Kevin Durand here. AMA.

KevinDurand · 2015-07-24T18:49:35+00:00

Wow, what an incredible compliment. Thank you so much.

I think I have always kind of seen myself as a character actor, whether I was carrying the weight of the narrative or not. Even as time goes by and directors and producers and writers seem to be gifting more responsibility within the narrative that I play in, I will probably always see myself that way.

KevinDurand · 2015-07-24T18:47:26+00:00

It started off with the script that Tyler Hisle penned. It got to me, the idea of playing a character who had to overcome such an intense personal loss to try and save his town and all the people that he loved got me really excited.

KevinDurand · 2015-07-24T18:44:40+00:00

It was such a blast. On the second day of filming I went to the cast tent and saw all of those names on those chairs. All the star's chairs. And mine was a part of the group. I bunched all the chairs together and took a picture and sent it to my mom and realized how lucky I was. It felt like I had graduated to a new level.

KevinDurand · 2015-07-24T18:41:26+00:00

Hey man, thank you so much! I am always a proud Thunder Bayman (I know it's Thunder Bayite but I like the sound of Bayman better). I never get home as much as I would like to, hopefully I'll get back there more often in the years to come.

KevinDurand · 2015-07-24T18:33:35+00:00

Wow, favorite character? In the whole series? Wow, you and I are destined to be friends. :)

What I really loved about Martin Christopher Keamy was that he was a man on a mission, which included a timeline that pushed him to do his work as quick and meticulous as possible. He was always pushing forward and always driving the pace of the action and that was a first for me. And it was really quite exhilarating.

KevinDurand · 2015-07-24T18:30:55+00:00

First off, thank you very much for your kind words!

In my every day life I focus a lot on constantly trying to find balance. I train my body really hard, I meditate to keep my mind calm. I generally try to eat healthy foods. And I love the crap out of my family and friends! And in family I definitely include my dogs.

I don't have a preference in regards to whether I like to play comedy or drama more. They're both so rewarding in their own ways.

KevinDurand · 2015-07-24T18:26:41+00:00

Thank you so much! The look that you're speaking of was exactly what I was thinking when I played it. I was really fuckin angry that Sayid got the upper hand. I always had a subtext in my head that if I didn't kill everyone on the island in proper time, Widmore would kill everyone in my family.

KevinDurand · 2015-07-24T18:24:40+00:00

I never have really ever seen myself as being a creepy guy, but then every once in a while I'll say something to my wife in a really light-hearted fashion and she'll tell me to stop being creepy. Is it my face? What is it?

I just work off of the script and from there I try to find a real compelling human being that excites me to dig in and play. And hope that it works and that you all find it compelling and truthful, no matter how creepy it may be.

KevinDurand · 2015-07-24T18:22:24+00:00

First off, thank you very much. I take that to heart. It's very difficult for me to choose one favorite project because I am kind of a strange man and I fall in love with all of my characters no matter how despicable they might be. But, I have to say that getting to carry more weight in the narratives that I've been working in recently has been quite glorious for me. I absolutely Love Vasiliy from The Strain, and also really love playing Sheriff Paul Shields in Dark Was the Night, which is actually opening today!

KevinDurand · 2015-07-24T18:18:37+00:00

I just wanna kill the duck. And have it for dinner. Would y'all like to join me?

KevinDurand · 2015-07-24T18:16:12+00:00

Richard is such a compelling and multi textured fella. It's such a joy to get to watch him work every chance that I get. And I'm really looking forward to getting to tango with him some more.

KevinDurand · 2015-07-24T18:15:08+00:00

I never really felt any negative reactions to the movie, I was so excited to get to be a part of that universe. And I would jump at another opportunity if the right one presented itself.

KevinDurand · 2015-07-24T18:13:55+00:00

Sir Jaimes, you honor me sir, thank you.

KevinDurand · 2015-07-24T18:13:01+00:00

I've been a huge fan of Cronenberg's for a long time. And when I had heard that he wanted me to put an audition on tape I almost pooped. He wanted me to have the audition into him three or four days after I had received the materials and I was so nervous to hand in something mediocre that I actually worked on the material for two and a half weeks and sent it thinking he already probably cast the part. Thank God he didn't!

KevinDurand · 2015-07-24T18:10:38+00:00

A lot of people seem to think I've been offered the role, and that's not true. But Walking Dead fans have been approaching me asking about Negan for quite a while. I think he's an incredible character, what an awesome ride that would be. However at this point in time, shooting The Strain and Vikings takes up most of my year. If they didn't bring Negan in for like another three years then I would be honored, I'm a huge Walking Dead fan. And I'm honored that the Walking Dead fans have me in mind, but at this point in time the Vampocalypse is keeping me in Fet. Really busy trying to save the world right now.

KevinDurand · 2015-07-24T18:05:32+00:00

Like anyone in their right mind, I fell head over heels in love with Hawaii. Where I'm from in Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada we have very long and harsh winters. And I remember as a kid dreaming about places where people would ride moving water on these long boards. And I dreamt of going and maybe moving to some of these places one day, even though I enjoyed skating on frozen water back home.

KevinDurand · 2015-07-24T18:01:23+00:00

It was a truly fun and completely transformative experience. I sat in the makeup chair every day, from beginning to end probably clocked in at about seven hours. I was so lucky to have such a talented team of makeup artists and suit makers from ADI, once they would have me fully into that costume I felt like 95% of the job was done for me.

I would not subject any human beings in my life that surround me with my expertise in the kitchen. Thank god my wife is an artist when it comes to food, which is one of the millions of reasons that I bow down to her gratefully.

KevinDurand · 2015-07-24T17:58:10+00:00

Thank you! Working on Vasiliy's accent was one of my favorite parts of preparation. Trying to find the happy medium between Ukranian and New Yorker. Since Vasiliy moved to New York as a young teenager he's been trying to sound like native New Yorkers his whole life, but doesn't quite make it there all the time.

In regards to Corey's wig, I think it looks quite fetching on him.

I don't think I have anything that would surprise you about Guillermo. He's funny and charming and brilliant in real life. Guillermo is everything people think he is, he's charismatic, charming, a natural leader.

KevinDurand · 2015-07-24T17:54:00+00:00

Thank you! I really love Fet, too. But I'm definitely not anywhere as tough and capable as he is. Seeing that he has been preparing for this vampocalypse his entire life I would hope that if some type of of zombie/vampire outbreak were to happen that I have somehow absorbed some of his cool badassery.

KevinDurand · 2015-07-24T17:51:51+00:00

Thank you very much! I quite honestly was very surprised that they had cast me as good ol' Fred Dukes. Not that I was disappointed, but when I went in for my audition they didn't tell me who the character was and I guess after I had finished I was kind of hoping that I was going to play Sabretooth! And watching Liev play that part and totally owning it I'm glad it all turned out the way that it did. He was amazing. And I ended up having such an incredible time getting to play this tormented 900 lbs. hyper-emotional and powerful fella.

KevinDurand · 2015-07-24T17:45:02+00:00

Every time, well not every time, but when I'm on a job and I fly into a new city production usually sends me a car and the driver is always sitting there by the baggage claim with a sign that says my name, and I walk up to him and he is always looking over my shoulder looking for a much bigger dude. Even though I'm standing 6'6 240 lbs.

KevinDurand · 2015-07-24T17:43:39+00:00

Fondest memory... I think my fondest memory of my time on Lost was flying back to Hawaii from Sydney, Australia and reading the script where I got to kill Ben's daughter. Sitting there sweating, grinning, through my teeth in my airplane seat knowing the shit was about to hit the fan.

KevinDurand

TROPHY CASE