Recently I got to speak with Kaj-Erik Eriksen about his work on the 4400 and his upcoming role in “See No Evil 2” Kaj is getting ready to promote the film at Comic Con International in San Diego and was kind enough to help us kick off our coverage of the event with this great interview ahead of our arrival in San Diego.
What is the background and setting for the film?
“See No Evil 2” starts out with Jacob Goodnight being brought to the city morgue after his killing spree at the Blackwell hotel. He then proceeds to hunt and kill a bunch of us medical students one by one!
What can you tell us about your character in See No Evil 2 and what kind of prep did you do for the part?
I play “Seth.” He’s an ernest, likable guy who works at the morgue.
It was a nice change of pace for me because I usually play characters with a bit of an edge or a chip on their shoulder. It was great to play just a nice, sweet guy.
Seth’s a cool dude! I hope that people will be rooting for him!
My prep was watching the first movie to get a sense of who Jacob was. What’s really nice about our film is that they gave Glen a lot more to do. He speaks a lot more and has some really fantastic stuff.
What can you tell us about the filming as I am sure the mood on set can be a bit tense when shooting a film of this type and what did you do to lighten the mood?
The set was amazingly fun and light (considering the content). The Twins have a wonderful way of infecting the cast and crew with positive and creative energy. They are an absolute blast to work with. The environment on set made the long shoot days just fly by.
One of my favorite memories was when Michael Eklund, Danielle Harris and I were doing a scene and Michael and I thought we were just in the background of Danielle’s shot, not really being seen or heard. So we were just screwing around and goofing off. Turns out they picked up all of our shenanigans and it’s all in the movie.
Did any odd things happen during filming and do you have a take on the supernatural you want to share?
We filmed the entire movie in an old mental institution. A lot of really dark stuff went down at this place when it was in operation and there are all sorts of rumors that it’s haunted. The only weird thing that happened to us was having to deal with creaky pipes. They made a lot of noise but only when we were filming really upsetting scenes, otherwise they were quiet. But there are these crazy spooky tunnels underneath all of the buildings that they used to transport patients through. So one day, I went down by myself to scope them out and then went back up and convinced Glen, Danielle and Greyston to come down and check them out.
They freaked out pretty quickly! And I don’t want to start any rumors (and I know you won’t print this out of respect to me) but I’m pretty sure Glen chickened out of the tunnels first. Crap. You printed that didn’t you?
Why do you think that haunting and possession films have been so popular in the last 6 years or so?
I just think people are fascinated with the unknown. There’s a ton of room to play and story tell.
Are you a fan of horror films and what are some of your favorites?
I don’t really care for slasher movies that don’t have good character development or a reason for the killers to do what they do. The great thing about “See No Evil 2″ is that the Twins wanted to make sure that none of the characters were “disposable.”
They really want you to like and/or understand the characters in the film. Whensomeone dies, they want you to feel really bummed about it.
They really broke the mold of the “predictable” horror movie with this one.
It’s something new and exciting in this genre and I think people are really going to dig it.
What would you say scares you?
When I see a guy and I don’t know whether he’s a hipster or a lumberjack.
Looking back on The 4400, what were you fondest memories and do you have any regrets about your character and the show?
“The 4400” was one of my favorite shows to work on.
I think we are all very happy to be a part of such a cool project. And considering we were only supposed to be a six-part miniseries, we always felt lucky that we got four seasons out of it.
I guess my fondest memories were being able to hang out and get close with the cast members that I didn’t get to work with directly on screen. That’s not always the case on a lot of shows. I don’t have any regrets. I might have made Danny a little bit softer if I could go back and do it again but I think it worked for the conflict between him and his brother. I think it works for the resolve at the end.
What do you have upcoming that fans can look forward to aside from See No Evil 2? Up next is Hallmark’s “Signed,
Sealed, Delivered” Christmas movie. It’s a two-hour TV movie based on their hit series. It’s a great little film. Sure to be an instant Christmas classic. I finally got to play a dad which was quite fun. What do you like to do in your free time? I study Karate, listen to music, work in my garden and do photography. I alsoparticipate in “Duck, Duck, Goose” competitions around the globe.
Kaj will be participating in the “See No Evil 2” panel at SDCC on Thursday at 7pm in
Room 7AB
