View source for A good role for the Kiwi bad guy - Hawke's Bay Today - 2000 (September 01)

This article is from the newspaper '''Hawke's Bay Today''', dated August 31, 2000, featuring [[Kevin Smith]].

The high-res newspaper scans are from Bryn. Article text from [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=149555 The New Zealand Herald].

== A good role for the Kiwi bad guy ==
By Louisa Cleave

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Need a bad guy? Ask Kevin Smith. The hunky Kiwi actor has spent six years playing Ares, the resident evil in Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules, a role that has earned him international fans.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; His brooding dark looks have also won him roles in many local television series, including Gloss, Shark in the Park, Marlin Bay, Shortland Street and City Life.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "In New Zealand you have this thing, with television anyway, ‘Need a bad guy? Get Smithy'," he says.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Smith has broken the mould with cop John Lawless, the title character he resurrects in the TV-movie Lawless 2 — Dead Evidence, screening on TV2 next Thursday. A third instalment, Beyond Justice, will screen on television later in the year.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The supremely confident Ares and John Lawless are complementary, says Smith.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "The difference between playing a good guy and a bad guy is that the bad guy smiles much more. They have no doubt as to their mission in life. Their paths are clear."

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In Lawless, Smith co-stars with Angela Dotchin and plays an ex-undercover cop who has left the force and dropped out of his old life after a series of personal tragedies.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "To me, this episode is about someone who has been awakened," says Smith.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Dotchin's character, Jodi Keane, convinces Lawless to help her private investigation into a man's suspected wrongful imprisonment for murder.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Smith has tried unsuccessfully to avoid playing similar characters, but had no problem resurrecting John Lawless.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The first Lawless TV-movie rated well among viewers and went on to collect five gongs at the New Zealand Television Awards, including Best Actress for Dotchin, best director and best drama programme.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Despite having won awards in the past, Smith says he's "never really been an award boy. "It's that idea of ‘expect nothing and you won't be disappointed'."

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "I've made the mistake every now and then of taking a role and then once you've started shooting going, ‘I've played this guy, damn.'

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Quite often people want what they know, like evil-guy Kevin Smith. In a country with a small industry it's always hard to say no to stuff. But basically now my thing is, it's got to be someone I haven't been before. Although I've been to John Lawless before, it's a place I don't mind visiting.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "It's acknowledged that here's the same guy. It's not like, different costume, different name, same guy."

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In films such as Desperate Remedies, Channelling Baby and Jubilee, Smith says he has been part of a strong woman's story rather than the leading man.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Even in Lawless, his role is a partnership with Dotchin rather than her playing second fiddle to his character.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The easy-going actor, who would fit just as easily among the guys down at the pub as on a film set, says his "blokey" image is something he has fostered and "there's a large part of me in that."

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "I don't call it blokey. It's the result of the places I've been brought up and the things I've learned and the people I've known."

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Smith grew up in Timaru and met his wife at high school. They have three children.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The 37-year-old says he was expelled from school and left Timaru in 1980 for Christchurch, where his wife encouraged him into acting.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; They moved to Auckland in 1990, but Smith says he still considers himself a "Canterbury boy," and his Canterbury Crusaders' cellphone backs up his claim.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The actor explains his non-pursuit of Hollywood by recalling his one foray into the Los Angeles acting scene five years ago.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "I did a pilot season. I went over for two months and just by being there, away from my wife and my kids, you buy into a level of desperation which feeds on itself.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "You go there with a very clear thing: I want to do movies, none of this television.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Then next thing you're going out for your third lead in any cheesy sitcom."

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Smith is one of New Zealand television's highest-paid actors and he's happy with the constant flow of work he is offered.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "The point is, I'm always working. This is where I live, this is where my kids are. There's more at stake than moving to America. If I was 25 and single it might be different."

[[File:clipping033b.jpg|500px|thumb|center|Click image for high-res version.]]
[[File:clipping033.jpg|500px|thumb|center|Click image for high-res version.]]

[[Category:Articles]][[Category:Year - 2000]][[Category:Newspaper - Hawke's Bay Today]][[Category:Country - New Zealand]]