Sophia Michaels
SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Rebel Moon: Part 1 – A Child Of Fire. If you have not yet watched the film, proceed at your own risk!
When the protagonists in Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon: Part 1 – A Child Of Fire go off to recruit heroes to help them in their plight, Charlie Hunnam’s Kai is introduced as a Han Solo-like character who both provides transportation and facilitates the mission… but what we don’t know is that he has some ulterior motives. It’s revealed in the third act that he has been in communication with Ed Skrein’s Atticus Noble, and he willfully sets up his “friends” to be captured and killed. It’s the biggest twist in the film – and one toward which Hunnam took an interesting and specific approach.
A captured in the video above, I had the pleasure of interviewing Charlie Hunnam and co-star Michiel Huisman earlier this month during the Los Angeles press day for Rebel Moon – which is now streaming on Netflix – and I used my last question during our conversation to get into spoiler territory. I asked if Kai’s planned betrayal had a specific influence on the way that the actor approached the character, and Hunnam explained that its most significant impact was in his effort to create what seems like an on-screen love triangle between Kai, Sofia Boutella’ Kora, and Huisman’s Gunnar:
It’s tricky. I mean, yes, you have to build to that and have to be aware of it. There were certain markers that I realized were the function of my character to deliver. You know, I think that one of the lovely little character things that’s happening is that Michiel and Sophia [Boutella]’s characters, Gunnar and Kora, are clearly on a trajectory we hope maybe to fall in love. I thought it would be really wonderful if Kai came in and represented a challenge to that.
It’s a clever bit of misdirection. Stories are built on conflict, and if audiences see a love triangle between Kora, Gunnar and Kai, there is a subconscious assumption made about where their individual narratives are going. For Kai, as orchestrated by Charlie Hunnam, this is simply a distraction to keep you from noticing any red flags in his attitude or behavior.
Continuing, the actor added that he would find special ways for Kai to connect with Kora so that he could hide the character’s true intentions. Said Hunnam,
I spent a lot of time thinking about trying to seduce and flirt with Kora as much as I could in the scenes, as much as would be appropriate. So the things like that would lead us down one path of expectation only to be able to then go and subvert it.
The key for the performance was subtlety, and it was important for Hunnam. While audiences may end up hating Kai for his heel turn at the end of Rebel Moon, it was his number one desire to never come across as a mustache-twirler. Instead, he views the character more like a dedicated child:
I must say I really felt like it was important for Kai not to be a villain. Not to be an arch character. And the way that I decided for my own psychology was to just decide that he was really, really sincere in everything he did. Like a kid who could be absolutely sincere right now and having fun with you, and then turn around and watch you be in real trouble.
Also starring Ray Fisher, Bae Doona, Staz Nair, Djimon Hounsou, Cleopatra Colman, E. Duffy, Fra Free and Anthony Hopkins, Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child Of Fire is now available to stream for Netflix subscribers, and there is much to look forward to in the future. In addition to Rebel Moon: Part 2 – The Scargiver being scheduled for release next spring, on April 19, 2024, there are also plans for extended, unrated director’s cuts to be unveiled in the summer.
