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(04).97
Net article-MrShowbiz-97
By Gillian G. Gaar
Mythological mighty man Hercules,
Kevin Sorbo epitomizes the superhero of the nineties: he kicks butt,
but he's sensitive about it. That means that in Sorbo's television kingdom
of monsters, princesses in distress, and meddling gods and goddesses,
violence occurs only when absolutely necessary. Rest assured, however,
that the H:TLJ writers come up with a legitimate reason to stage a good
brawl at least a few times an episode.
After starting out as a set of five made-for-TV movies, Hercules made
its debut as a TV series proper in January of 1995, and quickly carved
out a niche in the forefront of the syndicated market, jousting for
ratings with Baywatch and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, as
well as its own spin-off, XenKS: Warrior Princess. The show's success
has resulted in a dizzying ride to stardom for Sorbo, a thirty-eight-year-old
from suburban Minnesota; after beginning his career with commercials
and bit parts on television, he now sees his image replicated on lunch
boxes and pillowcases around the world. After three seasons playing
the most celebrated Greco-Roman hero of all time, Sorbo has also become
involved in other areas of show business. He directed a Hercules episode
called "War Bride," which airs the week of April 28, and co-wrote
the 1997 season finale.
The hulking, single actor spoke to Mr. Showbiz from his home in New
Zealand between filming sessions on the final episodes of the current
Hercules season. He offered his own thoughts on the man behind the legend.
"I think Herc can be vulnerable," mused Sorbo. "He can
still have things to learn. The way the character is now, he makes fun
of himself. He'll make mistakes. That's what I think is his charm -
he's an easily approachable guy." Charming? Approachable? If the
conversation we had is any indication, you could say the same about
Kevin Sorbo.
Q: I understand that seeing
Oklahoma! as a kid sparked your interest in acting.
KS: I'm a big fan of musicals. I love 'em. Maybe it's the whole cornball,
sappy thing. Carousel, Showboat, The Music Man, My Fair Lady - I've
always loved really classy and well-done musicals.
Q: What was it about this particular show?
KS: It was a high school play in my local town. I remember being mesmerized
by the whole process. I was like, "Wow! I want to do that!"
It was an epiphany: this is it, this is what you're supposed to do with
your life.
Q: How familiar were you with Hercules before getting the role?
KS: In seventh or eighth grade a teacher had us read mythology. And
Hercules was the obvious choice, because he was the most celebrated.
It ends up being a funny turn of events, because not in a million years
did I think I would get my big break [playing] Hercules! It's fun for
me to be now sitting in the driver's seat.
Q: How soon after making the five TV movies about Hercules did they
decide to do a series?
KS: Pretty quickly. I had a really good feeling halfway through the
third movie. The movies hadn't even aired yet and I said, "They'll
make this a series." By the fifth movie they said, "We're
gonna do it." We didn't have a for-sure go until a month after
we wrapped on the movies but when I came back to the States I left a
lot of my stuff down here! I had a good feeling I was coming back!
Q: What training did you go through for the role?
KS: The biggest training I had was that I was an athlete. I played football,
basketball, baseball, all the sports. So I was prepared for it in an
athletic sense, and was willing to put myself through the stunts they
wanted me to. I've been hurt a number of times. It's kind of stupid
I do them; I look at some of these stunts and go, "I can't, there's
no way." And then they go, "Action!" and you just do
it. Something happens once the cameras start to roll. They threw me
into a training session with Doug Wong, who's trained Stallone and Schwarzenegger
and all these guys, and he gave me a really intense six-week course.
I crammed four years into six weeks. And through three and a half years
of doing ninety-five percent of my own stunts, I've learned a lot more.
Q: After three years as Hercules, you're best known as a tough guy.
Are you ever challenged to fights in real life?
KS: It's happened in this country [New Zealand], more than anywhere
else. Probably because I live here. I don't go out often, but I go into
restaurants or a pub to be with friends. The male ego is a funny thing.
Maybe a guy's girlfriend says, "Oh, he's kind of cute," and
then they want to kill me! You've just got to look at the guy and laugh
and say, "It's a TV show. Relax." Or tell them, "I need
my stunt choreographer first." Yes, exactly. When I throw a punch,
I miss you by about a half a foot, and you're supposed to snap your
neck and we'll have a really good sound effect, okay? The reality and
the fantasy gets all mixed up in some people's minds, so they think
I'm a tough guy. I don't think I'm a tough guy. I can handle myself,
but do I think I'm some big brawler? No. I am the original lover, not
a fighter!
Q: You do a lot of both on
the show. What can you tell us about "War Bride," the upcoming
episode you directed?
KS: It's an interesting story. I'm leading this princess across the
country, and she's supposed to get married to this king, but she doesn't
want to. And basically the show goes from Disneyland to Blade Runner
in a hurry! It turns into a war between these two kingdoms, and there's
a lot of people that want to keep the war going. So there's a lot of
things that are done to undermine the wedding: there's a kidnapping,
there's a new weapon that's introduced that's pretty violent in terms
of the destruction it can cause on villages. And Herc has to come in
and save the day. The first half is a lot of fun; there's a lot of good
comedy. The second half turns into a full-on war.
Q: How did you get involved in directing?
KS: I hinted at it a couple times. And I may not be qualified to direct;
actually, I'm probably not qualified to direct! But I know this show,
and I think I'm qualified to direct it. I know the show, I know the
beats of the show, I know the characters, I know my crew, my crew knows
me, and they help me out tremendously. They give me an extra twenty
percent when I'm at the director's helm. "The Apple" was an
easier episode to direct than "War Bride" because I had time
to get into it. I directed "The Apple" after a three-week
Christmas break, so I had all of the information and facts I needed,
and I prepped thoroughly. This last episode I was trying to prep while
shooting another Hercules, and it was tough. This was a grueling last
two weeks, and I'm just beat right now!
Q: Is it difficult to direct and act on the same episode?
KS: The challenge is there and I like that. But you feel like you cheat
the level of your performance as an actor, and you possibly cheat the
level of what a director would be doing, because your mind is just that
much more distracted. You feel like you're not able to give it the hundred
percent you want. That makes it frustrating, because I certainly am
my own worst critic, and it drives me nuts when I don't do a good job.
That happens a lot with television because you aren't given the opportunity
to rehearse as much. I'm happy with some of the stuff, but I'm probably
unhappy with most of it, because I know I can do better.
Q: Are you planning anything special for the 1997 season finale?
KS: We're doing an episode called "Two Men and a Baby" that
I co-wrote. We crossed the line on this show--you know there's no rules
on the show; we bounce around from century to century and that's what
makes it fun. We did a Christmas episode, and I said, "Okay, now
we've left mythological and we've gone biblical." I was always
fascinated with the story of Moses, so we took a Moses-type story.
Q: You find a baby in the bulrushes?
KS: Exactly. You're with me--you know your Bible! And we bring Nemesis
back, the Goddess of Divine Intervention. It deals with her baby. We
think it could be Hercules' baby, but it's not; it's another god's baby,
and there's a big fight.
Q: How much longer will Hercules run?
KS: We are contracted through March of '98. There's a verbal agreement
to go through March of '99. And our executive producer told me they
want us to go till 2001! Hercules meets the millenium--that's an obvious
episode! It is, isn't it? There's a good twist in there. I think it'll
work.
Q: Where would you like to see the character go?
KS: I want to be challenged more as an actor, so I want more dramatic
beats brought in. I want to make the show a little darker. The comedy
will always be there. We ad-lib like crazy, so the comedy I think will
always be there, but I would like to go more dramatic.
Q: Did you enjoy last January's
Hercules convention?
KS: In terms of going out there, I didn't feel the nervousness I feel
if I'm on a David Letterman show, where maybe half the audience goes
"I never even heard of this show!" But here you can walk out
there in front of thousands of people and know that each and every one
of them wants to see and hear you. The neatest thing is to see the kids
and see what's on their faces. I put myself in their shoes and go, "You
know, if this was Adam West in front of me as Batman, back in the sixties,
I'd be doing the same thing. I understand how that kid feels."
And it's so cool to see how much they love you.
Q: It must be weird having a line of toys based on yourself.
KS: When I first saw them, I looked at them and said, "This is
so strange!" And then I walked into a Target store when I was home
at Christmastime; I walked in with my parents, and saw this section
of all these toys with my photo slapped on the box and the sword and
the wristband and the action figure. I just find it so bizarre: I'm
on a lunch box and on pillowcases. It's overwhelming--it truly is! People
probably think, "He thinks he's hot stuff." I don't. I don't
think the reality of what this show is and what it's done and how it's
affected people will hit me until years after I'm done with the show,
when I get a chance to think about it. I just haven't had the time to
really put it in perspective.
Q: What can you say about your upcoming film Kull the Conqueror?
KS: It's a prequel to Conan the Barbarian. I met Arnold [Schwarzenegger]
after I shot it, and we exchanged notes on it, and had fun just talking
about how things don't change, what you have to go through. It was a
good learning experience. In terms of the time we got to spend on it,
you really got the chance to feel like you got the performances right.
Some people will point fingers and say, "You're doing the same
type of thing as Hercules." But Kull's a completely different character.
To me the difference is, you watch Hercules and it's got that "wink-wink"
to the audience type of thing. Kull is a world you could actually believe
existed at one time, because it did! It deals with a barbaric era that
as far as we're aware of in terms of the history and things, was there.
Q: Will there be a sequel?
KS: Oh, no question! I had to sign a three-picture deal. So it really
depends on the audience. The audience has to make it a hit.
Q: And what about the Hercules-Xena cartoon?
KS: Lucy [Lawless] and I had a ball doing that. They like it so much
that they've already scheduled two more. This first will come out in
October. We'll voice-over the next one probably in July, and that'll
probably come out the following autumn.
Q: Why a cartoon instead of a live-action film?
KS: Just a different market. And let's face it, there's more things
you can do with a cartoon character than with real humans! Will they
do a big feature film of Herc and Xena? If they're willing to do with
Hercules what they did with Star Trek, I would do it in a heartbeat.
The Star Trek movies are a huge success because they put millions of
dollars behind them. They look great and they get good stories, so they
don't cheat the audience, don't sell the audience short. They're not
dumb.
Q: What has it been like for you, personally, as the show has taken
off? How has your life changed?
KS: I'm pretty isolated down here, and it's been a slow realization
of what the show's done. I don't expect people to recognize me, but
then I go out in public and they do. You'd think I'd say, "Okay,
I expect it now," but I really don't expect people to come up to
me. The majority are very cool--they say they love the show, and it's
one of the few shows they feel their whole family can watch. That's
nice, 'cause to me it is a fun show. It's a sit-down-and-have-a-bowl-of-popcorn
kind of deal.
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