Star Apps: Callan McAuliffe
"Kite" is an anime turned live-action movie about Sawa (India Eisley), a young prostitute who becomes an assassin to avenge her parents' murders. You might think it's another formulaic vigilante movie. However, bolstered by an engrossing revenge story, an expert performance by lead actor Callan McAuliffe ("The Great Gatsby," "I Am Number Four") as Sawa's sidekick, Oburi, and thrilling action sequences, "Kite" soars.
Callan McAuliffe and India Eisley put the act in action in Kite.
Have you seen the original Japanese film?
Yes, I saw it shortly after being cast in the film. It's supremely violent and very, very sexual, and these are the things that don't necessarily translate well into live action. They can sometimes, but with the superfluous level in the anime, it might not have been well received. We endeavored to keep the feel and intensity. But I thought the original was great fun, because the whole point was to distance yourself from reality, which is why I love watching movies.
Does "Kite" have a message?
I would be hard-pressed to put a message to it. It speaks of family, and it speaks of friendship, and what gets the heroine through is surrounding herself with people with a good nature, as she's struggling against people who just want something out of her. But that's beating around the bush, to be honest. It's a revenge story. It's got violence, and it's got sex, and that's what it's about.
If you had to describe your character, Oburi, in three words, which would you choose?
Humorous, brooding, and caring.
Speaking of humorous, your costars have raved about your sense of humor on set.
For me, I feel that there's a tendency to turn the on-set environment into a very stagnant and stale place, especially if everyone's trying their very best to appear professional and not make any jokes or anything. So the people I most enjoy working with are the ones who are able to transition from being professional when everyone needs to focus and do their jobs -- and actors are naturally theatrical. We're showboaters who like to make people enjoy themselves. So I find that people enjoy the time much more if everyone's having a laugh and making the odd joke here and there. It becomes a looser environment.
Was Samuel L. Jackson funny on set?
He's great and a perfect example of that. He's someone who does what he's there for as soon as they call "action." But after, he's making jokes and doing all this funny stuff and keeps the vibe light.
How did you develop chemistry with India Eisley?
You can end up coming to like someone if you spend enough time with them, as long as they're not complete and total jerks. India was really easy. We were the two young people on the set, so we hung out a lot. It was fairly easy and just developed from there.
Don't let the knife fool you: Callan McAuliffe describes his onscreen chemistry with Eisley as fairly easy.
(Credit: EPK.TV)
Was there a scene that was particularly challenging to film?
There was one sequence that we didn't end up using, because it didn't look right. The location didn't fit in with the rest of the film. But it was quite an extensive fight sequence, where I had to jump over a ladder and do a roll and get up and kick some folks and punch some folks. It was difficult, because they were trying their best to avoid me getting injured, so we had to work around reality and do everything they could. I'm fairly competent with jumping around and fighting, but all the same it's an insurance issue, so they had to make sure I wouldn't hurt myself. So there are all these mats and things and different ways that they shoot it to disguise someone to catch me if I fall, so it becomes very awkward, which is unfortunate.
Revenge was a major theme in the film. When is the last time that revenge crossed your mind?
When anyone has done anything even slightly wrong to me, I always get these horrible feelings of capital revenge. Someone could steal my bubble gum or my apple, and I'd want to jail them. But those are the memories you typically try to forget.
Switching gears, what are your top mobile apps?
1. Redshift, an astronomy app, where you can see every known star and planetary body and then click on it and find out all this information. You can scroll through the universe and explore it in 3D.
2. Spirit HD is a game where you move your finger around and avoid things.
3. I've always been a big fan of Tiny Wings. I'm quite a gamer, so a lot of my applications are games.
4. I also like TanZen, a little Japanese puzzle game.
5. I use my Alarm Clock HD a lot. I had to download it because I wasn't crazy about the default.
6. I use QuizUp, where you can play with a lot of people around the world, and it has various degrees of quizzes and questionnaires.
Check out the official "Kite" trailer here:
"Kite" is currently in theaters, on demand, and on iTunes.
