Ken Kirzinger

Kenneth Kirzinger (born November 4, 1959) is a Canadian actor and stuntman best known for his portrayals of Jason Voorhees in Freddy vs. Jason (2003), Pa in Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007) and Rusty Nail in Joy Ride 3: Roadkill (2014).

Ken Kirzinger
Kirzinger in 2015
Born (1959-11-04) November 4, 1959
Saskatchewan, Canada
OccupationActor & Stuntman
Years active1983–present

Career

Role as Jason Voorhees

Director Ronny Yu tried to limit Kirzinger's stunts on the film as much as possible. Because of this stuntman Glenn Ennis was called in to perform a series of stunts, including a stunt showing Jason walking through a field killing teenagers while on fire.

Additionally Kirzinger doubled as Jason for Kane Hodder on Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan in 2 scenes technically making Ken the 2nd actor to portray Jason more than once if counting doubling Jason.[1]

Early career

Long before Kirzinger took over the role of Jason Voorhees from Kane Hodder, he had ties to Friday the 13th. He appeared in 1989's Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan as a New York cook who gets in Jason's way while pursuing Rennie Wickham (Jensen Daggett) and Sean Robertson (Scott Reeves). Jason, played by Kane Hodder, threw Kirzinger over the counter. In addition to his role as the cook, Kirzinger also served as a stunt coordinator for the film. Kirzinger is only the second person besides Hodder to play Jason more than once as he doubled for the latter in the same movie in a few short scenes.

Stunt scenes

According to Kirzinger, the hardest thing he went through while performing as Jason in Freddy vs. Jason (2003) was sinking into the lake. They shot the scene in a tank which was highly chlorinated and had debris to make it look like lake water. Director Ronny Yu wanted the close-up of Ken's eye and wanted him to sink into the water keeping his eye open. He also could not breathe because it would be visible on film. He was lying on top of the water and had to let himself sink down to the bottom of the tank without breathing and keeping his eye open. Kirzinger really held his breath, and the chlorine in the water burned his eyes.

Appearances

Kirzinger has performed stunts, or worked on the following:

TV shows

Movies

Movies for television with stunt performance credits

Stunts Canada

Ken Kirzinger is a member of Stunts Canada.[2]

Personal life

His brother, Dave Kirzinger, played for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League from 1978 to 1986. His known friends are Brad Loree, another member of Stunts Canada who notably played horror icon Michael Myers in Halloween: Resurrection,[3] Robert Englund, who co-starred with him in Freddy vs Jason as Freddy Krueger,[4] and Kane Hodder, the actor who played Jason Voorhees before him. Even though Hodder will sometimes state his disappointment at not being chosen to play Jason for the fifth time in Freddy vs. Jason, he and Kirzinger are very good friends and Kirzinger stated they enjoy seeing each other at conventions.[5]

References
  1. Crystal Lake Memories book: Page 283
  2. Profile at Stunts Canada Archived 2007-10-18 at the Wayback Machine
  3. https://www.zoonar.com/photo/dsseldorfneuss-germany-november-2nd-2019-ken-kirzinger-and-brad-loree-at-weekend-of-hell-2019_14573854.html
  4. https://indiemacuser.co.uk/2015/06/15/horror-month-interview-with-ken-kirzinger-freddy-vs-jason/
  5. His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th
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