about the Australians, it’s funny; it’s a lot like Brazilians. So there isn’t this boundary of that cultural thing. He’s like making jokes all the time. I’m making jokes. So we kind of became friends right away.
HEMSWORTH: Yeah, it was really easy. Yeah, we started punching each other straight away.
BRAGA: And I punch him all the time. [Laughs] He would always say, “Stop making fun”. And I think that definitely helped. So we felt comfortable with each other. So apart from trying to create something, I think with just the friendship and hanging together with everybody.
HEMSWORTH: That’s right, it’s there, and you never let it go. You don’t have to create anything. You know, it’s inherently an easy part of the relationship. There is an ease that comes with it because you have spent time with each other and it feels right to be in this weird caravan in the middle of nowhere. There is nothing fabricated.
BRAGA: I’m glad people are thinking that it worked, because sometimes when it doesn’t, it’s hard because it’s not believable.
So when are you going to do your romantic comedy? Your mom wanted me to ask you.
BRAGA: I’m reading a bunch of stuff, and trying to do auditions. I don’t know, it’s a happy coincidence that I started doing action films and all of that. And I love doing drama, so even the projects that I get, I end up going for the drama part. And it’s definitely something that I want to start to do because of the challenge of being something so different that I have done before. And I’m looking for it still because I did a pilot for a TV series for USA Network called “Queen of the South”. We still don’t know if it’s going to be picked up or not. We are finishing the post production, but I’ve read the book and its amazing. The story is about a girl who starts dating this drug dealer that gets killed, and people try to kill her. My mom was like, “Thank you. Awesome.Now you are going to spend five years of your life being the girl trying to be killed.” [Laughs] It’s based in Mexico, and then she comes to the United States. But it’s a joke. I really like in film, especially, I want to do many different things. I wanted to do it, because I wanted to do many different things, like dramatic comedy in Brazil with a director that I love there. It’s a very independent project. Some little stuff. I did a film with Liam as well, but its a drama. So it kind of—
HEMSWORTH: [laughs] I’m not Liam.
BRAGA: But you’re a Hemsworth.
HEMSWORTH: Oh yeah. [laughs]
BRAGA: You know—it’s your family. It’s funny. But it is a period piece, so its not action.
Can you share one important thing that you’ve learned working on this film with Kriv?
HEMSWORTH: To love the blood. [Laughs]
BRAGA: To love the blood. For me it would be, Kriv is such a positive director. I feel that definitely being so positive and so passionate and knowing exactly what he wanted. That brings so much. He always made me feel confident more than anything, and listened a lot to what I was saying. And I would listen a lot to what he was saying. So I learned a lot about the exchange between an actor and the director. I love directors, and it’s great when you find someone that is generous and kind, but at the same time knows what he wants, and is firm with the decision that he wants. “This is great, but lets try this. We should try something else.” And that exchange—once you get it—it’s magical, because it’s painless. It’s like you just go together. It’s kind of like a dance.
HEMSWORTH: Definitely, there is a dialogue that comes with trusting your director. A lot of time it doesn’t have to be spoken. There are things that he will do and say, and you instantly understand what he’s saying without any kind of hyperbole or him having to explain, you know, “blah, blah, blah, blah. It just needs to be more like this.” Ok, cool. Bang. Off you go in another direction. There is shorthand that you learn with certain directors that allow you to access things very easily.
Have you staked a claim on any Marvel characters, since your brother is Thor?
HEMSWORTH: I want Batman. F*ck Marvel. [Laughs] I’m a DC guy.
Kill Me Three Times is currently available on VOD and will arrive in theaters on April 10, 2015.
