Jeff Kober is an actor who can be recognized from a variety of films and hit TV shows, including The Walking Dead, Sons of Anarchy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek, The X-Files, and Charmed. Just to name a few. We were delighted to speak with him recently about his long career, his recent release, Dead Sound, and what’s next.
Horror Geek Life: Jeff, it’s great talking with you. One of my very first horror films was The First Power, which kind of haunted my childhood. I wanted to start by asking if fans come up to you at conventions and tell you about that time that you terrified them?
Jeff Kober: Yep, and it’s the same one that you’re talking about. That was a truly evil movie. It was really dark. First of all, it was based on a real person. It’s a fictionalized version of Richard Ramirez. So, right there you’re getting into some really dark shit. Bob (Resnikoff, writer/director) really studied alternative approaches to religion; satanism and shit like that. So, there was a lot of powerful story points that were included in that. It was just a really dark set; a lot of people got hurt, myself included. You know, broken ribs. Several of the stunt guys ended up in the hospital, one of them for like nine weeks. They were stunts everyone had done before, but suddenly they weren’t working the same way. You take all of that and then you have actors like me, Tracy (Griffith), and Lou (Diamond Phillips) who are just really throwing themselves into the role, you end up with something that scares the hell out of me when I watched it.
HGL: I actually revisited the film a couple of years ago, and it still feels so heavy. I was surprised it held up in that way.
JK: Yeah, that makes sense to me. I haven’t watched it since it was released, nor do I intend to. (laughs) I’ve also learned that you don’t have to go to that place to make a movie like that, either. I don’t know if we would do it the same way if we were to do it again today.
HGL: That’s interesting, because I had no idea about how things were and felt on set.
JK: Oh, yeah. All kinds of injuries.
HGL: Well, speaking of your roles, if we see your face on screen, we can usually safely assume that you’re going to be the bad guy. You play the villain so well; what draws you to these roles?
JK: First of all, let me just throw out the caveat that I was in Leave No Trace last year with Ben Foster. I was a born again Christian helping him and his daughter out. The year before that, I was in Sully playing Sully’s first flight instructor. Neither of those were evil. (laughs)
HGL: Let’s not forget Tank Girl!
JK: In Tank Girl, I was the sweetheart. Granted, I was a kangaroo, but I was a love interest!
But, initially, those roles worked for me because I had a lot of unprocessed emotional baggage. I was able to find an outlet in those kinds of characters. It’s not like I was a killer or anything like that, or even capable of it, but I understood the level of dark energy they were dealing with. I was able to embody those characters without having to pretend that I was somebody else. You form a character in a certain shape, and just allow life energy to go through it. I had the energy that fit in those kind of characters when I first started out.
HGL: Because you do fit those roles well, you’ve been cast in a lot of horror and sci-fi projects. Are these the genres you gravitate towards as a movie-watcher, as well?
JK: Personally, I especially don’t like slasher films. I love suspenseful films and mysteries. I love films that don’t present a world that’s lily-white with some bad actors in it. I like the gray areas. Noir detective stuff is my favorite, and someone toeing the line between darkness and light. The things that never made sense to me as a kid was seeing someone make choices that was like from a rule book somewhere that I didn’t have access to. That’s just always bothered me. So, when you see someone struggling to do the right thing and then succeeding, most often, that’s what I really love. People really being confronted with their own humanity.
That’s what was so fantastic about The Walking Dead. What would you do if it were the end of the world and, in order to survive, you had to become an animal yourself? How would that look? If you were protecting your family, what would you be willing to do? That’s a fascinating question.
HGL: In The Walking Dead, you played Joe, who wasn’t a nice guy, but earned respect in this lawless world. Looking back, it really seems as though that character was written for you.
JK: Every once in a while, you come across these roles and think, “Oh, that’s me!” The great thing about Joe is that he came up with a set of rules that allowed him to stay alive. People who were not willing to live within those rules, i.e. those people who would cause you to die, they allowed a way to deal with them.
Oh, I’m just getting philosophical here, but the Buddhist concept of non-violence, ahimsa, does not mean that you allow the mosquito to suck your blood. You slap the mosquito, but you don’t do it with a sense of glee. I think Joe was that kind of guy. He was like… “I’m sorry, you broke the rules. You lie, you die.”
HGL: That is certainly one reason Joe was such a memorable character. His gruesome and intense death scene, as well.
JK: I love that it’s owed to Greg Nicotero. He’s a master of this genre, and storytelling in general. He’s a delight to work with.
HGL: That’s great to hear, and Nicotero has definitely changed the zombie sub-genre forever. Let’s get into one of your newest releases, Dead Sound. It’s a pretty sadistic film in which you play a boat captain. Was shooting this film on a boat a challenge in any way?
JK: The location was more of a challenge for Tony (Glazer), the director, and Summer (Crockett Moore), the producer, than for me. It was my boat, so I got to do pretty much what I wanted. I was the captain. I worked for a few years in restaurants, and I was the worst waiter of all time, but I was a good bartender because I was behind the bar. This is my territory. Do whatever you want out there, but don’t mess with me back here. The boat for the captain was kind of the same thing.
HGL: Can you tell us a bit about your character, Stone?
JK: So, my character has this great monologue where he talks about how his life and livelihood have been taken away by this system we have. The people with money make more money, and the people without money can just piss off. His whole livelihood had been taken away, and again, what are you willing to do to survive? Now, his underling took it a bit too far. (laughs)
HGL: How did you get involved with the film?
JK: I have this standing directive with my manager that if Tony Glazer and Summer Crockett Moore call, I’ll go. I don’t care what it is, they are two of my favorite people on earth. I love them and love working with them. If they think I’m right for it, then I am. When you get to work with somebody that you just really love and respect that’s mutual, that’s a dream.
HGL: Absolutely! You are obviously very known for your acting career, but you are a man of many talents. Can you tell us about your other passions?
JK: I actually teach meditation regularly, and I’ve been writing a daily meditation blog for about nine years now. I also do tintype photography, which is a Civil War-era photography technique. I wrote a film coming out soon called Lie Exposed starring Bruce Greenwood. One of the characters is a photographer and photography is a large part of the plot. I did all of the photographs for that, as well as wrote it and played a role in it.
And, I do sing occasionally, and play a little guitar. As an actor, you’re only employed part of the time. You have to do something else.
HGL: Just to go back to Lie Exposed before we wrap, is this the first time you have written a film?
JK: I wrote and sold a film with a partner 25 years ago, and it never got produced. It got vandalized and taken apart and used in another movie by a studio that will remain nameless. But, this is the first one I’ve written that got produced and made, and is actually going to be shown.
HGL: That’s great! What genre is the film?
JK: I guess it’s drama. A woman is dying of cancer and decides to drink herself to death, but is stopped in that process by meeting this photographer who does very graphic nude shots. He says he wouldn’t shoot her if she was drunk, and she challenges herself to do this. She ends up having these these images taken, and tells her husband about the affair she had with this guy. They end up putting on a show of the art without telling their friends about it. So, it’s about life and death, sex and art, and all the important stuff.
HGL: I will definitely be on the lookout for the film. Lastly, is there anything else on the horizon you want to share? I read that you got a role on General Hospital. That was the soap I always watched with my Granny. (laughs)
JK: That was also my grandmother’s favorite soap. Crazy. So, that’s fun.
A series I did with Summer and Tony, Big Dogs, looks like it’s going to get sold and may go for another season. It’s starring Brett Cullen, who was just in Joker as Bruce Wayne’s father. Other than that, just here looking for the next gig.
HGL: I guess that’s a common place actors find themselves. Looking for the next gig, and the next, and then the next.
JK: And, also, you have a skill set that is shifting all the time. I did The Walking Dead eight years ago. I’m eight years older and I look different and feel different. What am I right for? What am I not right for? It is always shifting and changing and always an adventure. The beauty is that I’ve always got something that interests me, that I can do no matter what.
The three main things I do: photography, acting, and teaching meditation. They’re three things I would do for no money, and have done for no money, but I’m blessed enough to make a living doing that. It’s a good life.
HGL: Well, it has been great seeing your career grow over the years. It was an absolute pleasure to finally speak with you!
JK: I so appreciate that, Melissa, so much. Thank you for your gracious interview. It was just a delight.
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