Kane Hodder still holds the distinction of being the only person to not only play the role of Jason Voorhees more than once, but to play it a total of four times. While it doesn’t sound likely to see him suited up as Jason in the upcoming film from Breck Eisner, we can at the very least get a new dose of Kane’s Jason when Friday the 13th: The Game is released early next year.
We caught up with Kane at Spooky Empire to talk about what to expect from the game, what it was like to return as the character, and other highlights from his long career as an actor and stuntman.
Hodder was a great, gracious person to talk to, always happy to speak with fans and share his stories.
Kane Hodder: Didn’t at all, in fact.
WH: What was it like to have the chance to come back and do motion capture for the video game?
Hodder: Of course it’s different, but I was happy to be just be Jason again because I always loved that role. You know, it’s a whole different deal doing mo-cap, because when you’re doing a film you do things from a certain angle, so it will look good in-camera. When you’re doing motion capture, there’s cameras from all angles, simultaneously.
But it was a lot of fun. And it’s also hard to be scary when you’re in spandex. Or maybe I look scary in spandex, I don’t know. But it worked out, we started in January and we just finished in October. Off-and-on, but that’s how long the process is for animation and things like that.
WH: Speaking not necessarily to the films themselves but your four performances as Jason on film, which one do you think was your best?
Hodder: I think my best and my favorite movie that I did was Part VII, The New Blood. Because the look of Jason was the best, in my opinion, and all the action and everything was really good. I was very happy with that one.
WH: For some reason, I’m a big fan of Jason Goes to Hell…
Hodder: I like that you have to justify it.
WH: Yeah, right? I love the KNB FX work in it, but I know it’s very different, and I’m wondering what your reaction was just getting the script and reading that for the first time?
Hodder: Well, I mean, I didn’t mind a lot of the story, but I just personally didn’t care for how the evil of Jason went into other people. I thought at the time that it was too much like The Hidden.
WH: It is very close.
Hodder: Yeah, so, I don’t know. But my feeling was that some of the other actors sort of playing Jason, that they should have come to me and tried to pick up some of my mannerisms.
WH: That was one thing I was going to ask about. They didn’t?
Hodder: Well, I suggested it. I said “Wouldn’t it be cool if even though she has now got the evil of Jason in her, if she still did something that I’m known for doing?” Just to make it consistent. None of the actors had any interest, they all wanted to do their own thing. I was told by one actor in particular, “Nah, my Jason wouldn’t do that.”
So I just thought that was a lost opportunity. How cool would it have been if everybody else, when they became Jason…
WH: If they did the breathing or something.
Hodder: Yeah. Something that looked reminiscent of what I’d done, but they didn’t.
WH: Is there any chance that we could see Hollywood Ghost Hunters as a TV or streaming series?
Hodder: We’ve talked about doing it. It just has to be done the way I’d want to do it. What I think would make it a fun show is that all of the people in the group have very funny chemistry, and I think all the shows that are currently on the air, that’s what they lack. Any chemistry between the people. Some of the shows, if there’s nothing paranormal happening, it’s boring as hell.
Whereas our group of people would be fun to watch, whether there’s paranormal activity or not. It would still be fun because of the dynamic personalities. I think that’s what we could add to it. Then you’re not forced so much into “God we’ve got to have something happen this episode” or else people would be bored.
WH: I love your autobiography. And there’s a lot of stuff in that…
Hodder: [laughs] A lot of personal stuff, in fact.
WH: That’s sort of what I’m wondering, if there was any time writing that when, for a second, you thought “I don’t know if I should say this.”
Hodder: Oh yeah. All the time. But now that I get people responding to the book, those are the things that mean the most to most readers. They can identify with the stuff that I was almost embarrassed about. So now I know I did the right thing because so many people will comment and say that that’s their favorite part of the whole book.
Which is leading into a documentary coming out soon, To Hell and Back. It’s basically my life story again, this time visually. And I just saw it and I’m very happy with it. A lot of stuff that I talk about in the book, unresolved things, are now in the documentary.
WH: Lastly, with Friday the 13th: The Game feeling like this impossible dream come true for fans, feeling like anything’s possible, is there any chance for something like Hatchet 4 down the line?
Hodder: Oh, I wouldn’t doubt it. Hatchet 4 or Friday the 13th Part 13, with me in it, I don’t know. I bet something like that happens down the line.
