AN INTERVIEW WITH KIM COATES,
WHO PLAYS THE PART OF CARLO IN THE BATTLEFIELD EARTH MOVIE

Canadian born actor Kim Coates has commanded growing attention in Hollywood with his work in such films as Waterworld, Unforgettable and The Client. As well as playing Carlo in the movie of Battlefield Earth, which releases on May 12, Kim recently completed the title role in Auggie Rose (co-starring Jeff Goldblum and Anne Heche) and a co-starring role with Christopher Plummer in All the Fine Lines. The latter two films are set for fall release.

Kim talked recently about his role in the upcoming movie based on L. Ron Hubbard's international bestseller, Battlefield Earth.

BATTLEFIELDEARTH.COM: Kim, to start off with, don't you have a story about when you were reading the Battlefield Earth book and looking for your character?

KIM COATES: Yes, I do. I was offered Carlo and it's the third or fourth lead. I was getting ready to meet with Travolta. I was very excited. I knew Barry Pepper from his work in Saving Private Ryan and I knew that I was going to be his best friend in the movie. And of course, Forest Whitaker is John Travolta's best friend in the movie. They're bad and we're good.

I had never read Battlefield Earth but I'd heard about it. So I'm pumped. I've got about five weeks to get into it spiritually and create in my own head what Carlo my character is like. So I start reading the novel and I get to Page 350 and there is no Carlo. Yet I'm one of the leads! So I finally call up Roger Christian [the director] and I go "Rog, this book is 1000 pages long, no problem. I'm quite enjoying it. But where is Carlo? Does he come in on Page 800?"

And Roger says: "Didn't I tell you – there is no Carlo, he's totally made up. For the movie, Jonnie needs a foil, he needs a best friend."

When you read the novel, Jonnie doesn't really have a best friend. There is Robert the Fox who comes in and out, but he's not like Jonnie's buddy. So on one hand I was disappointed that I didn't get to pick up tidbits from the novel (like I did for Paul Gronky who I played in The Client ). On the other hand I got to create a complete jungle guy for myself from Corey Mandell's script, which was really kind of fun.

BE: Do you think the author would approve of the way the new character is being handled?

KC: I think Ron Hubbard must be somewhere, pretty tickled that his book is finally going to the big screen. I don't know him that well at all but I would imagine he had an incredible sense of humor.

We worked extraordinarily hard on this film. We really did. And given the caliber of actors and cinematographers and special effects, hopefully we created something that is going to be pretty riveting to watch.

BE: How long did you work on Battlefield Earth?

KC: I got to Montreal in early July and started rehearsing. John, Forest , me and a few other people flew to Montreal in John's plane. That was a lot of fun. I got to meet Travolta. There was also a nice bonding there with John and Forest.

We started filming July 4 or 5. The first three weeks were basically the good guys, the humans – Pepper and myself and a few other actors – working in these incredible mountainous areas in and around Montreal and Quebec. It was pretty tough slugging and some pretty weird weather.

BE: When was principal photography completed?

KC: It didn't finish until the end of September. It was a long shoot. It really was.

BE: Was it the first time you ever met John?

KC: Yes – he was like a brother. I mean, I'm on his plane waiting for him. There are ten of us on the plane including a few producers and then Travolta shows up. And he is just a regular guy.

BE: You were hoping for a regular guy?

KC: Or just someone who has got a heart. And Travolta is just the sweetest guy. We had this incredible dinner and we talked about wives and talked about our lives and the movie obviously and Carlo a bit and he was starting to think about his role as Terl. He plays a guy who is nine feet tall. He had to start learning how to walk in these stilted boots. And there was the costume and the hair. There was a lot to think about. And he wore the producer and the star hat. So he had a lot going on.

BE: Tell me about Barry and how you and he hit it off? You obviously had to work very closely together.

KC: He's like a brother as well. We worked very closely together. I think the connection of Barry and myself and Roger Christian was something that I will never forget. We all just got along like a house on fire. There is nothing else I can say. Barry has become a buddy. I love his work. You have to understand Barry was working every day. I was in almost every day. Hard, hard shooting. So we hung together on the set. But at night time, my driver took me home; his driver took him home. We tried to get sleep and call the people we love on the phone and then we would go back to work on the film the next day. I mean occasionally whenever we did go out, we did go out together. But we really truly didn't have time. It was a deal. That's all I can say. And hopefully, you are going to see it on the screen.

BE: Do you find the physical strain that you were going through helped with the performance?

KC: I think so. Physically, it was demanding. It helped you stay in character and it shows on our faces in some of these scenes how desperate our characters were. We were way in the boonies. We had Winnebagos and all that stuff but we weren't in them much. We were on the set, just ready to go. Drinking our coffee. Talking about the scenes and staying dirty all day long.

BE: Of all the movies you made this must have been one of those few where you can't wait to see it yourself after experiencing it for real.

KC: You're right! At one point in the shoot, I spent three days with just me, the crew and Roger filming in front of a green screen. I mean three whole days of just Carlo. It's at the end of the movie. I won't give anything away but it's the hardest thing in the world to turn over your shoulder trying to imagine twelve F-14 fighter jets coming at you and shooting at aliens when they are not there. Nothing's there. I was reacting to something that is not there and they are going to add it later in special effects. And so, for that element alone, I'm really curious to see how it all works. I saw some of the dailies and they were fun to see. I think people were pretty happy with the way things were going.

BE: Let's talk about Roger Christian, the director. He was unit director on The Phantom Menace and George Lucas recommended him for this job. In the science fiction world, there is nothing better than Star Wars and this seems to be at the Star Wars level.

KC: Roger's career has already taken off really, but it's going to explode when this movie comes out. He is the kindest, gentlest, smartest guy who always had his focus on the movie. His background is in set design and then he became a director and he works so well with actors. He let us play. He wasn't stringent on the words. Just get the emotion. Learn your words. Then forget them. Which is my kind of director anyway. I really can't give enough kudos to him.

BE: When there was a problem, how did he handle it -- because that is of course where a director really has to prove himself.

KC: He handled it gently without any yelling, without any screaming. Because in a film like this when it's independently produced there is a lot at stake. On the one hand it was great not to have the big honchos. I don't care which studio it is. When they are involved, they're always there looking over your shoulder. We didn't have those guys. That was kind of okay in a way. But on the other hand, sometimes those big studio pictures give you the freedom of money and freedom of more time and freedom of just getting it done. We didn't have that even though it was a big budgeted movie. We really had to get our shooting days in. There was a lot of pressure on Roger and the way he handled it was with absolute gentlemanly smarts. He knew how he was going to get it out of everybody and I think he did.

BE: This movie is bound to have a big impact on young people. Was it made with that audience in mind? What are they going to get out of it?

KC: First of all, it's based on a bestselling book. So you are trying to be as true to the book as you're allowed in 118-page movie script. That's Number One. Be true to the words. Be true to the characters. True to the book. Because this isn't made up, this is from a book. So any kid who is a science fiction fan who goes to see it or a Travolta fan or a Forest Whitaker, Barry Pepper or even Kim Coates fan, I think they are going to be really excited.

But to the science fiction fans, adventure movie fans, to the kids, it's a futuristic tour de force – the humans are nothing, the monsters are everything, will the humans win, what is going to happen next, will they survive, please may the good guys win – kind of film. It's science fiction and yet the world the humans live in is Planet of the Apes. We have no cars, no planes, no nothing.

BE: What attracted you most about the story?

KC: The thing that I like is that it is futuristic science fiction but the heroes, the good guys, Pepper, myself, Christian Tessier, we're cavemen. My point is Star Wars is futuristic. They have ships. They're flying. This movie doesn't have that from the humans' point of view. All that I am looking for in the beginning of the movie is for a rabbit to eat. I just want to survive the night from the cold. So it is pretty remarkable how this story ends knowing that that's how it starts. Really all we have with which to defeat these more powerful, technologically advanced monsters are each other, and our wits and our learning capabilities and eating food to stay alive. It's really neat. In fact I think it has an element of "Planet of the Apes meets Star Wars." I really don't think we've seen this kind of thing before.

BE: Have you ever worked on a movie in your life where you felt so strongly that you were actually in another world?

KC: That's a great question. The only one that comes close to Battlefield Earth is Waterworld. Those two for me were definitely, "where are we, what?" Truly make believe – which is what acting is all about. It's why we all work so hard and when we get those opportunities and do well, it is a joy to be a part of. That's how I feel about Battlefield Earth.

BE: Thank you Kim. We can't wait to see you on the big screen in the world of Battlefield Earth.

KC: Thanks a lot.

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