Interview with Page Kennedy

Page Kennedy has done a lot with his career in a short amount of time. Page started his acting career on stage and quickly moved on to television and movies along big name actors like Samuel L. Jackson and Collin Farrell. Movie Mikes’ Adam Lawton caught with Page to talk about his character Radon Randell from the Spike TV’s “Blue Mountain State”.

Click here to purchase “Blue Mountain State” DVD or Blu-Ray

Adam Lawton: You have quit an extensive acting background and have been on quit a few different television shows, but how did the role for “Blue Mountain State” come about?
Page Kennedy: “Blue Mountain State” came at a difficult time in my life. It was a role that I thought was a long shot for me to play. So I went in there kind of pessimistic about it but prepared and I gave them what I thought this character was. I thought I knew this character. I just didn’t think I looked like him, but again I gave them what I thought this character was and apparently they thought so too.

AL: I think it takes guts to go out there in an American flag Speedo.
PK: Yeah it does a little bit. It takes guts.

AL: Can you tell us a little bit about who your character Radon Randell is on the show?
PK: Radon is a cat from Detroit who has always been the best everywhere he went, but you know he’s from Detroit so his life circumstances are a little different. He is able to get away with a lot of stuff that he does, since he’s an awesome football player. They let him do whatever he wanted to do. It comes to happen that he chooses to go to Blue Mountain State after receiving all these offers from other schools. He’s bringing Detroit to this school along with all his antics and his awesomeness on the football field. So you have to deal with an extra arrogant, crazy, and wild personality.

AL: Did the cast, who were part the first season, give you any type of hazing with you being the new guy on set?
PK: I didn’t really get hazed much. I fitted right in because my personality is as big and crazy as theirs are. It felt like I was never the new guy because I just gelled so well with them immediately.

AL: Did you have any previous football experience prior to the show?
PK: I played a football character once before on the show “Six Feet Under”, which is ironic because that was the first time I was on TV. Here I am again playing a football character. I also played for my division 1 college, so I had some experience.

AL: You were in the movie “S.W.A.T.” with Collin Farrell and Samuel L. Jackson, can you tell us a little about that experience?
PK: I was relatively new to the movie game as that was only my second movie. It was surreal. I remember one time we had rehearsal for the 6th St. Bridge scene. It was a closed rehearsal, which was the first time for me being a part of a closed rehearsal.  They put me in a van with Samuel L. Jackson, Collin Farrell, LL Cool L and Michelle Rodriguez. All I kept thinking to myself was I made it. I’m sitting in a van going to rehearsals with movie stars, I made it. I worked on that movie a long time, so I got to be close with Olivia Martinez and Collin Farrell and really everyone. It was a fun time.

AL: Can you tell me about the time you snuck into Sony Studio?
PK: Oh ya, well I had just gotten to LA from graduate school and was sleeping on a friend’s couch. I had done a Shakespeare festival the summer before and one of the actors lived in LA and told me about the audition. I didn’t have a car. I didn’t have an agent. I didn’t have anything but a head shot and a dream. So I was like, “How am I going to get to this audition?” and “how am I actually going to audition?”  I had never actually had an audition in LA. So I had a friend take me to Sony Studios and I told them I was a courier making a delivery to the casting director which I was…I was delivering myself! This was pre-9/11, so they let me in. I got there and I said “Hey I’m here let’s do this!” They were like “We are not even auditioning yet and are you representing yourself?”  I said “Sure am” and they basically kicked me out. About a week later, the actual casting director saw that I had like twenty theater credits on my resume and they called me in for an actual audition. I nailed that and then they called me again and I nailed it again. Then they wanted me to test for the network at which time I thought I had the part (laughs) but I didn’t. So I went back to an agent, who had previously turned down my offer to represent me, and I asked that they negotiate my deal. They said “Sure”, not really thinking anything would come of it. But then CBS called them and asked if they knew a Page Kennedy and they were like “Yes why? What did he do?” And the person calling said that they wanted me to network test for CBS. And they still represent me today.

AL: Do you have any other projects coming up that you would like our readers to know about?
PK: Well I’m a rapper and I do music. I have a song that will be played on one of the upcoming episodes of “Blue Mountain State”. I have a mix tape that’s out on my website www.pagekennedy.com called “The Chronicles of U-Turn” which was based off my character on “Weeds”. I’m heavily on twitter @PageKennedy, where you can hear some of my jokes, as well as compete against me daily at 9:30 PST on “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader”.

AL: I would like to see a Radon soundboard app, which featured all his catch phrases.
PK: (Laughs) that would be dope.

Click here to purchase “Blue Mountain State” DVD or Blu-Ray

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