Official European Kevin Sorbo Fanclub

CK – Hi, welcome to Chatty Kathy. Today I’m on the set of Soul Surfer and I’m being joined by the strongest man of all time; no, its not Samson, and no its not even Superman, it is none other than…see, I’m getting nervous…Hercules (KS laughing), okay, it’s the actor who brought Hercules to life, Kevin Sorbo…welcome to the show..

KS – Thank you very much….Superman, I can kick his butt…he wouldn’t have a chance against me (smiling), Samson’s all biblical, you have to have long hair…

CK - …and I’m a hairdresser, so if I cut your hair you have no strength;

KS – No….I still have my strength;

CK – Okay, and also didn’t you go out for Lois and Clark?

KS – Got down to between Dean Cain and myself. Two months later I booked Hercules. His show went three years and got cancelled…mine went seven years;

CK – I know, seven years..

KS – ..and passed Baywatch, which actually Doug Schwartz (CK – right), the Exec Producer from Baywatch on this movie as well.. Soul Surfer..umm..we passed his movie in 1996 as the most watched show in the world, so take that Baywatch (smiling, 2 arms up)..

CK – Well, there you go…

KS – We had cleavage on my show, so we called it Baywatch BC, cleavage helps (both laughing)…it doesn’t hurt..

CK – I have the feeling (KS – okay), its because of you..

KS – Oh I don’t know…we had a really…I shot it for seven years in New Zealand and I had such a great time; Universal Studios actually wanted to go three more years on it, but I had sort of reached a burn out phase, because I mean I’m just a mere mortal now, I’m down 215lbs now..

CK – You were 250…

KS - …I was 235; I was working out everyday two hours a day on top of my twelve hour work day, so door to door…I was basically gone sixteen hours a day, it was a long…

CK – But you weren’t married yet..

KS – I was single for the first five years, so that…so..in a way that was sort of helpful, not to..

CK – ..I was gonna say, how was…no, since you’re married maybe you don’t wanna go there...but the females, I mean..were you..

KS – I dated half the women in New Zealand…..my whole life, I love women..

CK – Were you..

KS - …..so yeah, I was a hard one to sort of settle down..

CK – Okay, with your wife, you met her what the fifth season?

KS – I met her during season five, yeah..

CK – Her name was what, Serena?

KS – She played Serena the Golden Hind; in mythology they were half women half deer, so in mythology that was the blood of the Golden Hind is the only thing that can kill a god, so they were very feared by the gods, and ah…but no, its Sam Jenkins was her maiden name, she took my name, Sam Sorbo,…she went old-fashioned..

CK – She respected you..

KS – Yeah, it was kinda cool you know, and umm..

CK – I don’t understand women who don’t take the name of their husbands…

KS – Oowf, I think there’s all kinds of things about the feminist movement…they need to look a different way…

CK – Yes, that’s right..

KS – Why do you wanna be men, you have much more power being a woman..

CK – Exactly..

KS – You do. Women who have reached these (cdl) positions are now having heart problems and stroke problems; they’re getting the same problems men had in that stress level position..

CK – Oh my gosh…you see God designed men to be the ones who would work and toil..

KS – I think so..

CK – And the women to have pain in childbirth..

KS - Have pain in childbirth, exactly.(both laughing)

CK - …..and train up those kids.. (KS laughing)

CK – Okay, I want to know what was it about Sam..you had all these women in New Zealand and all these fans, why did you pick her?

KS – Every two weeks they sent down another beautiful woman for me to work with..it was a pretty good gig; I keep telling her it was timing more than anything else..

CK – Oh you think so..

KS – I got tired of rehashing my life to every date…

CK – Oh my gosh, that would get old..

KS – You know what I mean, I’m the fourth of five kids, my dad was a teacher, my mom was a nurse; I met her at the readthrough; my head said inside “I’m gonna marry her”;

CK – Isn’t that weird; okay…the readthrough you said..

KS - ..before the readthrough. It was like…..I put my hand out, she grabbed my hand and she came and did the double kissing…oh, we’re gonna do the Hollywood thing, okay (smiling), and umm… I’m going to marry her, and I look at myself and I go ‘did I just say that?’ And you know, first day on the set we had a kissing scene and she said, and I said to her..’hey, we should practice that kissing scene’…..you know (smiling), she said ‘Oh God, one of those guys, before you do that can I get some mints please’, and they walked up with some mints, and she said ’no its not for me, its for him’; we’re on twelve years now, I told my wife..I said in Hollywood that’s sort of like a golden anniversary.. (laughing), most people...it doesn’t matter what side of the camera you’re on in Hollywood, that’s like three marriages by now..

CK – And I’m gonna tell you, our birthdays, you are two months and three weeks younger than me..

KS – Is that right..

CK – fifty-eight..okay.. as the sun hits me and reveals all the…

KS – Are you.. what month.. CK – July 3rd..

KS – July 3rd? CK – Uh-huh..

KS - …..thats my second oldest brother’s birthday;

CK – Wow..thats amazing..

KS – Yeah..

CK – Do you like him?

KS – Yeah….my brother, we get along really well (CK laughing)..no, we do, we get along really well..

CK – So, we’d probably get along… I don’t believe in astrology..

KS – No, I find it interesting, but yeah, I don’t believe in it..

CK – Yeah exactly..okay..so lets get back to the beginning when you realised ‘I will be an actor’..

KS – I was just a young pup; I was eleven years old; I’m from Minneapolis area, a little town called Mound, Minnesota, it’s a western suburb of about seven thousand people, we’re on the shores of Lake Minnetonka and we were known for the company Tonka Toys; we had a field trip to the Guthrie Theatre,..the Guthrie Theatre for people that know theatre, is a very famous theatre.. and we went to see The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare, and I was completely mesmerized, and I made my decision right then and there I want to be an actor, and I remember watching older movies, reruns even back then, (CK laughing), with my mom.. umm..of Spencer Tracy and Bogart, and Cary Grant, who’s my favourite…

CK – Okay..Cary Grant is my favourite…oh…

KS – Yeah..and I said ‘I’m gonna do that, I’m gonna do that’, and it was..for me, it was Paul Newman that put it over the edge for me…I was a big Paul Newman fan..

CK – So then you kinda didn’t take it up in High School because..

KS – It wasn’t until I got to College that I started taking some classes and hanging out, and you know, and getting into it..

CK – You did modelling?

KS – Umm..well, that was sort of a sidetrack; I got my Sidecard through my College years,..umm..Minneapolis is headquarters to Target 3M, Cargo, Honeywell, Pillsberry, all these companies are headquartered there, so lot of commercials being shot there, so that’s how I sort of got in front of the camera more and more..and ah..I was dating a model at the time and she said ‘you know, we should go to Europe together, before you head to LA’. She had to work in Italy, my plan was to spend three months, one summer, …..spend three months there after College..I lived there for three and a half years..I just stayed..

CK – Wow..

KS – I just stayed and I loved it..

CK – How could you stay so long?

KS – Because I fell in love with the whole European lifestyle..of just being over there; I lived in Milan eight months, then I moved to Paris for six months, then I moved to Munich for a year and a half and I put together a nineteen basketball league, because I was still a big basketball jock..

CK – Really..

KS – I played sports all through College and stuff..I mean..I mean when I got..

CK – You didn’t want to be a pro?

KS - …..when I got to College….division three College and everybody in the football team was as good or better than me, I went ‘oh my’; because I was one of the big jocks in my High School; I think I came with an attitude, and it was like…..I called my dad and I said ‘Dad, everybody’s really good (laughing), its like everyone…. so it’s a whole different thing..

CK – You’re Norwegian right?

KS – I’m 100 percent Viking, so raping and pillaging is in my veins..(CK laughing)..So I can’t help it (both laughing)..

CK – Okay..

KS – I’m still in sorrow for the Minnesota Vikings because they beat the crap out of the Saints and still lost their game ‘cause they had seven turnovers; (smiling)

CK – Okay Kevin, ..when I was a girl, a little girl, I loved Fran Tarkenton..

KS – Fran Tarkenton..

CK – I even wrote to him and Joe Namath, those were my guys..

KS – Joe’s my buddy..I play in Joe’s tournament every year in Long Island..

CK – I know you do, I know..and I golf as well, oh well I used to; Okay, so then you went to Hollywood.. (KS – I went to Hollywood).. and you didn’t have like the bumpy road that everybody else had, did you..

KS – Well, I’d never had to bartend or wait tables, I was very lucky; I got to Hollywood..by then I had a really good commercial reel put together, I had my Sidecard, all stuff was in play, I got there, they had me go on a commercial audition, my third day in town, and I..

CK - ..third day!

KS - ..and I booked the commercial, ..shoots in Sidney, Australia (both laughing), so I’m on the plane to Sidney, I get there, and it was a ten day shoot, and I stayed for six months, so I still had the travel bug in me, so I called my agent in LA and I said ‘I’m gonna stay there’, and he said ‘you just got to LA’, and I said’ yeah I know, but I’m gonna hang out’. So I stayed in Sidney for six months because I went for a walk on Bondai Beach and its topless, so I said ‘I gotta stay here’.

CK – Okay, you’re..you’re tripping me out..

KS – I said ‘this is a good beach to come to’..

CK – One of the questions I wanted to ask you is, ‘cause I’ve heard like interviews with different (KS laughing) actors, and they go ‘Oh, the love scenes, the kissing scenes, oh its nothing, its just so staged’, but was it like that for you..

KS – You can get turned on..trust me (laughing)..(CK – Really..)..Sure you can. You know..its..you’re kissing..for the most part you’re gonna kiss someone that’s probably very attractive in ‘the industry’ (making comma signs)..for the most part, you know, and there’s always gonna be a physical attraction there, you just have to know where to draw the line; is it weird that there’s fourty people around watching?..yeah, that’s weird..thats weird..

CK – I couldn’t do that…I wouldn’t even kiss anyone I wasn’t into, but I’m a girl..

KS – I remember I did a pilot years ago in 1992, and umm.. just the year before Hercules, and there was a scene in there where I had to kiss…I was the leading man, she was the leading lady..and I had to kiss her, and I’m always very respectful, I am, I say ‘look, how do you want make this kiss be?’..honestly, as big a flirt as I am I don’t want to make people uncomfortable..

CK – Of course..(smiling)

KS – And she said, ‘I don’t want tongue’; I said ‘okay, there’ll be no tongue, no problem’..

CK – Did she…

KS – Action....her tongue was so far down my throat..(laughing)

CK – That is so funny..

KS – After the take I went …you can see my face..and I went ‘what was that about?’, and she went ‘ Aah, I couldn’t help it’.. (CK – gasping)…so..

CK – Well, did you date her?

KS – But no we didn’t..she was dating JFK Junior at the time..

CK – Oh really?

KS – Yeah..

CK - …was..

KS – Yeah, sad story, that’s very…but umm..yeah it was kind of funny, but anyway those things happen on set..

CK – Okay, so what about..

KS – Why do you think actors marry other actors all the time, you know, then they get divorced, ..they get divorced…I get…you’re thrown into a situation for three, four, five months, and its…it’s the passion and everything that’s going on on set and the long hours, and you know, and then they go offset and they go, ’I don’t really like that person’..

CK - …..what do they see in them..

KS – Exactly its true, after they break up and they’re back in their own lifestyles, and ..umm..

CK -…ego…its like you’re a strong guy, you’ve got an ego, don’t you..

KS – Yeah..I do..but..

CK – Its…I’m kinda sensing that Kevin..(laughing)

KS – I do, but I..I’m realistic about life too, you know, I don’t walk around going ‘ hey do you recognise me’, I don’t, I’m always very nice when people come up and say ‘hey..’

CK – Can I say something..I talked to security earlier (KS - ..yeah..)..they liked you the best..

KS – Really..

CK – Honest, I didn’t even tell ‘em I was interviewing you..

KS – That’s really nice, thanks..

CK – Okay, and they said, these big guys..

KS – That’s really cool..

CK – Aaron and Charles..

KS – I paid them a lot of money..

CK –Okay, so you got Hercules (KS – yeah..)..and you had what seven callbacks..

KS – Seven year run..

CK – I know it was seven years, but..

KS – Oh, how I got the series? Is that what you’re asking?

CK – Okay yeah, how many callbacks?

KS – I had seven callback..

CK – There you go..okay..

KS – I had seven callbacks, and it was driving me crazy ‘cause everytime it was…Sam Raimi was in the room, who was Exec Producer, who directed all the Spiderman movies and everything, it was his…he was our Exec Producer, and he says..umm..everytime I went in, I said ‘what do you want me to do differently’, and they said ‘we like what you’re doing’ and I said ‘okay, now what do you want this time’, ‘just do what you did last time’…’why do you keep calling me back in here’..’cause everytime they had different body types in there..I’m a big guy, I’m six three, and was probably about two twenty at the time, I’m two fifteen now, and I said ‘you know what, I can beef up against guys, I know how to do it, I play football, but I said ‘I’m not gonna do steroids, I’m not gonna….steroids…no, I was two thirtyfive in College (answer to CK), I wasn’t doing steroids; I’m six three, ..I mean my frame…Arnold Schwarzenegger is about five eleven, okay, he was doing ‘droids..

CK – Is he five eleven?

KS – Yeah, he says he’s six three..Arnold Schwarzenegger’s shorter than me…

CK - …he’s got long limbs..

KS – He got up to two seventyfive; you don’t get that big with that body…I could’ve got up to two hundred and eighty with my body frame..

CK – If you did steroids?

KS – Sure..I could’ve..

CK – Can I just tell you something..girls don’t like it..

KS – No…but I said…but I said for this part I’m not going to do it; I still go to the gym everyday, I still do stuff, I dropped the twentyfive pounds in the first year after Hercules before I went into Andromeda, started to shoot that series..

CK – They told you to drop it?

KS – No, I told them I’m gonna drop it; I said I’m not gonna keep it up..I was working out two hours a day, every day, heavy, heavy, heavy..I dropped the weight; I remember going to the gym and guys, five seven, will walk up to me ‘dude, I thought you’d be bigger’ and I’d go yeah,..my answer used…sometimes I’d throw them off by going ‘well thank you very much’..but I’d say ‘you know what, I know I’m only six three, two fifteen, I wish I was as big as you’, and I walk away, and they’re five seven, one hundred and fifty, and you know they feel stupid. Guys are insecure about themselves..

CK – Totally..

KS – We are just insecure little morons and they say stuff to other guys to make themselves feel better about themselves..

CK – Exactly..

KS Like down in New Zealand I’d be trying to watch a rugby match or something, and they’d walk up ‘say Hercules, you think you’re tough’ (New Zealand accent), ‘you think you’re tough, huh?’, and I go ‘no, I’m an actor playing Hercules (looking at camera) I’m really not half god’. I remember a guy came up to me in the gym, he goes ‘ oh, you’re the Yank, you’re the Yank playing Hercules up from the States, huh?’ I go, ‘yeah’.. ‘I’ve been to America, hated it’ this guy said…

CK – Really..

KS – Yeah, my first year in New Zealand, and I said ‘well don’t go back there, we have enough (bleep) there already’..so oh yeah..

CK – Do you know how to fight? Did they leave you alone?

KS – You know what, I can take care of myself; I don’t want to look for a fight; I mean, if I was up against a guy that really, knew Karate, ‘cause I do all that stuff, I’d get my butt kicked, you know..

CK – I fenced for a while there..(KS – Really..)..and..
sabre…

KS - ..if I had a sword or sabre and a guy just had his fists, I can kick his (bleep)!

CK – So there you go..

KS – I’d slice him up..(laughing)

CK – I had a sabre..my arm would just get fatigued..and it was light..but you had like a huge sword..

KS – We had heavy swords..

CK – So how was that?

KS – It was a good workout, I enjoyed it, it was fun, I learned,..I learned..

CK – Did you do your own like stunts and stuff?

KS – I did most of my own stunts, yeah..I learned to get really good at faking stuff…’cause I worked with really good swords guys, and we trained all the time on the set, for seven years we trained all the time..I worked with my stunt guys all the time..my stunt guys are phenomenal..two of them have gone on to become like huge…one of them won an award for the last James Bond movie because he doubles for James Bond..

CK – Whats his name..

KS – Craig..whats his name.. (CK – I don’t know).. we know his name, the actor from England..he doesn’t know my name…so (bleep)..(CK laughing), so..but he doubled and won like a stunt award, and the other guy has been doing huge movies now, doing all the stunt choreography, its pretty cool; I worked with some great people..

CK – Your like co…was it Michael..is it Hurst..

KS – Michael Hurst..

CK – He hit you’re head right?

KS – Big time hard. He bragged about being the fencing champion of New Zealand, and we had this move, but I’m ducking from behind, so I’m down low, he’s up here, supposed to swing where my head used to be, got his eyes closed, and coming down like this with the sword, it’s a fifteen pound sword, he hit me right in the back of the head, boom, I was out, woke up in the hospital, head split open, concussion; had he hit me..he hit me with this part of the sword (demonstrating),.. had he hit me with that part (demonstrating) I’d be dead, there’s no question, then they went to aluminum swords, or as they say in New Zealand, aluminium swords, because we apparently pronounce it wrong, but I kept saying, ‘well, there’s three hundred million of us, there’s only four million of you, its aluminum’..

CK – I…I don’t know if you know this, but I think its Sam, his birthday is a year and four days after yours…

KS – Whose is?

CK – Michael Hurst ..yeah, I’m pretty sure its him..

KS – No, he’s,.. he’s older than me, he’s older by a year..

CK – A year and four days older..

KS – I thought you said I was older, yes, yes, that’s right, okay..what do you have with birthdays..a year and four days..

CK – I have this weird thing with birthdays and phone numbers; Xena came from your show…

KS – That was our lesbian spin-off show. This show appealed to a lot of females and you go to her conventions and its mostly lesbian, my conventions are like five to eightyfive year olds men and women…we were more a family show; they had to put that show after us because she would kill about fifteen guys an episode; I never killed anybody in my show; we had more tongue in cheek humour than they did, so I think that’s…the audiences sort of separated and split off..

CK – Okay, so like the fans..say like Superman, Zorro, different shows..the men liked the character..

KS – Right..

CK – And the women usually like the actor who is portraying it. Did you find that the guys liked Hercules for some reason, or was it you..

KS – I think they liked me, I think they..I mean I do enough talk shows and conventions and stuff, and people say ‘you know he’s a regular guy’, but I don’t take my ‘fame’, whatever that is, for granted, I worked my butt off to get to where I am, but at the same time I know how fickle Hollywood is and how weird it is and how strange it is and how political it is, so knock on wood..

CK – So were you stalked during the series?

KS – Was I what? CK – Stalked..

KS – Oh yeah, yeah, there were about six women that they had to put on the FBI watch list because of the death threats coming in and stuff ..(CK – What!)..At its peak I was..

CK – Death threats..they wanted to kill you?

KS – Yeah…. CK – Why?

KS – Because I didn’t return all their letters and their phone calls, and…

CK – Okay..

KS – ..all that stuff, yeah..I mean fans are fans but you know it is short for fanatic, and there are some people that got a little over the top. At the peak of the show we were getting like thousands of letters a week coming in..

CK – Did you have to hide out?

KS – I never hid out, I never hid out; I never worried about..people, like you said..I think the show was so fun and just relaxed and people got it, and I think it was such a wink, wink, you know breaking the fourth wall, looking at the camera type of show like Gilligans Island, you know,…

CK – Yeah, yeah, yeah..

KS – …that when people would see me in the airport, or at the mall or at the grocery store, they would just say ‘hey, how you doing, I love your show’..people are always really nice..

CK – That’s about it! KS – Yeah…CK – that’s good..

KS – I never had, I never really felt you know,..there was just some people that through letters and stuff, we said okay, we’d better turn these in to the FBI;

CK – What about Andromeda, what kind of a crowd..

KS – You got some Hercules fans like crossed over, but it’s a sci-fi crowd as well and its a Gene Roddenberry. I mean Gene Roddenberry created it..

CK – Didn’t his wife call you up?

KS – Majel Roddenberry gave me a call. I was looking for a new series, three months to go, left on my contract on Hercules, I was still down in New Zealand; I got a call from Majel Roddenberry, who just passed away…and she said, ‘my husband wrote the show in 1969, would you be interested in taking a look at it, because I think you’d make a great Captain Dylan Hunt’, so I said I was a big fan of Star Trek..so I read it and I said ‘what are we doing’ and she goes ‘you want to do it’..and I said ‘yeah’..and I get a call a week later from Tribune Entertainment that owned it out of Chicago, they threw out a two year contract on me, fortyfour shows guaranteed, I went ‘Really?’….signed the contract..

CK – Do you have your own production company?

KS – I do have my own production company..

CK – And whats that called?

KS – Called Touchwood Productions..

CK – And how’s that going?

KS – Its going really well. Its been hard in this market; its tough to get money for movies, its tough to get distribution, but I just got really good word today on a movie that is gonna go in Texas now, and we’re financed and ready to go..

CK – So do you feel that you’ve been kind of pigeon holed into any kind of character roles..

KS Well really mostly in just Hollywood; I mean Hollywood has weird blinders on all the time..’oh, he’s the action guy’ (smiling), you know, and then you go in a room and actually read a dramatic role and they call your agent, and go ‘ you know, he did okay, you know he was actually pretty good’ (laughing), its like well I’m an actor, you know its not like…it doesn’t mean I can be good in everything, I can’t be Robin Williams in a comedy..

CK – You’re pretty funny..

KS -..but at the same time he can’t be an action guy..

CK – Okay, so whats your ideal role to play..

KS – A TV series I have right now with a production company out of Vancouver, Canada, that we’ve raised half the money for, its called The Handyman, and everybody we’ve brought it to loves it; it’s a harder, edgier 24, and we’ve got myself attached to it right now, with, ..ah..Peter Fonda..

CK – You look like Peter Fonda..

KS – I’ve heard that before a little bit…he wouldn’t play my father..I play an ex CIA operative, he’s not politically correct which I love about him, and if you’re a bad guy you’re a bad guy, we’re not gonna have some bozos come along and protect you, you raped and killed fourteen little girls.. (shrugs shoulders)..if I walk in a room with you I’m the one who walks out, that’s the premise of the show; if you’re a gang member and you’re about to kill a bunch of people just to be initiated in a gang, I’m the guy who takes those people out, and I like that; I think a lot of people..I think a lot of people think that way; you look at a terrorist today.. (CK – I know).. if we all had the ability to just close your eyes and make them disappear we’d all do it;

CK – That’s right..

KS – We would.. (CK – absolutely).. you know, ..too right..these bozos..and its just…you know we’ve got people even in our media today that will protect guys like that..wow, those terrorists have rights too….really?

CK – We have a President that does that..

KS – Oh Good Lord, lets not get going…(laughing)

CK – If you want to..I’m willing..I’m willing right now..(both laughing)

KS – Whats wrong with turning America into Canada, its great..(2 thumbs up – laughing)..

CK -..(talking)..

KS – There’s a reason that six Canadians move to America for every American that moves to Canada, okay I love Canada but you know, there’s..there’s a problem over all with that type of government I think. Don’t get me going, I lived there for five years.. up there shooting Andromeda.. that’s where I shot Andromeda..in Vancouver..and I got to know a lot of Canadians pretty well, and most of them don’t like their healthcare system, Michael Moore can put out sicknotes all he wants…

CK – Michael Moore, okay…well I’m conservative, I think you will probably have gathered that, all the way..alright, so you have a..a couple of Foundations?

KS – I have two..the After School Alliance, and then A World Fit For Kids, which I’ve been with the longest..

CK – And what do you do..

KS – Its an afterschool programme, we’re fighting childhood obesity, making sure children..umm..get their grades better; I mean you look at what every President has done, every President has been cutting funding for schools programmes, to do with the arts, to do with.. you know..
whether its music, whether its theatre, whether its physical education…third graders need an hour a day to run around you know…and I go to DC twice a year to speak to Congress; I mean its amazing to me that they’re cutting these funds for all these classes all the time, and its proven that an hour of physical education..right afterwards when they hit the next classroom..their attention levels up..their retention level is up, everything is up.. and its insane that we’re cutting all this stuff out..

CK – Especially physical education because they’re so sedentary, they’re on their computers..

KS – Oh, we’re the most obese country in the world..you know..look at the foods people are eating..you know, its insane..and you know, we got an educational systerm that’s ranked…public education which I’m sorry has to go…I mean we’re ranked 57th in the world; look, my father was a teacher, so I don’t want a thousand letters coming to me…my father was a public school teacher for 35 years… when I got a little more mature, a little older, to understand what I went through with Grade School, with Junior High School, and I started looking at teachers that I had, teachers that were good, and teachers that were bad, because it goes both ways, and I realised that a teacher that’s been teaching for 10 years and thats amazing, and a teacher that’s been teaching for 10 years in that same school that sucks..

CK – I know, and they get paid the same amount..

KS – They get paid the same amount of money.. (CK – exactly).. it creates no motivation for them whatsoever..

CK – You’re right..

KS – And that’s why there is better education in the private industry, that’s why there’s better education for home-schooled kids..(CK – exactly..oh way better, way better)..because there’s more at stake; California’s trying to get rid of home-schooling because home-schooled children are kicking the butts of public school teachers..

CK – They are I know…..vouchers, I would like to see vouchers..

KS – They did it in Milwaukee, they did it in St Louis..

CK – The vouchers?

KS – With vouchers..and they said ‘you decide’..grades went up astronomically because it created competition amongst the schools. They said look, if we don’t pick up our pace here, we’re not going to have any students here, we won’t get funded, we’ll be out of a job..(Ck – that’s right)..it made them get off their butts (clicking fingers) competition’s a good thing people (looking at camera)..its a good thing..I mean to have that mentality in every job out here..well that means okay for Tiger Woods..well the heck with that..everybody wins The Masters, everybody gets a Green Jacket and a million dollars, its really unfair that Tiger Woods is such a good golfer, you know..

CK – Like giving trophies to all the kids..

KS – Yeah…Jim Carrey’s getting 20million dollars a movie, I’m not getting 20million for this, I should be getting 20million for this movie too..its really unfair I’m not being paid the same.. (CK laughing)..we have a weird thing going in this country now, we have almost half the population of this country that wants the government just to take care of them..

CK – I know they do..

KS – It used to be that if you were not a landowner you couldn’t have a vote in this country..

CK – I know, prison convicts get to, don’t they..

KS – Yes, anybody can vote..

CK – Illegal aliens..

KS – I think anybody living off the government shouldn’t be able to vote..(CK – that’s right)..
People are going to kill me for that, I don’t care..

CK – No they’re not..

KS – Well, half the people will shoot me, the other half will go ‘I can’t believe it,whats wrong with being lazy’..well I don’t know, there’s a problem with it (laughing)..

CK – Actors..are they lazy, on the set..(laughing)

KS – No…no.. CK – Why?

KS – Well, we work our butts off all the time…I keep busy all the time, well..I have my foundation, I have my production company, I have 3 kids that are with me on the set here,..I have..

CK -…a wife…

KS - I have..I’m trying to put together a golf tournament right now, June 10/11th, in Vegas..its my second annual golf tournament raising money..

CK – Kevin Sorbo..what..Celebrity..

KS – Celebrity Invitational..we’ve got a comedy night, and we have the big awards after the golf, and Planet Hollywood and casinos hosting us and… it’s a big deal…

CK – Can I ask you this, have you ever hit a hole-in-one?

KS – I finally got one; I’ve been playing this game since I was 11 years old, I finally got a hole-in-one..

CK – Okay, I want to brag……KS – Okay..

CK – I thought you’d probably say a few of ‘em..the very first time I tried to golf..play a game..I think its..I can’t remember the term..

KS – Are you a lefty?

CK – I’m right hand..but I’m ambidextrous, I throw a left, bat left..so yes..and so..I love sports..almost all sports…so I got up there..Kahuku.. (KS – Yeah)..and I teed off, it went right in.. (Kevin looking in direction of camera).. the girl comes out..is this true Jim (looking in direction of camera)..okay I hit it..’who hit that’..’I did’.. ‘this is your first time?’ I go ‘ya’..and she runs over and gives me a bunch of balls..(Kevin making a face)..brand new balls and says ‘here, you deserve it’..

KS – You gotta be kiddin’ me..

CK – No..I love sports..

KS – Your first time..but have you ever done it since?

CK – Yeah, we started going out every day..

KS – Yeah, but have you ever hit a hole-in-one since?

CK – No..(laughing)

KS – Because they’re incredibly rare, you got yours right away; I’ve been playing the game for 30 years, I finally got one..(CK – yes)..235 yards out, 6 months ago..

CK – Well you know, I’m proud of you Kevin..I’m gonna shake your hand..(both shaking hands)..

KS – I’m proud of me..I finally got one..

CK – It is exciting huh? (KS – It is..)..golfing, I’ve done what like half the course, I don’t like to do a whole thing..I like baseball..

KS – You’re like my wife…9 holes…it should always be 9 holes..

CK – Its kind of a boring sport, but baseball..

KS – Nah, I like it..

CK –Okay – I play baseball, basketball..

KS – Baseball..there’s an exciting sport..I play baseball too, but….

CK – So you’re in the movie Soul Surfer, you’re playing Holt..

KS – I’m playing Holt Blanchard..Soul Surfer’s the life of Bethany Hamilton who lost her arm through a shark attack 6 years…a little over 6 years ago..(CK – amazing).. and went on to still become one of the top surfers in the world..its an amazing story..

CK – She went back out in the water after 3 weeks..

KS – Within 3 months…3 weeks, yeah..it was Thanksgiving..

CK – Okay, I used to surf 4 to 8 hours a day, and I got injured, the fin hit my knee, bleeding, 5 stitches, I was out, that was it, okay, I just stopped, that’s enough..

KS – She’s an amazing young lady and she’s…its Soul Surfer because she’s very religious you know, and she’s..(CK – Christian)…and very conviction with her religious life, which is great, and she …they put a movie together and I play Holt Blanchard, who was in the water with her when she was attacked…I’m the father of Alana who’s her best friend, they grew up surfing together, and we shot most of that scene already, its pretty intense.. I called up Holt before we started shooting and I wanted to know what happened that day…and its just an amazing story, you know, to hear everything..

CK - …her arm’s bitten off… KS – yeah….
CK – she loses half her blood….KS – yes..60%..
CK – 60%? KS – 60%.. CK – its amazing, this is totally a miracle..

KS – Had they not….they were over in the tunnels in Hawaii and there’s a big reef there, and they had to go over the reef, so they got their feet all chopped up and stuff, he ripped off his (rash…), tied up her arm, dragged her across the reef, jumped back in the water, they were 400 yards out, he said had we gone around the reef it would have taken another 15-20 minutes and she would have been dead..

CK – When you first heard about this script, or read about it, whatever you did, however you learned of it, how did it impact you..

KS – I was in Vancouver when it happened..I was shooting a series Andromeda, its first year, no it wasn’t actually the first year, it was like the 4th or 3rd year of it..I was angry..

CK – Really..

KS – I was angry, I said she’s 13 years old, this beautiful, you know, great athlete, I said why would that happen..

CK – Right..you were questioning God..

KS – Yeah..you go like God’s Will..whatever you call it…but it was weird…

CK – That was weird..that you had that thought and how God is using this…okay..

KS – And here I am…when I got the script to read it, and I went to meet with Sean the Director, Sean McNamara, and I was just like, wow, this is kind of weird, kind of cool you know..and I was..they called me up and said you’ve got the movie; we’ve got a great cast..Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt and Craig T Nelson, AnnaSofia Robb, Lorraine Nicholson, Jack’s daughter, playing my daughter..

CK – Thank you for taking the time to do this interview..

KS – My pleasure..

CK – Its really fun.. …it went totally different..

KS – I appreciate you interrupting me completely in my movie making (smiling)….what do you mean different…whats supposed to happen..

CK – I thought I was supposed to be all structured, but I like this, this was way better…loose..

KS – No structure..

CK – No structure..thank you for tuning into another episode of Chatty Kathy..aloha..

KS – This is Crazy Kevin..I’m getting my own show..(smiling)..

Transcript of free speech – Lindsey and Edith (many apologies for errors!)