Jesse Hutch is fighting for his life against Rusty Nail in “Joy Ride 3,” the most horrortastic installment in the “Joy Ride” series. ShockYa was happy to talk to Hutch about his leadership role in the film, reuniting with Ken Kirzinger and funny horror movies. “Joy Ride 3” is available for home viewing now.
I’ve talked to Ken Kirzinger last week, and from what I’ve heard, the film is going to be even more exciting than the other two.
Jesse Hutch: I’m hearing that the word on the street is that that’s correct, apparently [laughs]. It’s one of those things that you never know how people are going to take it. You do the best you can and you present it to everyone and that’s the cool thing with art, right? People take what they want and so we’ll see if [the film] can live up to [the expectation]. I think it would be pretty cool if people enjoyed it more than the other two [laughs].
What can you tell me about your character, Jordan?
Jesse Hutch: Jordan is–I guess he’s the leader. He’s a business owner, he’s the driver–a rowdy race car driver. This is his company–as you’ll see in the movie it has my name on the side of the car…So everyone else who’s on the team is either a friend or a girlfriend and so we’ve got this tight knit group who have been working together for a while and Jordan is the glue that holds them together. At the same time, because he’s the leader, he…gets the blame for things that aren’t always his fault. But I like that he deals with it and I also like the fact that he’s not perfect. He’s not the Hollywood film [type of] leader where he does everything right and everything perfect and says the right things always, although he tries. Hopefully, you’ll see in the film that he does make some mistakes. He tries to fix them and turn things around and he evolves[.]
When I talked to Ken Kirzinger, he said that this installment of “Joy Ride” was more horror, where as the others were more action and thriller. What kind of horror-filled surprises can fans expect from this film?
Jesse Hutch: I think that’s a correct statement in saying that the deaths and the gore were [up to] 10 notches [laughs]. I mean, when I watched the film, with some of the deaths, you’re like “What? I can’t believe I’m seeing this!” They’re insane. And what I liked about them is that all of the deaths are somehow related to Rusty’s truck. Rusty’s truck is a character in and of itself. Declan [O’Brien], the director, did a great job of making Rusty a character and making his semi truck a co-character with him. I think people are going to be surprised and shocked at some of the death scenes. I think they’re pretty creative. There’s a good mix–some are long, some are quick and short [laughs].
I read that you were also in “Freddy vs. Jason.” What was it like diving back into the horror genre with this film?
Jesse Hutch: Well, in “Freddy vs. Jason,” I was one of the kind-hearted folks. Not really–I was kind of a jerk in the film, and I got killed by Jason Voorhees, who was played by Ken Kirzinger at the time. So doing “Joy Ride” was kind of like a 10-year reunion for Ken and I. I hadn’t seen him since we both worked together in “Freddy vs. Jason.” I think one of the main differences is that in “Freddy vs. Jason,” my character comes and goes and I’m not in the entire film. It was a pretty cool role–I got to do a lot of prosthetics. I actually did the most prosthetics out of anyone in that film. I did about 25-and-a-half hours straight of prosthetics so they could make a body replica of me. However, in “Joy Ride 3,” I’m the guy that makes it through to the end, so I appreciate that.
Do you have a favorite horror film?
Jesse Hutch: To be honest, I thought horrors were kind of funny growing up. I always found them comical. I know that sounds bad, but [with] a lot of the deaths, I’d just be laughing, like “Really? I can’t believe it! It’s too crazy!” But–it might sound funny–but when I saw “Jeepers Creepers,” it freaked me out. I remember watching it–that guy drove that creepy looking truck and the windows were all painted. I think that the movies that are kind-of borderline reality and stick to that during the main plot freak me out a little more. Like “Joy Ride,” for example. The deaths are crazy, but the fact that Rusty Nail’s a truck driver–a lot of guys are truck drivers. It’s a fairly common job. We see trucks come and go, we don’t think twice about it. Rusty Nail goes under the radar, when you start to think about it. Then you meet him and you see his character…He’s a psychopath, basically, but he’s still borderline…a normal human being that you almost feel for him at times. So it’s this weird mix to where you’re like, “The guy actually says some things that make sense,” but he backs them up with this insane killing spree.
If someone new to the “Joy Ride” franchise is coming to see this film, what do you think they’d like about the film and the franchise?
Jesse Hutch: I think that they’re going to enjoy the story. It’s a fun summer movie. I think the pace is quick. I think the deaths are exciting and unexpected. I think the character of Rusty Nail is not your usual character. He’s not some superhero mutant alien injected with super powers. He’s just a guy and at the same time, he comes across like he’s just strong and super calm. I think that his character, combined with our characters–a bunch of young people trying to get to a race, trying to live life who come across Rusty Nail and then death ensues–I think people will enjoy that mix, and it’s in the appropriate amount of time. It’s just long enough–it’s not too short, not too long . It’s a quick movie–you get into it and the story keeps pulling you through.
