Keymaker role enthralls 'Matrix' actor

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Randall Duk Kim switched from classical stage roles to play the Keymaker in "The Matrix Reloaded." Warner Bros Randall Duk Kim Real name: Randall Duk Kim. Age: 59. Ethnicity: Korean-Chinese. Birthplace: Honolulu. Education: University High School, University of Hawai'i-Manoa, New York University. Honolulu theatrical ties: the defunct Ensemble of Theatrical Artists, Honolulu Theatre for Youth. Co-founder: American Place Theatre, Spring Green, Wis. Other theater affiliations: Champlain Shakespeare Festival, Indiana Repertory, Baltimore Centre Stage, Yale Repertory, Arizona Theatre Company, American Conservatory Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Jewish Repertory Theatre, Singapore Repertory Theatre, New York Shakespeare Festival. Film credits: "The Hawaiians," "Anna and the King," "The Replacement Killers." Television credits: "Hawaii Five-O," " Nourish the Beast," "Prisoners in Time," "The Lost Empire," "100 Centre Street." Roles performed: Hamlet, Shylock, Falstaff, King Lear, Oedipus, Prospero, Titus Andronicus, Romeo, Petruccio, King John, Pericles, Trinculo. Little-known fact: He was in the Hawai'i-originated Las Vegas company of "Hair."

"What the Wachowski Brothers (who produced and directed the summer blockbuster) have done is to take the action/sci-fi genre to a new level and add a philosophical, almost classical, reverberation," said Kim. "I believe that the brothers have created an epic myth, for our time, in our time."

Kim, who portrays the Keymaker in the movie, is finding that "Matrix Reloaded" has dramatically changed his daily routine.

In his 40-year career in acting, mostly in classical plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen and Chekhov, he's generally maintained a quiet lifestyle, avoiding the celebrity spotlight, and carrying on like most other struggling Asian American actors — hustling for the next role when one ends. All that's changing.

"It just started yesterday on the subway," he said last week, speaking from his New York apartment. "This guy stared at me, stared at me, and gave me the creeps. He didn't ask me if I was the one in the movie, but I figured he must have recognized me, since my face is plastered everywhere now. I tend to head to the nearest cave, or something, since I've never been a celebrity hound. It's not comfortable. I have a hunch it's gonna get creepier."

Kim had not participated in the initial marketing burst for the movie, which stars Keanu Reeves. "I love the low profile; if they enjoy me in the movie, great. I'm not part of the p.r. junket, and that's fine with me."

But since the movie opened, he's been fielding calls and getting requests for interviews. It's something he's really not accustomed to.

However, he said he was thrilled to get an invitation to do the part, particularly since he was a huge fan of the original movie.

So how did a guy with a background in classical drama get tapped for a tale of extraordinary technological, theological and mythological storytelling?

"Mali Finn, the casting director for the movie, would call constantly, when I was doing theater, urging me to do some film work, but I never was able to accept," said Kim. "I was too busy with my own theater company. Now that I'm not running a theater, I had the time.

"But the first 'Matrix' just blew me away. So when I got a call, to fly out to Los Angeles and meet the Wachowski Brothers (Andy and Larry), I said if you want me, you can have me."

Kim is one of the few actors in the film who doesn't don dark glasses. He did a few wired stunts himself, but was spared some the true rigors of the special effects work.

"The Keymaker is a key role; he's important to the heroes of the story and to some of the others who live in the Matrix," he said. "I like him because he's not human, but I shouldn't give it away for those who haven't seen the movie yet."

Longtime friends Chuck Bright and Annie Occhiogrosso, former island residents with whom he shares quarters in New York, chuckle about his Keymaker persona, he said.

"Annie calls me the Hedgehog," said Kim, who had little make-up for the role. "I'm a funny little character; I look like someone who stepped into 'Alice in Wonderland' but was supposed to get to 'Wind in the

Willows,' but ended up in 'Matrix.' I look like a critter; mostly, because of the costume and the way I walk."

Kim, Bright and Occhiogrosso were active on the Hawai'i theater front in the1960s and '70s; they later moved to Spring Green, Wisc., where they established the American Place Theatre, producing everything from "Hamlet" to "King Lear," from "Titus Andronicus" to "King John," from "Oepidus Rex" to "Tartuffe." Kim played leads in most of these production. A few years back they moved to Kea'au to try to jump-star classical theater in the Islands, but eventually relocated to New York.

Honolulans may recall Kim's popular touring one-man shows of Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe and Walt Whitman, well before other notables started mounting similar personality vehicles.

In more recent times, Kim has found his way to popular Broadway stage endeavors such as "The King and I," a Tony Award-winning revival with Lou Diamond Phillips and Donna Murphy in which he had the lone non-singing role of the Kralahome. He revived the part for a screen version without music, "Anna and the King," featuring Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat, and more recently,

Master Wang in the David Henry Hwang revival of "Flower Drum Song," starring Lea Salonga.

While appearing in "Flower Drum," Kim suffered a knee cartilage and back injury, for which he still is undergoing physical therapy.

"It helps to be young," he said of the rigors of show business.

He worries about the media blitz with the movie and his character's appearance in the related computer game, already being snapped up by rabid fans.

"But my character's not in the third installment," Kim said — with a sense of relief — of "The Matrix Revolutions," due in November.

His film work took three months, mostly on the West Coast and in Oakland. He had to sign confidentiality contacts, which is typical these days in movie production, to remain mum about the filming.

Of Reeves, he said: "I think the pressure was on him to pull his weight; the kid worked his butt off. But so did Carrie-Ann (Moss), Laurence (Fishburne) and Hugo (Weaving). Their roles were really rigorous."

He said he "begged to do some wire work," because most everyone else did the flying and soaring bit, "and the Hong Kong stunt team, which did 'Crouching Tiger' really was brilliant."

Clearly, the experience was memorable. "I felt like a little kid during the whole shoot; I think I dropped 40 years off my age. And I never got injured."

Kim, who admires producers and directors who recognize diversity, said the Wachowskis are right on the cutting edge with "The Matrix Reloaded."

"There are so many races involved in the film," he said "It's quite an inter-racial vision of the world, the real world we live in. I just hope it leads to more pieces like that — a blend of nationalities."

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, 525-8057 or fax 525-8055.