Kevin Durand's 'Keamy' takes a final bow on 'Lost'

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by: Tyrone Warner
Date: 3/29/2010 11:30:00 AM ET

Born in Thunder Bay, Ontario, this Canadian actor has come a long way from home and has found himself with a successful film and TV career.

Not only is he known as the villainous mercenary Keamy from season four of “Lost,” but the actor has also recently appeared in the films “Legion,” “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” “3:10 to Yuma” and “Smokin’ Aces.”

Despite Keamy meeting his grisly death in the season four finale (and in turn, blowing up the freighter stationed outside the island), the character reappeared in the season six episode, “Sundown,” as on off-island gangster who makes “great eggs.”

Durand returns for another appearance on “Lost” as Keamy in the episode “The Package,” which airs Tuesday, March 30 at 7 p.m. ET on CTV.

• Full episodes of “Lost” are available online at CTV.ca.

The actor also returns to the big screen this summer, appearing alongside Russell Crowe in “Robin Hood.”

CTV.ca: Hey Kevin! Thanks for taking some time to chat!

Where you at? T.O.? Vancouver?

CTV.ca: Toronto!

The T- dot! I lived there for four or five years. It’s where I started doing work, doing theatre. The first place that I did a gig was at Ontario Place, where I did a show. I played Pinocchio on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Aladdin Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. That was my first professional gig in Toronto. I lived all over the place. Mostly really, really small cockroach infested, freezing apartments. I love the city.

CTV.ca: So ever since your first appearance on “Lost” in 2008 in “The Constant,” Keamy has been probably the most evil kind of character on the show? Are you proud of that accomplishment?

Well, from my perspective, I didn’t see him as being as evil… only because I was playing a sub-text that no one really knew, which was that Widmore had threatened to kill everyone in my entire family unless I got rid of everyone on the island. When I saw it (the performance), I completely understand why people see him as being this really, big uber-super villain, and I suppose I’m proud of any kind of reaction from the fans of “Lost.” It was a little different than what I expected, but I’m happy to have it.

CTV.ca: Did you invent that back-story for yourself, or was that something that the producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse gave you?

That was all me. If you play things right on the head, things can get a little too obvious, or a little boring, so it’s interesting to have some sub-text to it, it works, it added a pace to whatever Keamy was doing.

CTV.ca: That’s true, there was a level of mystery there to the character, instead of just being “Mercenary Number 1.”

Right, yeah, which was kind of cool, which I think it gave him the opportunity to keep coming back. That was great. In the beginning, there was nothing that said I was going to become the Darth Vader of season four, there’s nothing that said that. I thought I was coming in for one or two episodes. It turns out to be a really magnificent experience. It was great.

CTV.ca: It’s cool how the producers of “Lost” have been receptive to guest talent in that way… like Michael Emerson came on the show under similar circumstances, a simple guest role, but then became a much, much larger character.

Yeah, and how terrific is he?

CTV.ca: He’s amazing. Were you surprised then, when you found out Keamy was coming back then in this flash-sideways kind of world?

I was actually kind of waiting for someone to call because I think I had a great impact on season four, I was kind of surprised I didn’t get the call in season five. But for him to come in the way that he did, it was great. It wasn’t so much a surprise as much as a welcome conversation that I had with Carlton Cuse. I was excited to go back to the island and play with them, mess around with them a little more!

CTV.ca: It almost has the air of a victory lap of sorts.

It kind of felt like they wanted to give me my final bow, which I’m so honoured to have that opportunity on this incredible show. Victory lap. Final bow. Same thing kind of deal!

CTV.ca: What was your reaction when you saw the script?

I thought it was terrific. I though it was great to get out of the dirty, grimy tank top and put on a nice Hugo Boss suit and explore him in this different dimension. I was pleasantly surprised.

CTV.ca: I’ve read that before you appeared on the show, that you hadn’t seen much of the show, that you wanted to remain distant. When you finished your original arc, did you go back and watch the entire series?

Well, my fiancé and I, we started watching it, and then they called us, and I was like, “Okay, well now we have to stop again.” My whole thing was that Keamy, to me, was so removed from everyone on the island that I didn’t want to have any emotional kind of attachment to anyone. I kind of reverted back. So we got through the end of the second season. After my episode airs on Tuesday, we’ll dive back into our obsessive ‘Lost’ watching marathons.

CTV.ca: You have a history of appearing in musicals and are very familiar to the stage. On “Lost,” Michael Emerson (who plays “Ben Linus”) also came from a song-and-dance background… do you think there’s something about having a theatrical background that allows an actor to go really dark, in a very convincing and creative way?

Having a background in theatre is probably the strongest kind of structure you can have, it affords the actor a playground where he or she can just have the opportunity to jump in a lot of different kinds of characters that you wouldn’t necessarily have the chance to on TV. In my theatre career, before I started doing some TV, my characters just ran the gamut. It wasn’t as specific for me, because I am 6 foot 6 and 240 pounds, like I said; my first job was playing Pinocchio. So your appearance doesn’t seem to have as much weight, so there’s more room as an actor to explore. When you have that theatre background, you definitely understand your instrument so much more, I think theatre actors tend to be able, in general, go a little deeper just because of the honing of the instrument.

CTV.ca: The repeated performances allow you to zero in on the character’s complexities.

You keep finding new things every night. So when it comes to your film and television work, the obssessiveness doesn’t go to rest. Even now, I have “Robin Hood” coming out in May, and I had to go to Scotland, and I went there for two months to try and find this character and try to find his voice. I did that eight months before I started shooting the movie. I need to find some way of being able to find as many levels as I possibly can, as opposed to playing things right on the head.

CTV.ca: Are there any experiences that stand out in particular when you look back at your time on “Lost”?

“It’s actually kind of funny. I was sitting with Damon Lindelof between takes on the last episode of season four and we’re having this great conversation, then all of a sudden Damon kind of says, ‘You know, I’m pretty surprised you’re just such a nice, mellow, happy guy, that you play such a vicious, hard-core character.’ I just said, ‘Oh, well you know, I’m just a regular small town Thunder Bay boy.’ And then he looks at me and says, ‘And yet, with all this niceness and all this smiling, I feel like you might kill me at any second.’ I thought that was kind of hilarious. The whole thing to me was just a joy ride.

CTV.ca: I also wanted to say congratulations; I heard that “Robin Hood” is going to open at Cannes! You play Little John, correct?

How about that, huh? I play this great big character from Scotland and I really fell in love with that whole experience. We’re doing a press junket in London, and then we’re doing the premiere at Cannes. That’s going to be a great journey.

CTV.ca: Can you tell me about that role and your portrayal? Is he different than other incarnations of Little John in the past?

I did a lot of reading about this fellow, Little John. Through most of my readings, I got a totally different take than in what I’ve seen in most of the films before. Not slagging anyone who played him before, but he was always portrayed as a little more portly, and just a jolly fellow who didn’t seem to be all that dangerous to me. So Russell and I had talked about it, and I was going to start putting on some weight, and we kind of came to the conclusion after the reading I did, that he was always a leader of men -- a vicious weapon. No one could beat him in the forest. So I decided he would be a great warrior, and a very intelligent, well-spoken fellow who was a leader of men, but because of his relationship with Robin Hood, and how much he respected him, was incredibly happy to be second to Robin and back him up. I think there’s more of a sense of that in this film.

CTV.ca: What was it like working with Russell Crowe again?

You know, we’re really lucky. We did a movie 12 years ago called “Mystery, Alaska.” We became friends and he became a mentor to me. We were lucky enough to do another called “3:10 to Yuma,” and the fact that we got to come together and go on this massive adventure together, it’s totally terrific.

CTV.ca: And finally, I have to ask: Are you still playing hockey?

Oh man, I miss it. I haven’t played for a while. My fiancé just bought me some skates for my birthday, so we got out skating a couple weeks ago, but I haven’t played for about two or three years. So I’m not playing in a league or anything, but I’m trying to get out there for some stick and puck. I get too competitive; I’ve got that Thunder Bay thing. That’s all we did at home. I have to try and save my face now! It’s been beat up enough!