Mintz-Plasse returns to the Mark Millar-created franchise with more evil than last time in Kick-Ass 2, hitting theaters Friday, August 16.
Although you’ll see the actor causing a lot of trouble as “The Motherf***er,” he once hoped to play the good guy. After auditioning for the titular role of Kick-Ass and learning that he wasn’t the right fit, director Matthew Vaughn asked him to play Chris D’Amico/Red Mist.
The actor spoke to Hypable about growing up on comics, Jim Carrey, and if his character has a future.
Growing up on comics
Mintz-Plasse’s father was a big fan of comics. “He has thousands,” the actor told us, “And I would read them every so often. I loved Wolverine, I was a big X-Men fan. But I don’t really read them anymore.”
Despite all of the comics laying around the house, Mintz-Plasse never turned into a diehard comic reader like his father. Despite this, he would be interested in starring in another comic-based series. He specifically referenced Matthew Vaughn’s Secret Service, which is currently in development.
From comic to big screen
The Kick-Ass franchise is unique in that the comics have been written as the films are developed. “We’d get issues on set while we were filming,” Mintz-Plasse told us. “It was pretty crazy to see the similarities and the differences. I feel like that was the first time a movie has done that.”
It was critical that they don’t confuse the two entities despite consuming both simultaneously. “It was interesting to read [the comics] at the same time. The script is what you have to do, and then you read the comic and you’re like ‘I kinda want to do that.’ But you know it doesn’t work for the movie.”
Creating a loyal comic-to-film adaptation was an important part of the movie’s development. “Matthew and [comic creator] Mark Miller were emailing every night figuring out, you know Matthew obviously wanted to make it as similar, but in a movie you have to have those movie moments and you have to make it more easier for the audience to understand and to follow. So there were differences, but I think it was pretty similar.”
On Jim Carrey’s decision to not support the film
“First off, I like violent movies, I’m a fan of that. I did the first one and I read the script so I knew it was gonna be violent. That’s one of the reasons I’m doing this movie. So it didn’t surprise me at all. But, it’s kind of a bummer because Jim is so good in the movie. It’s a bummer he can’t be here to help promote or do talk shows or anything. But with all the tragedies that have happened this year, I totally understand where he’s coming from. There were some really dark, sad events that happened this year with guns and he’s against that so I respect his opinion for what he said.”
The actor said he that he wouldn’t go so far as to say that films don’t have an affect on those who decide to commit violence. “It’s hard to say, because there are people out there that are chemically imbalanced, like something that’s not right in their mind. And maybe they do watch it and maybe they don’t. I don’t know what affects them, it could be video games, it could be movies, it could be just their fucked up mind. It’s hard to blame it on something like a video game or movie.”
Kick-Ass 3
If there’s one thing we have to tell you about Kick-Ass 2, it’s to stay for the after-credits scene. In it, the future of The Motherfucker is decided. Mintz-Plasse says he would be very interested in returning to the franchise should a third outing be green lit.
On advice for young actors
The actor immediately fell under the Hollywood spotlight after his huge role in Superbad as McLovin’, but he didn’t expect success to come so soon. He auditioned for the role with three of his friends. “We were all in drama class together, but I don’t think any of us were like ‘We need to be actors.’ We just enjoyed it in school. I had done it since I was four, I was always in theater at my school and always loved it but never thought that it was like a tangible possibility to be an actor.”
While filming Superbad, co-stars Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill believed they were up to something really unique. “I hadn’t done a movie before but Seth and Jonah were like ‘This is crazy, the humour we’re doing is so crazy.’ And everybody’s cracking up, so we knew we were doing something funny. But we didn’t know how it was gonna turn out or how people were going to receive it.”