C&C 4’s Joe Kucan Interview

IncGamers’ Tim McDonald had the chance to hook up with Joe Kucan again recently and spent the time talking about Command & Conquer 4, Kucan’s Kane role and the future of the game. Tim started by asking if they could talk a little about Command & Conquer 4…Sure, if you like. I’ve heard of it.You’ve heard of it! What have you heard about it?I’ve heard it’s going to sweep the globe. It’s the next big thing in gaming, is what I hear.Have you been playing it much?I’ve been playing it today quite a bit, yeah, to tell you the truth. We’ve been demoing it in the back room and they needed people to fill the seats, so I went in, and I can honestly say that I am undefeated in the game so far!So how do you feel about the game? There’ve been a lot of changes since the very early games, and you’ve been there right the whole way through, so what do you think about the way it’s changed?I think everything, in order to survive, has to adapt and evolve, and I think that it’s a good idea to finally stop teasing with the storyline and to put a final end to it. I think they’re very smart and understanding that the future of gaming, probably, is in internet play and online play and that this is just the first step in watching the game evolve in that direction. I think it’s a pretty smart idea.But of course, the single player is a huge focus and that is, I’m sure, what you’re largely involved in, in your role as Kane.It’s actually the only thing I’m involved in! *laughs*Are you happy with the direction that Kane’s taken and the way they’re finishing off Kane’s story?Well… *pauses* The problem that I had, to tell you the truth, was all the prosthetics that I had to wear for the last – I don’t know know if you’re familiar with the story, but it’s revealed that Kane was a woman in this last ere a ,ot of qrotvs aevea ed thasthetics involved, I had the wig, the hair was glued directly to my head, I had a giant bosom with a lot of cleavage, and it was just uncomfortable. A lot of uncomfortable make-up. I kinda question the direction as well – I think a lot of players are going to be surprised that he was a woman the whole time. Was it a good idea? I’m not so sure. We’ll find out when fans react, as they certainly will.I would imagine so, with a revelation like that. On that note, how did you get the role of Kane?*laughs* Well, there was a street fair, and I had gone up to one of the booths. You know that booth where you shoot the water into the clown’s mouth, and the balloon gets bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger? There was like me, and four other guys, and they said “Ready, set, go!” and I’m spraying the water, I’m spraying the water, I’m spraying the water, and I’m giving the elbow to the other guys, and my balloon just popped first and that’s how I actually won the role of Kane – at a clown balloon booth festival. *laughs**laughs* You won the role of Kane in a street carnival?That’s exactly it.That’s a fairly impressive way of getting such a major acting role!That’s the first time I’ve told that story. I’ve never actually come clean about it before.{PAGE TITLE=Joe Kucan Interview page 2}How do you feel about the way Kane’s been treated by the public? He’s a much-loved figure within the franchise.Is he really?He really is.That’s news to me! I dunno, all I hear is every time I try to negotiate a new contract with EA they tell me how nobody likes the character, nobody likes the guy, so they’re going to have to pay me significantly less.And this, of course, is why they’re finishing off Kane’s story in this game!*laughs* That’s exactly right. My contract demands were such that it was bankrupting the company, so they’ve decided to move him off to the side, and hire Pauly Shore or somebody to come in and play Kane for the future.Pauly Shore? Really?*laughs* Yeah, actually. They made him an offer. He turned them down. Not enough money. And he wouldn’t shave his head.You can’t have Kane without the shaved head though, surely?Well, now that he’s got the long blonde hair and the bosom, I think that that’s maybe a direction they want to go.*laughs* You think Pauly Shore could pull that off?He’s a fine actor. A fine, fine actor. *laughs* We’re in the UK. Do you know who Pauly Shore is?*laughs* Yes.Okay, good. Then it’s funny! ‘Coz if you didn’t know, then it wouldn’t have been. *laughs*So Command & Conquer 4, as well, has taken… I mean, we’ve been told that it’s taking a much more serious role with the cinematics and the way things are unfolding. It’s going to be a bit less campy and B-movie than the Red Alert series certainly is, and the earlier games, to an extent, going back more to the first one.Campy? Campy? How dare you, sir. How dare you?I mean it in the nicest way possible!*laughs* There is a new direction in the new cinematics, although they haven’t been quite forthcoming. They’ve been using words like “gritty,” and “realistic”, and “a new direction.” It’s a musical, and there are a lot of dance numbers, which I think is going to take the gameplay experience in a whole different direction. Kane himself actually has like a five minute tap sequence early on, in the beginning of the game, in the second act – to really start the game off with a bang. So in that sense, yeah, it is a pretty new direction.And was that difficult for you to rehearse? I mean, you’re obviously a very versatile actor but is that something you’ve done much of before?Well I don’t know if you’ve been… I recently got a Guinness Book of World Record for being the greatest actor in the history of the universe.How did they measure that?I don’t know. I just hung it on my wall. I don’t know.Joe Kucan, thank you very much. This has been an absolute pleasure and a revelation.