He previously starred in Guillermo del Toro’s hit sci-fi actioner “Pacific Rim” as hotshot pilot. Now, British actor Robert Kazinsky stars in New Line Cinema’s comedy “Hot Pursuit” as Randy, who is not averse to aiding and abetting the female fugitives played by Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara.
Randy is not exactly on the right side of the law himself and is, in fact, sporting an ankle monitor.
In “Hot Pursuit,” an uptight and by-the-book Officer Cooper (Witherspoon) tries to protect the sexy and outgoing widow, Daniella Riva (Vergara) of a drug boss as they race through Texas, pursued by crooked cops and murderous gunmen.
“The women discover Randy when they steal his truck…without realizing he’s passed out in the back,” director Anne Fletcher grins. “So now he’s seen them, he knows who they are, and they’re in another predicament because that monitor allows the authorities to track him down once he’s outside of the jurisdiction. But Cooper may know a way around that, if Randy’s willing to help.”
Kazinsky offers, “Randy decides to help them because, first of all, he finds Cooper exceptionally attractive and appealing, and second, they’re wanted, he’s a criminal himself and, well, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?”
The Englishman says he was eager to play the role because “I wanted to work with Reese; that was the key thing. I’ve been an admirer of hers for a long time so this was an opportunity to get to do that. And Anne is a great comedic director and this part was unlike anything I’ve done before.”
While Kazinsky acknowledges it’s a small, though critical, role, he confesses, “In my entire career I’ve never played a nice guy, or a ‘good guy,’ or somebody who doesn’t die! It was a chance to play something funny and light, and a character who’s not a total douchebag, and it was not something I get offered very often,” he laughs.
“We did a far-reaching search for Randy,” producer Bruna Papandrea notes. “We joked that we went all the way to England to cast our real American man. But Rob is just so charismatic and dynamic and has all the qualities we wanted Randy to have. Cooper has to be kind of swept away by what is really the opposite of what she might expect to find.”
“Rob was just fantastic,” Witherspoon agrees. “He brought such great energy to Randy and played him as this sort of loveable, noble guy who likes to take care of women and protect them from the bad guys, even though, you know, he’s a convicted felon. A felon and a gentleman.”
Kazinsky will next be seen on the big screen in the action adventure fantasy “Warcraft,” directed by Duncan Jones and based on the video game of the same name.
On television, he has appeared on the hugely popular HBO series “True Blood,” playing Ben, the love interest of Anna Paquin’s character, Sookie, and recently wrapped filming on the FOX pilot “Frankenstein.”
Set for release across the Philippines on May 7, “Hot Pursuit” is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.