Post by Leanne on Dec 11, 2010 5:24:30 GMT -5
THE PAINBARRIER; From broken bones to hard knocks, actor Kevin McKidd has suffered for his art
0 Comments | Daily Mail (London, England), The, August 19, 2003 | by Siobhan Synnot
IN these days of computer generated effects and stand-ins, you don't expect actors to have to suffer for their art. Yet Kevin McKidd has found to his cost that reality still bites and that the old saw 'No pain, no gain' holds true in the world of movies.
The 29-year-old Trainspotting actor, who stars in two pictures that premiere at this month's Edinburgh Film Festival, was hit by injury after spending weeks in the gym preparing for his daredevil stunts in martial arts film The Purifiers.
'These fights are all about split-second timing,' says McKidd, ruefully.
'The stuntman's hand passed over mine at the wrong moment and caught my thumb. I saw it bend right back and then felt the most extraordinary pain.
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Literally, I saw stars.' The high-speed move had ripped through the muscles and ligaments of his right hand, dislocating his thumb. But with cast and crew ready to roll and an expensive meter ticking away, the show had to go on, so he struggled through another 15 hours as his hand swelled to twice its normal size.
'There's no way I could have wimped out in front of all these butch martial artists,' he laughs. 'There's so much testosterone flying around on that kind of set and these guys had all been injured a million times. I felt enough of a wuss when I had to stop and call out for some hot sugary tea.' As if fighting single-handed wasn't enough of a handicap, McKidd also managed to blind himself with his character's quirky contact lenses. Fight scenes supposed to resemble those of action star Steven Seagal were threatening to become a performance reminiscent of Stevie Wonder.
'It was my idea that my bad guy had one green eye and one blue like David Bowie, so I was determined to make it work,' he says.
'But they were really painful and scratched every time I blinked. I was weeping through every scene until one of the extras came up and said, "You'd probably find it easier if you didn't put your lenses on inside out".' This is classic McKidd. He is a likeable actor with a self- deprecating story for almost every occasion. Self-sabotage is also becoming one of his trademarks; instead of choosing an iconic life on the Trainspotting poster, he went on holiday and missed his chance to be included. And on his first day of work on cult horror film Dog Soldiers he broke a rib and ended up in casualty. 'I don't have much luck when it comes to the start of films,' he agrees.
Accident-prone he may be, but the Elgin-born actor hasn't stumbled in his career lately. In the past six months he has made four films. Two more are already on release - the starstudded Nicholas Nickleby and a controversial take on the young Adolf Hitler, called Max.
findarticles.com/p/news-articles/daily-mail-london-england-the/mi_8002/is_2003_August_19/painbarrier-broken-bones-hard-knocks/ai_n37009294/
0 Comments | Daily Mail (London, England), The, August 19, 2003 | by Siobhan Synnot
IN these days of computer generated effects and stand-ins, you don't expect actors to have to suffer for their art. Yet Kevin McKidd has found to his cost that reality still bites and that the old saw 'No pain, no gain' holds true in the world of movies.
The 29-year-old Trainspotting actor, who stars in two pictures that premiere at this month's Edinburgh Film Festival, was hit by injury after spending weeks in the gym preparing for his daredevil stunts in martial arts film The Purifiers.
'These fights are all about split-second timing,' says McKidd, ruefully.
'The stuntman's hand passed over mine at the wrong moment and caught my thumb. I saw it bend right back and then felt the most extraordinary pain.
Most Popular Articles
Literally, I saw stars.' The high-speed move had ripped through the muscles and ligaments of his right hand, dislocating his thumb. But with cast and crew ready to roll and an expensive meter ticking away, the show had to go on, so he struggled through another 15 hours as his hand swelled to twice its normal size.
'There's no way I could have wimped out in front of all these butch martial artists,' he laughs. 'There's so much testosterone flying around on that kind of set and these guys had all been injured a million times. I felt enough of a wuss when I had to stop and call out for some hot sugary tea.' As if fighting single-handed wasn't enough of a handicap, McKidd also managed to blind himself with his character's quirky contact lenses. Fight scenes supposed to resemble those of action star Steven Seagal were threatening to become a performance reminiscent of Stevie Wonder.
'It was my idea that my bad guy had one green eye and one blue like David Bowie, so I was determined to make it work,' he says.
'But they were really painful and scratched every time I blinked. I was weeping through every scene until one of the extras came up and said, "You'd probably find it easier if you didn't put your lenses on inside out".' This is classic McKidd. He is a likeable actor with a self- deprecating story for almost every occasion. Self-sabotage is also becoming one of his trademarks; instead of choosing an iconic life on the Trainspotting poster, he went on holiday and missed his chance to be included. And on his first day of work on cult horror film Dog Soldiers he broke a rib and ended up in casualty. 'I don't have much luck when it comes to the start of films,' he agrees.
Accident-prone he may be, but the Elgin-born actor hasn't stumbled in his career lately. In the past six months he has made four films. Two more are already on release - the starstudded Nicholas Nickleby and a controversial take on the young Adolf Hitler, called Max.
findarticles.com/p/news-articles/daily-mail-london-england-the/mi_8002/is_2003_August_19/painbarrier-broken-bones-hard-knocks/ai_n37009294/