Interview: Rising Star Aaron Johnson of ‘Kick-Ass’

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CHICAGO – April 2010 is the month of Aaron Johnson. After a small role in “The Greatest” should have earned him a bit of exposure, this week’s “Kick-Ass” is about to make him a star. He took some time out of his busy schedule, as he was preparing for a red carpet walk that evening and signing autographs at a comic convention this weekend, to speak to us about “Kick-Ass,” an actor he admires, and the future of his rising star.

Johnson is a soft-spoken, interesting guy who seems unconcerned by issues surrounding the film including his imminent fame and the controversy surrounding the more violent elements of the superhero movie by director Matthew Vaughn (“Layer Cake,” “Stardust”) from a comic book by Mark Millar (“Wanted”). When I started the conversation by noting that there was a cab sitting in front of the hotel in which we were sitting with Aaron’s face on it, he seemed nonplussed, noting that “Luckily, I’ve got a mask on in the poster and for The Greatest you can only see half my face. (Laughs.) I’m doing pretty well on the poster front. I’m still quite disguised. I’m very lucky. My superhero costume is quite an iconic piece from the comic book. That’s really the Kick-Ass thing. Not me. I don’t consider myself the face of the film. I’m kind of lucky in that front.”

Aaron Johnson as Kick-Ass
Aaron Johnson as Kick-Ass
Photo credit: Dan Smith/Lionsgate

As for the controversial elements of the film involving children in violent scenes with adult language, an element that led one major critic to already pan the film, Johnson correctly notes the fact that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. “I don’t read those things because I don’t care. All of that is just more…when people are like “it’s so violent,” it just makes more people want to go and see the film. All they’re doing is just making more people go see it. People are going “Oh, sh*t, I want to go see that then.” There are so much worse things out there.”

“Kick-Ass” tells the story of a young American boy who’s unpopular at school and with the girls but who rises to fame as the title hero. It’s yet another tale of someone who’s simply had enough, but this time he uses it for good instead of evil, crossing the path of fellow heroes Hit Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz), Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse of “Superbad), and Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage).

The “Superbad” link is apparently not in cast only. When asked how “Kick-Ass” would be different in London and noting that it’s unusual that a Brit director and Brit star made such an American film, Johnson says, “It has that Superbad sort of feel - kids, teen angst, virgins. They’re so f**king useless that they don’t know what to do and they try to be superheroes and they’re still pathetic. It’s funny. The quirky, geeky kids are getting all the attention in movies like Superbad. That’s where the humor is and you don’t get that sort of stuff in England. We’re humorous in a different way. What you get is an American comic book with a British director who has been around gangster movies. It puts that edge on it and you get this outcome. Someone like Matthew who just doesn’t give a f**k and has balls of steel and is bold enough - he took a huge gamble on this movie and went to town with violence, language, and making it as hardcore as possible.”

Aaron Johnson as Kick-Ass
Aaron Johnson as Kick-Ass
Photo credit: Dan Smith/Lionsgate

Johnson has big praise for Vaughn. “He was the backbone of this movie,” says Aaron. “He drove it every f**king day. He says it how it is. He knows what he wants. He’s particular. He’s learned from the best. He’s got a good crew around him that’s been there since Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels [which Vaughn produced]. He’s got a family and he’s not afraid to say what he thinks. Like a great director, he can take you down the right path.”

The actor admits that it was the alter ego of Kick-Ass - the awkward Dave Lizewski - that intrigued him more than the superhero elements of the story because “I never played that kind of role before. I was never really getting mugged or invisible to girls. It was a whole new world I went down. I liked the idea of going on the journey and give him new experience in life. He battles with obstacles and enjoying life. I understand that - putting a mask on and taking on the world to be the person he wants to be. Apart from that, he seemed so different from that I thought it would be interesting to do.”

After discussing the challenges of the film, Johnson picks a good role model when asked who he thinks has surmounted the obstacles presented him and “put on the mask and taken on the world” as an actor - “Someone who has really f**king picked great choices throughout their career and taken their time between each one and then f**king so versatile and different and puts so much into it is Daniel Day-Lewis. If I could have half the career of what he’s done…”

Of course, we tried to get some sequel buzz - it’s as inevitable as another “Saw” movie, in my opinion - but Johnson claimed no knowledge of where Mark Millar would take the characters next, noting with a smile that “…if I did, I couldn’t say.”

“The Greatest” is playing in theaters now and “Kick-Ass” opens tomorrow, April 16th, 2010.

StarCheck out our 23-image slideshow from “Kick-Ass”.
StarRead our 3.5-star review of “The Greatest”.

HollywoodChicago.com content director Brian Tallerico

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

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