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Kenny Johnson was one of the stars of FX’s The Shield until a grenade sent him down for the count in the finale of the fifth season. The former world-class arm wrestler went blow for blow with Bob Babbitt on The Competitors Radio Show (www.competitorradio.com) to talk about his new project, as a detective on TNT’s Saving Grace, and his training for a possible upcoming movie roll on the life of boxer Jerry Quarry.
Transcribed by Kurt Munz
Bob Babbitt: When season five is ending and you’re reading the final script and they’re saying that Shane, who is part of the Strike Team with you, is going to throw a grenade in your lap and blow your butt up, do you know ahead of time? Is that something that’s discussed between you and the producers? Or was it like ‘I’m doing what?’
Kenny Johnson: No. It would’ve sucked if I came to the reading not knowing. I’ve seen some of the people who were recurring on the show who got offed, and they didn’t know until they read. I felt awful for them. We’d be like “Oh, dude, we’re sorry.” And they’d be “What?” And we’d tell them that they had been killed in the script. They had read the script, but apparently didn’t read the part where they get shot in the head. So we’re like, “Turn to page 44.”
When my scene came up, I found out three months ahead of time. I found out through inside people at FOX. Then the execs called me up and we got together with Shawn Ryan, the creator of the show, and they explained to me why they were doing what they were doing. And I understood. Creatively, I thought it was a great thing to shoot off season six with the lead character, Vic Mackey, trying to find the killer, and it being one of us. It almost seemed like a Shakespearean tragedy. It just seemed very potent. We all came into it from a creative level, as close as Walton (Goggins/Detective Shane Vendrell), Michael (Chiklis/Detective Vic Mackey) and I became. We were best friends, but life goes on. It’d be great to go out together, but it just wasn’t in the cards. I would’ve loved to stay, but I also couldn’t see changing the way Shawn wants his creation to go. I was backing his vision the whole way.
BB: When you watch The Shield, there seems to be a camaraderie between the whole strike team.
KJ: You nailed it on the head. Walton and I did ‘Major League 3’ together. We lived in a house on Foley beach in South Carolina for two and half months, so we got really tight. I grew up in Vermont and lived in Boston and Michael grew up in Andover, Massachusetts. We didn’t know each other before back then, but there was this major connection between all three of us. It was like a weird synergy and everybody saw it, which is probably what you saw on screen. Yeah, we’re close.
BB: There’s a rabid group of fans who follow The Shield. What was their reaction to your being killed?
KJ: Some people would just go through hell. Their wives cried. It was pretty powerful, the reaction I got. The day the finale aired, I did a lot of interviews that morning. I had to lie to all the radio and TV stations promoting before the finale because they had no idea. That next morning, when I woke up I had probably 60 calls from radio stations all over the country because they were just blown away. They were like “Oh, my god. You never let on what was going to happen to you.” People would say they sat in the dark after the show ended because they were in shock. Other people said they watched the show three times. Other people broke down… it was pretty powerful. A lot of people said, “Are you really dead? Are you coming back as a ghost?” I don’t think Shawn Ryan writes that way.
BB: Your new show is Saving Grace, and again you’re a detective, Detective Ham Dewey.
KJ: Yeah. He plays Holly Hunter’s partner. He’s a southern boy, Oklahoma born and raised in a trailer park, unfortunately. He’s married, but he has an affair with Holly Hunter’s character. So I’m partners with Holly Hunter, but I’m also sleeping with her.
BB: Does she bring her Oscar with her?
KJ: Ha! She’s phenomenal. She’s an incredibly deep, committed actress. She just brings it, and she’s so great at what she does. It makes me better. I have to show up with my A game.
BB: So you were a world-class arm wrestler, and you played some ball when you were younger. What do you do now?
KJ: I go through different things. I used to do a lot of dance classes, and basketball and weights. The dancing was just for the hell of it because I have friends who are dancers, and I got curious about that. Then I went to yoga and back to basketball. I’ve always played basketball, just to sweat it out. About a year ago, I got into boxing because I was going to do a movie about Jerry Quarry. I was in the gym five to six times a week, working with a trainer, boxing a lot and also playing basketball and lifting. So my regimen is dictated by if I have to work a 15-hour day or not. If I have to work, I just do crunches all day long. I’m in my trailer and I’ll do about 1,000 crunches and 200 push-ups. Before a scene, I’ll do like 50 push-ups really quick. I mean, it’s something.
BB: There’s nothing tougher than boxing.
KJ: It’s great, man. It’s unbelievable. Anyone can make a boxing movie, but what’s going to make this one special is our subject is someone people can relate to. Jerry Quarry’s dad used to bring him and his brother into bars when he was 7 and 8 years old, and they would fight and people would bet on him.
BB: You’ve done some amazing things. It sounds like Saving Grace is going to be a big hit. Just make sure when you get to season four or five that Holly Hunter doesn’t roll a grenade into your lap.
KJ: Ha… I’ll be like, “Come on! Not again!”
A big Competitor thank you to The Tiger Boxing Gym in LA. They can be reached at 323-951-9679.
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