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| Kirk Ward plays the hillarious Tallahassee in Zombieland |
Yes, the world as we know it has come to an end (at least on TV) and - who knew? - the sandwich guy was the one ready for it!
Zombieland's Kirk Ward took some time to answer to my questions about the fun pilot available on Amazon and hinted what lies ahead of our four heroes! Read on.
SpoilerTV: Does comedy (both writing it and acting it) come easy to you? Is it harder to make people laugh or cry? Which do you prefer?
Kirk Ward: Comedy does come easy to me... really the ONLY thing that comes easy to me :)
I find writing comedy to be harder - because you only can rely on THE WORDS to make someone laugh - and how they interpret those words from reading the page - therefore they have to have a music, a rhythm and a set up and pay off... where as - doing comedy - performing comedy - you can take a simple line and add: facial expressions, inflection, pause, gesture, etc... and MAKE SOMETHING funny... something that may not be there... But I LOVE the challenge of writing comedy - for sure.
SpoilerTV: Now, who would’ve thought that when it came down to Zombie Apocalypse, the one prepared for it would be the sandwich guy, huh? LOL How does it feel to “be” one of the last survivors of the world as we once knew?
Kirk Ward: It feels AWESOME. The Road Warrior was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid. I loved the concept of having the freedom to go anywhere you want in the world - drive fast - and being able to shoot anything that moved and never get in trouble. I guess my dream came true :)
SpoilerTV: Tallahassee is the best! How do you prepare to play him?
Kirk Ward: Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (creators of ZOMBIELAND) wrote this part for me in 2005 - they based Tallahasse on who I am and what my strengths are as an actor... Woody Harrelson made Tallahasse his own in the movie ... and he was iconic and amazing! We went back to the basics with Tallahasse - and I chose to play him as the every man that he is - he's a big lug - that finally found his calling - which is crushing Zombie skulls...
SpoilerTV: Are the zombies the new vampires? I mean, vampires brought romance and mystery to the entertainment industry and now it seems to have cooled down a bit. What is it that is so appealing about zombies? As a viewer, I’m not afraid of the zombies, I just like to see them being smashed... lol
Kirk Ward: I feel that in this post 9/11 world we live in - with recession, flu-epidemics - random campus shootings and massive climate changes ... that the ZOMBIE has become a social metaphor. The world HAS CHANGED - there's a real threat of danger in our country now - one that was only portrayed in movies and one that only happened to "other people" in "other parts of the world" ... but when we turn on the news and see a story about BATH SALTS - a street drug that eats your flesh and caused a man to eat another mans FACE... suddenly "the horror film" is real... Wow. did I just BUZZ KILL this interview. Sorry, America and the world beyond ;)
SpoilerTV: So what’s next for Tallahassee and his posse? Will they ever find a place to call home again?
Kirk Ward: All I'm allowed to say about episode 2 is... VEGA$, BABY!
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