411 Movies Interview: Ken Anderson

Posted by Tony Farinella on 01.13.2009

411's Tony Farinella sits down with Ken Anderson for an exclusive interview about his role in Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia!

Ken Anderson is a WWE wrestler who wrestles under the name of Mr. Kennedy. So, it wasn't a big stretch for him to make his film debut in Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia, directed by veteran actor Tim Matheson. Recently, I caught up with the WWE superstar to talk about a variety of topics, including his new movie, the Green Bay Packers, the independent wrestling scene, and a whole lot more. Be sure to check out Ken Anderson in Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia, which is currently out on DVD.


TONY: When you first heard you were going to be a part of this film, did you talk to some of the wrestlers and ask for advice on how to handle a movie project?

Mr. Kennedy: Yeah. I talked to a couple different guys. I talked to Steve Austin and I talked to John Cena about what to expect, because I honestly didn't know what to expect at all. They didn't really tell me too much that I didn't know, just kind of how things would go. It was a little nice to have them, those guys who have already gone through it, basically tell me there was nothing I really needed to worry about. I said, 'Do I need to memorize everything word for word upfront?' And they said, 'Really, you don't have to. It's a good idea to have a general idea and to generally know your lines, but you don't have to know them word for word, because you film everything scene by scene.'

TONY: I talked to the director yesterday, and we were talking about how wrestlers bring something unique to the table in terms of their charisma and physical skills. What was it like having that at your disposal?

Mr. Kennedy: I think it's a big plus. It helped out a lot. I didn't really feel like I was out of my element or anything like that at any point. I've worked with so many tremendous, talented performers over the past four years with WWE that I felt like I was at home and I felt like I was finally accomplishing something I wanted to do since I was a little kid.

TONY: Wrestlers always say that you have to be a sponge and you have to ask a lot of questions when you're around veterans. Did you ask a lot of questions on set?

Mr. Kennedy: Pretty much everybody. One thing that I found over the years of just being in WWE is sometimes the actual wrestlers aren't the guys that you need to be asking questions of. Sometimes the crew guys, because they've been around for so long, they're the ones who see guys come and go. They may not actually have the talent to pull off what we do, but Mike Holmgren wasn't necessarily a great football player but he was a tremendous coach. So a lot of times, these guys can see little things and point out things that you're doing wrong or things that you could do better or things to avoid or stay away from.

TONY: When I interviewed Steve Austin last year, we talked about what it was like making the transition from the wrestling ring to a movie set and how you have to get used to the fact that you have to wait a few months to see how people are going to respond to the film. What was that like for you?

Mr. Kennedy: It's tough. It's a little nerve-wracking and it still is, because we're still kind of waiting in the wings to find out how this thing is going to do. So far, the numbers are looking good, I guess. I don't read anything off the Internet; I don't read any reviews or anything like that. But I'm just waiting to find out how this movie does. I guess that's the biggest thing. When you're in front of a crowd, you know right then and there if you're doing your job or not.

TONY: Tim was also telling me that one of the things he was working on with you was toning it down during certain points of the movie. Did you find that challenging?

Mr. Kennedy: That's just tough for me in general, and that's something that Vince has been preaching to me and harping on me for years. When I first came into the WWE, I was very bold and very colorful and very out there. Over the past couple of years, Vince has really hammered home to me that he really wants me to tone it down and reel it in. And it's tough for me. I think maybe because he doesn't know me necessarily, that he thinks I'm playing a character. In real life, people that know me, people that I've been around, friends, family, people like that, they see that kind of stuff and they say, 'Man, that's just so you.' Somebody who doesn't know me might think, 'Boy, he's overacting.' I'm very passionate about things, and sometimes it's just all or nothing for me. That's been tough for me: Really trying to understand what Tim wants from me, what Vince wants from me. If you ask me, they're asking me to be boring. But sometimes I do see what they mean, because I'll do something and Vince will chew me out for being too over the top with it and then I'll think in my head he's wrong and go home and watch the video and say, 'Well, I guess I could see what he was talking about. He's right.'


TONY: How have some of the wrestlers responded to the film so far?

Mr. Kennedy: So far, I've heard nothing but positive reviews from the guys. Of course I'm friends with a lot of the guys, so I would hope that they would give me their honest opinion. I would hope they wouldn't tell me to my face, 'Boy, we really loved it.' And then say it was terrible behind my back. But so far, I think they've all been happy with it. I've gotten quite a few text messages from the guys telling me that they went out and bought the DVD and that they're supporting me. So far, they like it.

TONY: I know you're a big Packers fan, so I have to ask you, what do you think went wrong with the Packers this year?

Mr. Kennedy: I think there was a lot of pressure put on Aaron Rodgers, obviously, following one of the greatest players in the history of the league. I think the pressure kind of got to him. In the first couple of weeks, for some reason, he was very poised and he went out there every week and made things happen. Towards the end of the season, he just kind of let things fall apart. It's tough to say. Me, I wish that Brett would have stayed in Green Bay. I wish that they could have come to terms and he could have stayed, because I just think that they were finally starting to smooth all the kinks out of their offense. And Brett was a great team leader, he was the captain for many, many years, and I think that young team was finally starting to come together. Then he left and it kind of turned the apple card upside down.

TONY: What was it like being named an honorary Packer?

Mr. Kennedy: I think they made me an honorary Packer for life. I got an honorary jersey, a football from them that I have on display at my house. I have both things on display at my house in my movie room. It was cool. We were doing an autograph session and it was something that I wasn't expecting. I remember the door opened up and all these guys came walking in and it was a bunch of Packers and they handed me a jersey and a football and kind of congratulated me. We talked about things. A couple of the guys expressed interest in maybe becoming wrestlers someday, so it was a cool experience.

TONY: I used to follow the Minnesota and Wisconsin wrestling scene and watch you wrestle guys like Horace the Psychopath, so I have to ask, what has it been like having all of this success lately? It seems like it's all unfolded so quickly.

Mr. Kennedy: Well, if you ask me, it hasn't unfolded very quickly at all. I spent six and a half years on the independent scene. I wasn't really ever starving, but I wasn't doing so well financially. I was just sticking it out. I worked at a nuclear power plant. I don't have a college degree, so I was making about fifty to sixty thousand dollars a year. I had great benefits and I had job security and I was moving up the ladder there. And I left that job to take a job in Minneapolis as a personal trainer for seven bucks an hour. Starting out at seven bucks an hour, because I didn't have any clients, so I was basically there getting an hourly wage. And everybody thought I was crazy. Everybody was like, 'What are you doing, man? You have this great job, great benefits.' And I just knew it was a dead-end job for me and I wanted something bigger and better, and if I really wanted to pursue it, the time was now or never. I figured I wasn't going to stay young forever, so I'm glad that I did that. I remember when I was coming up through the indies thinking that I couldn't get a contract fast enough, and now, looking back on it, I'm glad that I was forced to wait all these years because I really grew as a performer. I think by the time that I walked down that hallway to have that first meeting with Vince McMahon, I knew that I belonged in the WWE and that I had earned my spot.

TONY: Who are some of the people that have helped you become the wrestler that you are today?

Mr. Kennedy: Boy, there were so many different promoters in the state of Wisconsin and Minnesota. Guys like Horace the Psychopath, he helped me out a lot. I had a lot of great matches with that guy. I traveled up and down the road with Daivari for many, many years. We would try to wrestle on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday if we could and then sometimes we'd wrestle on Wednesday nights at First Avenue in downtown Minneapolis. Coming through the WWE to do tryouts and stuff like that, guys like Arn Anderson and Fit Finely. I would get to the building and I would go and sit ringside with my gear on and just try to be a sponge. And that's one of the things that I notice today when I see guys come in for tryouts, is, number one, they're there to eat the free catering and to hang out with the superstars and kind of mark out a little bit. A lot of them get dressed, but they go and stand over the ring at ringside. So I'll look out and see an empty ring and all these guys standing around. I remember when I was in that situation, guys like me and Daivari and whoever else was doing a tryout, if that ring was empty, we would ask somebody, we would ask Arn, 'Hey, can we get in there and roll around a little bit?' That way, you get the chance for those guys to see you. You get the chance to fail, because you have to fail before you can be successful. You have to have somebody who is better than you tell you, 'Hey, you're doing it wrong, and you need to do it this way.' So there were a ton of guys. Arn Anderson, Tommy Dreamer, Fit Finley, and Paul Heyman definitely helped me out. It was a combination of making those connections that eventually landed me my job in the WWE.


TONY: Every wrestler has a story or two about a nightmare booking when they were on the independent scene. Can you share one with me?

Mr. Kennedy: Actually, it was my tenth match in the business, and it was working for the promotion that I actually started out wrestling with, and that was All-Star Championship Wrestling out of Green Bay, Wisconsin. The promoter, Mike Mercury and I, we were tag-teaming, and I think it was our second time every tag-teaming. We had tag-teamed one time before against Dino Bambino and Derek St. Holmes. And that second match, we were going to wrestle The Southern Mississippi Militia, and they were the current holders of the ACW Tag Team Championships, and we were going to go over, we were going to win the match. And I remember me being downstairs at the Watering Hole in Green Bay and going over the match, and Rich wasn't real happy with it. In fact, his tag team partner was wearing a Ku Klux Klan shirt and was walking around. We had some black guys in the locker room, and he was saying stuff you definitely shouldn't say ever, much less in the presence of those guys. And I remember he had a gun in his bag and they were drinking a bottle of Jack Daniels and they were just so unprofessional and they didn't want to let me do anything. I remember him sitting there and he asked me, 'Well, what kind of stuff do you do?' And I said, 'Well, I do a Swanton .' He says, 'What the fuck is a Swanton?' And he goes 'No, you don't get anything. When we got into this business, when we won the tag team tiles, we earned it. You haven't done anything in this business yet. What do you think that you've done to deserve this?' And I said, 'If you guys really want to keep the titles, that's not up to me, that's up to the promoter. I really don't care, because wrestling isn't real, guys.' The titles, to me, especially on the independent level, are a prop. It's different once you get to the WWE; they mean more. But we went over to the ring, and I got a comeback in. I got the hot tag and the guy wouldn't bump for me, neither one of the guys would bump for me, and they were real stiff with me and everything. I remember getting back to the locker room and I just blew up. And here I am, a rookie in this business, and these guys have been in the business for six or seven years and thought they were grizzled ring veterans that had been everywhere and done everything. They'd actually only wrestled in Wisconsin and Minnesota. But, yeah, that was one of my worst experiences ever. That kind of stuff sticks with you. You remember the guys that treated you well and you remember the guys that treated you poorly.