When the cult classic film Clueless came out almost twenty years ago, no one could have imagined that Donald Faison would be donning a costume and playing a superhero at some point in his career, right? But now here he is, getting ready to release his new film, Kick-Ass 2. That’s the great thing about Hollywood, anything can happen.
Faison had a lot to share about the evolution of his acting career when we sat down with him in Los Angeles last week for a roundtable interview to discuss the film.
From the more forgiving streets of Beverly Hills in Clueless to the rough and tumble world of Kick-Ass 2, Faison’s energy is contagious. He plays the character Dr. Gravity, who teams up with Kick-Ass to fight the evils of every day life, as a masked vigilante. His performance is entertaining, to say the least, as he adds all the necessary enthusiasm to the role to make him an unforgettable character.
Check out the interview below!
How did the role in Kick-Ass 2 come about – was it created for you, or did you audition?
Donald Faison: I auditioned. The role is in the comic book but I auditioned for studio purposes, and for Matthew Vaughn, so they could see who I was.
Why did you want to do it? What was so great about it?
Donald Faison: I saw the first Kick-Ass and I loved it. I thought it was an amazing movie. It’s just a great action film that caught me off-guard. You see all these super hero movies, and super heroes have a moral code that they live by and it seemed like in Kick-Ass, that wasn’t the case. It was survival on the streets and still try to fight crime. I think that’s a more realistic version of what vigilantes would be. I don’t think we’ll see a Superman ever flying in the sky or anything like that, and if that does happen, I don’t think the outcome that we watch in the movies is gonna be the outcome in real life. I think we’d send the army after this person, and the navy, and the air force, and the marines, after this person.
In Kick-Ass you really feel like these people are in a giant city and they’re trying to make a difference. And, you can kinda go under the radar as masked vigilantes in a giant city. There are a bunch of them in Los Angeles right now that you’ve never heard of. I think the biggest one, the one that became the biggest masked vigilante is Phoenix Jones. When everyone saw that they thought that dude was crazy. I think that’s what these people are too. They’re crazy enough to put on a costume and go fight. That appealed to me, that’s more realistic.
In all honesty, if someone said to me ‘do you want to be the next Batman?’ I’d say, ‘for sure, eh why not?’
What did you think of the costume?
Donald Faison: I loved the costume. The costume is just like the comic book. John Romita designed the costume, and designed actually everything you see – the Kick-Ass and the Kick-Ass family. He was the artist for the comic book. He and Marc Millar really set a tone. The costume designer and the costume director, they really embraced Marc Millar and John Romita’s vision.
If you had a favorite day on set, which was it?
Donald Faison: The first day I got to fight, that was my favorite day. Before all of that, it was a bunch of walking around, posing. The day I got to fight bad guys was the best day ever.
Did you take to the fight choreography easily or was that kinda a nice challenge for you?
Donald Faison: It was the first time I’d ever done anything like that. I wish I could say it was easy, but it’s hard work. Pulling a punch when you want to throw a punch is very difficult. Knowing angles to where the camera is set up, and how to make it so the fist comes from one side of the body to the other, even though it feels fake and you don’t think it looks right, that was hard to conceptualize.
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