Into the Badlands, a wondrous mix of martial arts and mysticism, was a breakout hit for AMC in its debut season. The action packed drama returns for a highly anticipated second season on Sunday, March 19th and features a new cast member, Nick Frost. Comix Asylum’s Peter Van Horne sat down with Nick Frost to discuss joining Season Two of Into the Badlands, Salsa dancing, and the need for kitty litter.
PVH: Hi Nick.
NF: Hello Peter.
PVH: How are you?
NF: I am very well, how are you?
PVH: I’m well. Are you currently on set?
NF: No, I’m not, I have a day off today. So I’m cutting around where I live and learning lines, and I have a new cat and it’s decided to start sh*#!ing on my bed (laughs) and I’m replacing bed linen and seeing what is the best way to dispose of a young cat’s body (laughs).
PVH: (laughs) Maybe you want to put the kitty litter on the bed than in the loo.
NF: Yeah, I think I’m going to start sh*#!ing on his bed and see how he likes it (laughs).
PVH: (laughs) So you flip it back at him.
NF: (laughs) Yes, absolutely.
PVH: That’s funny, you just made my day.
NF: (laughs) Good.
PVH: You play a new character on the show called Bajie. Tell us a bit about him.
NF: He is a bit of a Lando Calrissian, you know what I mean? He has a good heart but he’s flawed as a person, he’s easily swayed, yet he’s stubborn. You know, he’s a bit of a drug dealer, I don’t think you’d want to necessarily introduce him to your mother. I think he may or may not have several sexually transmitted diseases and he’s a joker, he doesn’t take life too seriously. But he also has a secret, he has a past, and I think he uses his personality to cover up the truth and once he meets Sunny and his past begins to open itself up I don’t think he can hide from that anymore.
PVH: Right, and I got the sense that Bajie and Sunny have an Odd Couple relationship. How would you describe their relationship?
NF: Yeah, absolutely, totally that. They shouldn’t get on, but they kind of do (laughs). And I love this about Bajie’s character and the way it affects Sunny, I think he makes Sunny more of a human and I think we see more of a rounded Sunny in this season, he’s not just a killer or he’s not “I just love this girl”. We see him have a laugh and a joke and I think that is a really nice thing, as much as Sunny fights against the fact he kind of likes Bajie. He shouldn’t but he does.
PVH: And as we see the episodes progress, and Bajie and Sunny continue on their journey together, they will affect each other as you mentioned earlier. Bajie brings a comic relief and we see a different side of Sunny, but Sunny will bring something out of Bajie as well.
NF: Yeah, absolutely. I think he (Sunny) forces Bajie to deal with his past essentially, something that he’s never wanted to do, and them being on this journey, on this roadway together he forces him to face up to what’s happened.
PVH: It’s almost a buddy cop picture to, isn’t it?
NF: Yeah, I mean after the first two to three months of shooting, I didn’t see anyone but Daniel Wu, which is an absolute treat. I think it was only the last month of filming for episodes 8, 9, and 10, I started coming across other characters. It was weird being so far into the shoot and meeting a major character for the first time it was like “Hello”, ‘Oh, hello” – I felt like the new boy again, you know?
PVH: Yeah, and the two of you did spend a lot of time together. Can you describe what it was like working with Daniel?
NF: Listen, he was fantastic, and I hope I made a friend for life in Daniel Wu. I think we are very similar in as much as our work ethic is the same, and our trajectory in terms of this business is the same. We both like our jobs and it’s nice that we both have a say in what we do. It’s nice to watch him work – he’s passionate about what he does and he likes working. It’s just great and I love it.
PVH: And working with people of solid talent helps bring the best out of you as well.
NF: Yeah, totally. He’s like, I don’t know, I’m trying to find an American version if this – the little baseball club that plays the Mets and then wins, you know? You lift you game up to the level to that of your opponent, hopefully.
PVH: I get it, you don’t need the American allusions, I’m from Canada so I’ll get the British ones.
NF: (laughs) Okay so it’s like, I won’t do it again but you get the idea (laughs).
PVH: (laughs) I get the idea, I’m just giving you a hard time because I can and we’re still part of the British Empire so I can throw it out there.
NF: It’s like some Yellowknife baseball team beat the Blue Jays.
PVH: There you go! (laughs)
NF: Did I get it right?
PVH: You did, top marks.
NF: (insert fist pump) Yes!!!
PVH: (laughs) Back to Bajie for a minute. He provides comic relief but he’s a man with a particular set of skills, isn’t he?
NF: Yes, absolutely. It’s such a great thing for an actor to get the opportunity to perform. The comedy bit is easy, well – not easy, that sounds like I’m showing off. I’ve always been funny, but I haven’t always done martial arts. I don’t think any character is ever just one thing, and so to get the opportunity to be this person – he’s flawed, he’s passionate, and he’s sexual, and he’s bad but he also fights well and he has a laugh – that feels like a human being, do you know what I mean? That feels a rounded version of a real character, and it’s a real opportunity for me, and also – I know this isn’t network but cable – I’ve never done American TV before. I’ve done films, and because I’m fortunate they’ve been hits and people know me but I’ve never done episodic TV over there, I think that also was a big opportunity for me personally.
PVH: And it gives you a chance, with this character, to stretch and hone your craft.
NF: Yeah, every time I work, every time I step on set with lines in my head and a scene to do, even if I’m doing a scene with no lines, I never take that for granted. I’m always prepared so much for what I do because I love doing it and I’m passionate about it. I know working with film crews all over the world, not one of those people on any of the crews I’ve ever worked on in the past fifteen years have ever turned up and not done their job, so why should actors not be the same?
PVH: Yeah, fair enough. Did you take part in any of the training for the fight scenes, like your cast mates?
NF: I did weeks of it, something like four weeks of it, but I shot a thing and desperately needed a vacation, so I turned up like on a Monday really heavily suntanned and looking great. And I did three hours of training and we wrapped and they were finished (laughs) and they had to start shooting in the next couple of days. So I probably did two hours, which I think we got to a point where, “can he hit a heavy bag for two hours without dying?” “The answer is yes,” “Alright, we’re done, we’re ready!” (laughs). It’s not live, we can do it again and again, and once you lean the way the Hong Kong guys choreograph the thing, you’re not learning a giant, long fight that takes four weeks to rehearse. You’re essentially learning ten moves at a time, then they light that shot, you rehearse it while they light it and then you shoot the thing. And then you learn ten more, it’s pretty easy. I mean, physically it’s hard, but mentally it’s easier. I’ve always been a fan of martial arts, I did kickboxing for three years, a bit of boxing when I was younger, I trained to be a dancer and I did lots of fighting on The World’s End, so that all came together to help me do this role. Also, the guys worked out and we talked early on in terms of I don’t think my character will de doing lots of axe kicks or spinning toe kicks. He’s a fighter, he’s a wrestler, he’s a spiteful man, he’s a barroom brawler, so let’s work to my strengths as a person, and it made it so much easier.
PVH: I can imagine that. So what would you say was more challenging, the training for your fight scenes or salsa dancing for Cuban Fury?
NF: Cuban Fury every day of the week. I did that in seven months, every day. So yeah, Cuban Fury was a million times harder.
PVH: But you would have decent footwork by the end of it, wouldn’t you?
NF: Yeah, and it helps when you do fight choreography, because essentially it’s the same thing but with punches added on instead of pirouettes and turns.
PVH: Got it, and I actually loved that movie, I quite enjoyed Cuban Fury.
NF: Oh good, thank you. You know, the year that came out, it was the number one pirated movie in Florida?
PVH: Awesome. (laughs)
NF: I should be angry, but oddly I’m (laughs) kind of thrilled by that.
PVH: Without giving away too much, what can we expect from Bajie and the second season of Into the Badlands?
NF: I think the first three or four episodes are a smokescreen, for Bajie anyway, and we learn later on down the line that Bajie has a deep secret. Let’s have a look, let’s take a look at the clip (laughs). But yeah, there’s something he’s not telling.
PVH: Right, so that will be a nice little reveal towards the end of the second season, then.
NF: Yes, totally.
PVH: One final question, it’s unrelated to Into the Badlands, but the guys here at Comix Asylum asked me to ask you if there are any future plans for another team up with Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright?
NF: Yes, absolutely. Everything we do apart is just icing on the cake. We’ve got some ideas and chats and conversations and we’ll definitely do something else. But we’re really busy, apart, so to find the year that it’s going to take to do another film is always tricky, but Edgar is coming to the end of editing Baby Driver now, and Simon, I don’t know how many Star Wars he’s got left, but we will absolutely do something and I suspect it will be completely different to what you’ve seen before.
PVH: Nick, thank you for your time and best of luck on Into the Badlands.
NF: Thank you. Now I’m going to find a big kitten rifle and sort my cat out (laughs).
Season 2 of Into the Badlands premieres Sunday March 19 on AMC.
