Official European Kevin Sorbo Fanclub

Kevin Sorbo Explore the Outdoors Interview with Jim and Patti Solomon – 7th February 2010

Part 1:

J – Our next guest actually needs no introduction if you remember Hercules or Andromeda, we’ve got Kevin Sorbo, and over the past 20 years Kevin has not only starred in numerous television shows, but since 1997 he is also the Spokesman for the World Fit For Kids, a non-profit organisation that provides gang, drug and drop-out prevention to teens through mentoring programmes, and I want him to tell you the rest… Good morning Kevin…

K – Good morning guys, how are ya?……

P - We’re up and ready although we were up in the middle of the night with a thunderstorm, but … (laughing)..

J – Question is, how are you doing?

K – Oh man…I’m here in Hawaii, been shooting a movie the last couple of weeks, and the last three days just been intense…so its, what is it, its only 5.25 in the morning here..you guys rallied me out of bed here for this interview,..but I’m here;

P – I so appreciate it, well Jim and I so appreciate it…we want you to talk obviously about the World Fit For Kids, your event coming up in June, June 10th and llth, so we’re gonna give you the floor now to talk a little bit about that…..

K – Well, A World Fit For Kids, Jim just mentioned what its about, the Foundation; I’ve been involved since 1997 – um, during the peak of Hercules during the 95 and 98 years I was inundated with quite a few requests to become like the spokesperson for different things like Paediatric Aids and Make A Wish, all these great foundations, I knew a lot of actors who were already involved with…and I wanted to get myself involved with something that really dealt with kids that were basically healthy, but living in unhealthy environments, and along came this programme. I fell in love with it immediately, and latched myself onto it, and its been an amazing experience for me, we..umm..we deal with over 12,000 children in the Los Angeles school area in the innercity schools…Los Angeles, like a lot of major cities, has a huge dropout rate problem, and the drop out rate in LA is 54%, the kids in our programme, we boast almost, we’re about 98% graduation rate right now,

J - ..thats incredible..

K – ..yeah, and the gradepoint average is 67% higher than other students in the area that aren’t involved in the programme, we have parents knocking down the door trying to get in, but you know, its like everything else it comes down to money, and it comes down to being able to support the programme, we’re non-profit, but certainly we have people that are working 80 hour weeks on the programme, but we can’t expect people to work for free, so I’m making trips to Washington DC twice a year to beg and plead with with the Congress and the House out there to say, guys you can’t be dropping after school programmes, its insane…you know, we’re cutting the art programmes out, we’re cutting the physical education programmes starting even at the gradeschool level, which is just nuts (P talking)…go ahead..

P - …You know Kevin, I was just thinking, I’m gonna date myself now but when I was younger, in High School, we had all those different things to do with school…music, theatre, physical education, that was so available, its so surprising that people think kids don’t need them and they’re cutting them out of school;

K – Well, that’s one of the biggest things we fight…its not only to help improve their grades and to keep them active, and pursue things that they want to pursue after school hours, but its also to fight childhood obesity; we start the first hour after school with the physical activity, but its not something we’re gonna force down their throat, if they want to be in dance, if they want to be in basketball, whatever it may be, we provide that service to them for that full hour; ‘cause its proven that after an hour of physical activity the brain…everything is just geared up and charged up, and they retain better, their attention’s better, and that serves as part of the next hour where we work with them on their school work, and on their homework…..so… I received award a couple of years ago from Governor Schwarzenegger for the best After School Programme in the entire state of California, which is quite an honour, and we decided, from that moment on we actually got inundated with a bunch of after school programmes throughout the country saying okay what is your programme, what is your plan, what do you guys do, so…umm…about a year and a half ago I was the keynote speaker in Dallas, in front of 2800 after school programmes across the country talking to them about what our programme is and what we do, and at that moment we decided, you know, lets go nationwide with our progamme, and try to implement it in every major city across America, so we kicked off with a golf tournament last year which was very successful, now we’re doing it again this year on June 10th and llth in Las Vegas and its, you know, we’re still lookin’ for sponsors, like everybody, everyone has trouble struggling, but you know, we’re still lookin’ for golfers, and people can go online to worldfitforkids, just spell out the entire thing, and the word for is f – o – r, not like f-o-r-e like golf (P & K laughing), its worldfitforkids.org, and they can get tons of information on what the events gonna be like; we’ve got… June 10th is actually the first day people can come in and golf, but we have a big live auction that night, we’re also gonna have entertainment, we have Kevin Nealon from Silent Lives who’s gonna perform, along with Jackie Flynn, and Henry Chow, we have a comedy night, and then the next night is the Awards night and we’re mixing that up with a great group of entertainers, from Alice Cooper and Meatloaf & Mike Reno from Loverboy, Steve Azar and Josh Kelly, just got a great group of entertainerment that night, so for those people who don’t wanna golf, they can certainly pay their 10 those 2 nights of entertainment and meet other celebrities. We’ve got a big list of celebrities coming and playing in the tournament as well…

P – Oh I know, I’ve gotten great response here in Arizona so far with things that people want to donate, right down to one of my friends thats an artist and she’s spoken with you or emailed with you, about doing, I believe, your face in glass..

K – Yes…yes..

P – Well, that’ll be fun..

K – Its Peggy…whats her last name?

P – I just call her Grasshopper..

K – Okay..Grasshopper… (K & P laughing)

P – She’s got Grashopper Studios, and she’s…

K – That’s it, that’s right …we sent emails, we haven’t talked personally on the phone yet, but I mean, you know, on top of my schedule I put in at least, at least 20 to 25 hours a week throughout the year just on my charity and the golf event, and then the last couple of months leading up to it, I double that to 40 or 50 hours a week, which is just crazy, but it’s a labour of love and its amazing to see, you know, what happens…. we keep 12,000 kids from grade school up to senior high, off the street, after school for 3 or 4 hours, everyday, and the local police authority certainly appreciates that as well, what we do, and you know we keep kids out of trouble,..you know, I mean I was a good kid, I was an athlete and all that kind of stuff, but you know when you’re that age, if you’ve got idle time you can end up doing stupid things ……so…

P – That’s so true..

K – Yeah, we’re there to help build self-esteem, and you know we really apply hope and change, let me put it that way, so………it’s a whole different game from what we do, and what kids that aren’t involved in programmes are getting themselves into, we work with a lot of gang members, we change their lives, I mean we’ve had a number of them say if it wasn’t for this programme I’d be dead right now, so its pretty incredible what this programme has done for kids;

J – Well you mentioned the self-esteem, and I think with self-esteem comes self-reliance, and I think that’s so important for kids nowadays….

K – Yes, I mean there’s no question about it……you know, I was very lucky, I grew up in a small suburb outside of Minneapolis, in an area called Lake Minnetonka, and our big claim to fame was that was where they made Tonka toys when I was a kid growin’ up…and ah, you know, I ….. it was a little of my parents, but also a little of my neighbourhood, I lived in a community that I was in and there was coaches I had through sports, and the teachers I had…I just had a really…a really safe environment so to speak growing up and my eyes were opened when I went through my University years, and you know, you kinda get caught up in your own little world when you’re a junior in High School and that is your world, what you’re involved with right there in schools,….you get out and see whats really happening out there, its really…… even then I started saying, you know I want to do something one day, I want to be able to to help people one day..

J – Well you mentioned too the obesity rate in kids; its seems like kids get so involved, the only reality they know is what they see in a tube, and getting the education, the exercise, and getting them out of crime...they say the obesity rate this year is supposed to be 50%;

K – Its pathetic, we’re the most obese country in the world and you see it everywhere, and its just strange, its become that we’re just starting to pass on from generation to generation, and the laziness…and….whats strange is this laziness leads to self-entitlement deal,…I don’t get it, you know, when I was a kid yeah..I did my chores…my mum and dad you know…there was a soft thunder appeal to my father’s approach to life (K & P laughing), so…you know… you do it or else, you know, and, ummm, it definitely evoked in me a very strong work ethic in my life,.. I’m a very hard worker,
I’m a very ‘A’ type personality where I’m always juggling a bunch of balls but you know I may bitch and moan about things occasionally, but when it gets right down to it I like what I do, I like that I push myself, I like that I stay very busy, and I feel like I’m doing something, at least making an impact, one way or another, whether its through… you know..one of the reasons I wanted to be an actor is I just wanted to be able to do do what people did to me growing up as a kid…if you wanted to watch a movie or watch tv, at least there was some entertainment or escapism there…but on the flip side you know, I’ve always kept myself very busy physically, you know, I grew up in a family of athletes, and I think athletics is a very important part of life and that this physical education is a very important part of life, and you gotta get kids out there movin’, you gotta get up to shake ‘em, because its unbelievable, ..Nintendo fine you know, problem is ..Robin Williams calls it kiddy cocaine, and there’s a lot of truth in that, (P laughing) you know its like, get out there and get active…I look at some of these kids and they’re already you know 150lbs, and they’re 7 years old, its my God they’re kids, its just sad, and I’m amazed with everything we have going on out there and the possibility to change things,…it doesn’t get changed, and this vicious cycle’s goin’ on that we have to break;

J – Yeah, I think what you’re doing reaching out to kids is very very important. We actually have a kids show called Explore the Outdoors with Kids for that exact same reason. We’re tryin’ to get kids involved in the outdoors and by having kids on , that are ages 5-16, to talk about how easy it is to get involved, we’re hoping that more kids will actually get involved in the outdoors and get some exercise;

K – You know its…..whats amazing is that people, once you get them on that wheel, they realise how good they feel after they do this, ..you know..

P – Right..

K – I mean…it’s a drug for me, its been a drug for me for years to work out and to do something every single day………..I get a little crazy, its like, you know, being hypoglycaemic or something in a way, I get kinda grumpy (laughing) if I don’t get my work out in, so I find a way to do it everyday….and the last 3 days, this movie I’m shooting right now is called Soul Surfer, it’s the story of Bethany Hamilton…for those who don’t know about that story, it’s a pretty famous one….she was 13 years old and one of the top surfers in the world when she was attacked by a tiger shark in the bay that she used to go to all the time as a kid and lost her left arm, and this is her story; and I play Holt Blanchard who was the father of Bethany’s best friend Alana, we’re all in the water together, so he was actually in the water about 20ft from her when the attack happened and he’s the one who grabbed her and was able to drag her to shore….I mean they were way out there, I mean like 400yards offshore, so…..the last few days we’ve shot that scene and its just intense and we’re out on the water six hours a day and just paddling around and surfing (P laughing), I’m just wiped out right now (laughing) and my arms like noodles and my shoulders……………

J – Kevin, can you hang on with us, we’ll have a break and then you come back on the next segment, its very very interesting………

K – Not a problem, I’m here…..

Transcription of free speech – Lindsey and Edith (apologies as ever for mistakes)

Kevin Sorbo Explore the Outdoors Interview with Jim and Patti Solomon – 7th February 2010

Part 2

J: Hey, good morning..welcome back to Explore the Outdoors with Jim and Patti sponsored by ACR Electronics, we are talking to actor Kevin Sorbo who has not only done many many movies in the last 20 years and television shows, but is also doing .. working on A World Fit For Kids which ah.. he’s the spokesperson of and this thing, he’s just really got it nailed..

P: Hi Kevin, we got to talk again..

K: Hello..

P: I wanted to continue with what you were saying about being out on the water for this film that you’re doing...uhm and I know from working on projects before that sometimes you have to keep doing the shot, so were you sitting out there for a long time..or?

K: Sitting out for a long time ..I know I was pontificating there, but my point was, it‘s..is that I find a way to get a workout everyday whether it’s.. I do it upon myself or its in the jobs I get because, I mean obviously because of Hercules and Andromeda a lot of the roles I get offered are kind of physical roles and hero type roles which I don‘t have a problem with.. it‘s good to be involved in good programmes and products, and was also good to be involved in just work, especially in my industry, where, you know we talk about the the unemployment rate thats going on right now.. well, within the acting ranks at any given time 97% of side members are unemployed, so.. it‘s a pretty high percentage of unemployment within my industry so..

P: Oh I hear you ...I’ve got an older son thats constantly battling that, doing a lot of live theater, but he was a perfect example of someone that was in highschool that could have been in trouble, but discovered through art and also through playing basket ball and then getting on stage.. once he got on stage then that adrenalin started working for him and his life changed. He was not hanging around with the wrong crowd anymore and he started to find out who he was..

K: Yep good for him..you know and it‘s true I get that same buzz, you know whether it‘s getting onstage or getting on the set whatever it may be, from acting that I got from competing as an athlete in highschool and college.. I mean you get that same feeling, that in itself.. like I said before.. is a drug, it‘s a good buzz and I like it, I like that energy.. an old acting coach years ago told me, he said: once you stop being nervous and getting that butterfly feeling in your stomach then maybe it‘s time to find something else to do, so… this still supplies it for me and that‘s great, you know and that’s one of the things we have for afterschool programme in A World Fit For Kids too.. you know we deal with music and the arts and everything else that school programmes are just dropping out left and right.. I mean .. it‘s crazy not to be developing both sides of the brains on these children, I mean, we are losing a generation of kids to.. to just you know teaching one way.. and you know.. it‘s.. my father’s a public school teacher and we’ve had our differences about it in the past but, I just think you know our public education system is horrific. We rank 57th, last time I looked, we ranked 57th in the world, I mean, this is America ranking 57th in the world, I don‘t care what side of the political fence you‘re on, every president says they’re gonna come in and fix it, and nobody fixes it...because I think the biggest problem in there is the strength of that union, I mean it‘s shown how bad the whole system is and yet that it doesn’t change the way it wants to do its business and it‘s just weird to me, it’s just a very strange thing, I mean, you’ve got to find a way to create competition amongst teachers to make things better for our students, I mean,.. if I was an IBM employee and I worked my tail off and sold 300 million dollars worth of computers and one of my co-workers decided he didn’t want to feel like working that year and maybe sold 3 million dollars worth of computers and they get paid the same amount of money?.. that,.. I mean that doesn‘t make any sense to me this whole idea of tenure.. I don’t quite understand that..and I said I grew up in the public education system, my father is a teacher for 35 years, and you’ve got to find a way to create, you know, motivation amongst teachers to.. teach their students better..

J: Oh I think when you motivate the teachers you in turn excite and motivate the kids and..

K: No question about it..there’s no question about it, and, it’s.. and you know you get such a violent reaction from people and you just go.. guys, it‘s common sense..I mean that‘s part of the whole idea of competition and not everybody’s the same. I mean...darn those Tiger Wood type of golfers being so good..you know, its unfair..

P: Laughing..

K: ..You know even guys like Phil Mickelson, for as amazing as he is, says that people like Tiger Woods, people like Michael Jordan, they make other people better.

J: Yeah..

K: They raise the bar and make you work harder..to me I’m all for that competition stuff..

P: Its healthy..

K: Yeah, of course its healthy for you..

J: Yes I think what you‘re doing with this afterschool programme is awesome for kids and now you‘re working in LA now.. are you having plans in the future for extending that?

K: Well we do.. we actually have a chapter up in.. out in Long Island, we have in Baltimore, Las Vegas and San Francisco, so we are expanding. It‘s just a matter of finding someone like.. Normandie Nigh is the woman that runs my programme out of Los Angeles. I need to find a Normandie in every city because you need somebody thats really passionate about it, and really wants to work hard to put the programme together and get it into place and you know ...we say we have an unemployment rate out there thats skyrocketing, but here I’m offering a chance for opportunity for employment for people in their hometown, city.. like I said they can go to worldfitforkids.org and find information on how to get more involved in their own community with our programme.

P: I like that you said that because my mind was thinking, okay how can I do that here in Phoenix, because I’ve been around so many kids lately that have that same plight..

K: Oh yeah, sure..Phoenix has the same problem..I mean its..no city’s really immune to it, so.. (P: Right..)..you know we’re just...its one brick at a time you know...its so easy to just get overwhelmed when you look at the whole picture and stuff, but I mean..I’ve had to force people to come out and try to do some volunteer work for me and different things, and its funny by the end of the day they feel really good about actually getting out there and doing something..umm..that they never would have done on their own, or without some pushing from me, and...I get involved in a lot of different things..I mean Hootie and the Blowfish..they’re all really good friends of mine, I play in their golf tournament every year the Monday after Masters, and that programme involves with the..umm..keeping music programmes alive in the grade schools through high school levels as well, and they’ve been doing it for years..you know..its everybody doing their little piece in something they’re passionate about that can be passed on to help kids become a better person..


P: Yeah, and I’ve noticed that when I interview kids on our show that do outdoor things no matter what it is, whether its fishing, hunting, riding horses, hiking, they’re very confident, they have no problem talking on the radio, and they get good grades, its just all the added plusses that you get, and they do things with their parents..


K: Yeah..and get outside; I mean when I was a kid growin’ up you couldn’t get us inside..you know..we were always outside playing, and everybody’s yard in our neighbourhood had a different purpose, whether it was football or kickball or dodgeball, whatever it may have been, you know..everybody had different whistles and bells to ring at dinnertime, our parents would have to get out in front and try to get us back inside for dinner, and you go around now and you don’t see kids on bikes, you don’t see kids in parks playing, you don’t see that, and its very strange this whole...I don’t know..this whole Omega Man look of what our parks look like now there’s nobody around..and you know..its just..I dunno..I’m just trying to help turn the tide a little bit here and get kids on their feet and have fun and get out there and do something they wanna do..I mean not everybody wants to play football, I understand that, but there’s plenty of things, plenty of sports out there to do ..(J: Oh yeah)..if kids wanna get involved with..

J: Well its the activity....its mainly getting out there and getting some kind of physical exercise rather than, again, like I say, seeing the reality on a tube (K: Yeah)..you know they’d rather sit at home and watch fishing or golf or something like that, or the streetfighter things on the tube, than actually getting out there and enjoying life and knowing what reality is all about..

K: Yep..I mean lets face it, Hollywood likes to force feed people the way they should live their lives and how they should do things and its not always the most positive methods out there, so to me its like, you know, sometimes I tell my kids ‚get off your butt, come on’ I go..(J laughing)..and I go out there with them, you know, I go out there with them, whether its just playing croquet, or playing some basketball with my boys, its something just to be outside and moving around and doing something instead of sitting around and going okay where’s the next Nintendo and next Wii game..which I have nothing..look there’s a place for that..I don’t have a problem with that and I love the fact that Wii is now implementing these exercise programmes into their games ..(P: Yes)..to get kids stand up and move around and do something, its something..and umm..you know, I’m glad they’re doing that..

P: And I’m glad that you’re also with your programme talking about nutrition because that is so important getting kids to eat right then exercise, and they start to feel that their body really accepting good food and then exercising, and then they get a good night’s rest and then the next day you wake up and you obviously feel fantastic, and after several weeks of that...like you said..it goes..

K: And it becomes part of life, it becomes a way of...you know..more positive direction what kids wanna do and what...they’re gonna want to work out, they’re gonna want to eat better because you know once you get off all that sugar..its..you’re amazed at how much better you feel..

P: Well, I know..and of course I’m vain.. at my age I like to stay away from the sugar for other reasons ..(K & P laughing)..but is there a website, an e-mail, that our guests, our listeners can go to, that they can send information or if they want to donate a sponsored gift..

K: ....like I’ve said it before, its worldfitforkids.org, all spelt one word, worldfitforkids.org, and they can get, there’s..they can find out about getting...on that line they will be able to find out about donation areas, they’ll find out about golfing, they’ll find out about sponsors, its listing all of those different things, people can be part of the golf tournament, and like I said, if people don’t want to actually get out on the golf course and golf, they can still come to the events on that..on June 10th and llth in Las Vegas, Planet Hollywood is our host hotel, Dragonridge Country Club, go online dragonridge.com, and look at the golf course, its a fantastic golf course, and you know they can get all the information they want right there;

J: Well, we’ve got information, we’ve got the links to those websites also on our website, so people can follow along and get a hold of you, or get a hold of the website and get involved..I mean its a great great programme to get involved with..

P: We’re gonna have to drive up for that one..

K: Yeah, you’ll have to come on up..we’ll get a room for you; its a lot of fun, it really is, and you know, we gotta great list of celebrities right now, we got..besides the LA actors, the singers, entertainers I mentioned earlier.. Cheech Marin’s gonna be there, Joe Pesci depending on his schedule is gonna be there, Joe Gretch, who’s on that new series ‚V’ is it called, I think its ‚V’ ..(P: Yeah)..we’ve got..oh my gosh, my mind’s just gone blank here...we gotta lot of good celebrities coming and we’ve got athletes coming..we’ve got Franco Harris will be there, Doctor J, Julius Erving will be there, Trey Wingo from ESPN, you see him every Sunday in the football, he’ll be there..

J: Yes, Kevin..(K: Yep)..we got...can you hang on with us for one more..we’re gonna close out this segment and head into the next one..we’ve got about 5 minutes to close the show out, but we’d like for you to stay with us just one more time..

K: Sure..no worries; ..(P & J: thank you)..

J: We’ll be right back with more of Explore the Outdoors with Jim and Patti after this brief break, don’t go away, there’s lots more to come..

J: Hey good morning, welcome back to Explore the Outdoors with Jim and Patti sponsored by ARC Electronics..we’ve been talking to guest Kevin Sorbo and he’s been a real trouper (P: delightful) because he’s probably thinking I would like to go back to sleep you guys..(K & J laughing)..well Kevin, we just talked about it at the break, I think we’re going to try to come up there, well Patti said we are going up there..we’ll just come up there and do our show live from up there on Sunday, if we can work that out.

K: That would be fantastic...come on up;

P: Yeah...interviewing people there...their involvement… getting them excited for your next event, but go ahead and lets hear your final thoughts before we go off the air..

K: Well, you know I get a lot of people wanna know whats going on, there are fans out there, and I’m hoping there’s a few listening right now so, I’d like to give a couple of places where people can follow me, they can go online to kevinsorbo.net, and they can go to sorbomedia.com, and those will definitely keep those videos on there, and there’s up to date stuff thats going on like I’m downloading, even on this movie, I’m downloading behind the scenes things everyday about being on the set, whats going on, and they can follow me in the twitterworld, its called atksorbs (@ksorbs) k-s-o-r-b-s.. ksorbs..I put sorbs in there because as a kid growin’ up thats what all my buddies still to this day just still calls me Sorbs ..(P: Ah)..you know, I’ve got 6 movies coming out this year, it was a very busy for me last year and knock on wood this year’s kickin’ off in the right way as well, when I leave from here I actually go to Malta.. to shoot a movie in Malta, so I’ve been travelling around a bit, but you know people that are fans and want to see some of the movies that come out..this movie..please watch Soul Surfer, its gonna be a great movie, I’m starring here with Dennis Quaid, Helen Hunt is out here, Carrie Underwood who’ll be doing her first movie..this is her first feature film..and Craig T Nelson, and Anna Sofia Robb who’s playing the part of Bethany Hamilton, who was attacked by the shark, she’s a great little actress, her last movie was with the Rock, called The Race to Witch Mountain..

J: Okay....

P: Yes, I remember..well of course we’ll put this on our website and happily promote that; I’ll put it on everything that I know of ..(K: thank you)..its my pleasure..

J: We appreciate you taking the time, especially getting up that early and especially with your schedule the way it is..

K: Well believe it or not I’ve got...its almost 6 o’clock in the morning here in Hawaii, and I’m leaving..I’ve got a 6.40 teetime with a couple of friends, so..(P & K laughing)..we’re gonna go walk 18 holes right now...so...(laughing)..

P: Thats awesome..


K: I gotta get it in before the Super Bowl you know..

P: You have..

J: There you go, there you go..well Kevin again we appreciate you taking the time and giving us a heads up what you got going on in the future, ..and who you rooting for by the way..

K: I’m gonna go with the Colts.

.P: Alright...(J laughing)

K: I’ve gone with the Colts, I golfed to Peyton Manning before..I’m an NSC guy, but I’m a little bit slight in the mourning over the,..I’m from Minnesota, the Vikings dominated that game against the Saints in every category but unfortunately also dominated in turnovers.. that was their demise so its a little tough for me to take right now..(laughing)..

P: Oh you’re so good..well thank you so much for giving us this air time this morning, we’re very proud of what you’re doing, we think you’re a wonderful person and I look forward to seeing you in June and keeping up with what you’re doing..

K: Alright guys, thanks a lot and keep the show going, its a great show..

P: Thank you Kevin..

J: We appreciate it, we’ll be right back, well I guess we won’t...we’re done for the week........................

Transcription of free speech Lindsey/Edith (aplogies for errors)