Is it true that you came into the project quite late?

No, that wasn't the case. I've actually known Doug for some time. He's a great, very organic guy. I'm sure you know, unfortunately, that the majority of ways that divisions happen (on productions) is that actors are meant to hang out with actors and the technicians hang out with technicians and all of that nonsense. I've never conceded that. I've always thought we're ALL a part of it, together as one. I met Doug when he was a Second Assistant Director and we got on very well from the beginning. There was a mutual respect there. He knew that I was in it for making films sake rather than being the centre of attention. And vice versa.

Unbeknownst to me (I was away filming Dungeons and Dragons in Prague from May 1999) Doug was trying to contact me about Endgame. He told the casting directors: 'Find me Bruce!". Well he found me and told me about Highlander. We sat down together and went from there. I'm incredibly grateful that there are such directors out there that would go out and say ' I really want this actor!'. Most studios want to get as big a name as possible, which is fine, it is a business, after all. But that's why relationships are so important. The way it turned out was that Doug mentioned Christophe was on board plus Dougie Milsome and Tara Smith (with whom I was just filming Dungeons and Dragons). So that was an added bonus.

Filming in Romania was apparently quite tough and didn't go quite to schedule?

Miramax did an incredible job trying to make a long distance location work. But we were in a place that is not the most advanced country in Central Europe.

Various people have mentioned you were taken ill during filming. Was this part of the problem?

Put it this way. There are things that happened out there that you wouldn't believe or fathom. The end result is... I carried on filming anyway and that, as they say, is 'Life'.

But even given the bad conditions, there were some great crew-people to work with too?

Oh yes. Definitely. Besides Dougie Milsome, whom I had literally just finished with on Dungeons and Dragons (which he lit so skillfully!), we had an incredible SFX supervisor, Nick Adler. Not many people appreciate that there is subtly even in explosions. There is a millionth of a second between the glass blowing and the debris following it. Nick knows exactly how to do that. He and his team are very dedicated people.

On the whole there were many talented people in most departments - especially Wendy Partridge (the Costume Designer) she's lovely, very hands on and easy to communicate with as far as I am concerned, you can't pay people like her enough. She always had the cast's welfare at heart, to the extent of flying her own special, heavy-duty 'Snow Goose' parkas to prevent more casualties from the extreme weather.

Some people have complained that Kell is built up to be all-powerful, but ends up as simply an overly-intense man on a quest for vengeance. What was your perspective on Kell and his motivation?

I haven't seen the final version of the film yet. But I think that editorial decisions, possibly dictated by time constraints, may have led to omitting parts of my performance which would have shown the highs, the middle and the lows of my character... the whole spectrum. Was he over intense? No, I don't think so... Was he on a quest for vengeance... yes, an interesting hybrid of vengeance in as much as his ultimate satisfaction would be to keep Connor alive and prolong his suffering - while witnessing the annihilation of anyone's life that Connor cherished.

Swordfights are a major part of the Highlander mythology. Fans know that Christophe and Adrian are pretty proficient with swords. How good are you?

Well, lets not forget what the stunt arranger and swordmaster contribute to the movies as well, but this was not the first film where I was called on to fence. I learnt at RADA actually and have been fencing since 1980. Not to mention working with an Olympic national coach... but that's by the by. The interesting aspect of sword fighting in this particular movie was that the weapons were practical. You know the weapons weren't props... but for real. I still have the scars to prove it!!

There is some speculation as to whether Kell was already an Immortal when Connor slays him in the Highlands near that start of the film. What was your feeling?

I don't know the answer to that one... it was never proffered in any of our discussions.

What are your final thoughts on your Endgame experience?

I enjoyed working on the film because of the collaboration which took place between all of us... the actors, the director and the technicians. As an actor the first thing you have to contribute to the process is your trust and as far as Highlander: Endgame was concerned... I trusted them fully.

Doug Aarniokoski was asked : Kell was supposed to be more than just a vengeful villain?

I've heard people say that Bruce was way over the top. He's not. He gave one of the most dead-on performances. If you saw the film that we shot. Bruce Payne and I designed his character to be very specific and very motivated in the sense that he was bigger than the universe he was living in. That was his mind-set. To him, there is no Holy Ground. Wherever he walks could be Holy Ground... there is a moment in the third act where he is playing Bonny Portmore on the harmonica. If you take a look at what he was leaning up against during the wide-shot, it is very symbolic of the mind-set that he is in. I won;t get into it anymore than that, but take a look....

Copyright IMPACT Magazine December, 2000