SILENT NIGHT Interview: Joel Kinnaman Chats With us About John Woo's Silent Action Film

On the eve of the release of John Woo’s near-silent action film, Silent Night, this Friday we were keen on grabbing a few minutes this week to talk with his star, Joel Kinnaman. 

 

Let it be known that I am not our first choice when conducting interviews here at Screen Anarchy. I have joked on occasion that I have a face for radio, as you will see in the video below. I also have no structure, I tend to waffle on, and when you’re supposed to be adhering to a strict schedule for the sake of Mr. Kinnanman’s time and obligation to the project, discipline is key. I don't have that. 

 

However, I seized the opportunity to speak with Kinnaman because he will likely be the closest I will ever come to speaking with John Woo about any of his films. Kinnaman would not only serve as Woo’s proxy but he is also a star in his own right. It turns out that he’s simply nice to speak with. 

 

Do we get a bit spoiler-y? Yeah, probably. If you're not familiar with the early work of John Woo, specifically his heroic bloodshed trilogy, you may want to put this article on your to-watch list until after you've watched Silent Night this coming weekend.

 

We talk about getting the job, preparing for and playing the role of Brian, a father who has lost their child and vows revenge. We also asked Kinnaman about doing action in a John Woo film, speaking about his martial arts experience and how that benefited him during shooting the action scenes. We capped it all off, asking him if Woo came back to him and told him he was rebooting another previous film of his (The Killer already in the works) which other film would he choose? You already know the answer. 

 

It's all in the video below. 

 

(Editor’s Note: To add on to how up to speed I am on doing interviews we present this interview in video format - which I knew was a thing, I just had no idea what to do with the footage after we were done the interview. Turns out it is hella easy, if you know what you're doing. 

 

We are indebted to our friend and filmmaker Todd Freeman for volunteering to tidy up the footage for us. Nothing could be done about my face, that’s on me.)