Kenneth Kirzinger (born November 4, 1959) is a Canadian actor and stuntman best known for his portrayals of Jason Voorhees in Freddy vs. Jason (2003), Pa in Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007) and Rusty Nail in Joy Ride 3: Roadkill (2014).
This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (August 2014) |
Ken Kirzinger | |
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Born | (1959-11-04) November 4, 1959 (age 62) Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada |
Occupation | Actor, stuntman |
Years active | 1983–present |
Director Ronny Yu tried to limit Kirzinger's stunts on the film as much as possible. Because of this stuntman Glenn Ennis was called in to perform a series of stunts, including a stunt showing Jason walking through a field killing teenagers while on fire.
Additionally Kirzinger doubled as Jason for Kane Hodder on Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan in 2 scenes technically making Ken the 2nd actor to portray Jason more than once if counting doubling Jason.[1]
Long before Kirzinger took over the role of Jason Voorhees from Kane Hodder, he had ties to Friday the 13th. He appeared in 1989's Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan as a New York cook who gets in Jason's way while pursuing Rennie Wickham (Jensen Daggett) and Sean Robertson (Scott Reeves). Jason, played by Kane Hodder, threw Kirzinger over the counter. In addition to his role as the cook, Kirzinger also served as a stunt coordinator for the film. Kirzinger is only the second person besides Hodder to play Jason more than once as he doubled for the latter in the same movie in a few short scenes.
Kirzinger has performed stunts, or worked on the following:
His brother, Dave Kirzinger, played for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League from 1978 to 1986.[citation needed] His known friends are Brad Loree, another member of Stunts Canada who notably played horror icon Michael Myers in Halloween: Resurrection,[2] Robert Englund, who co-starred with him in Freddy vs Jason as Freddy Krueger,[3] and Kane Hodder, the actor who played Jason Voorhees before him.[citation needed] Even though Hodder will sometimes state his disappointment at not being chosen to play Jason for the fifth time in Freddy vs. Jason, he and Kirzinger are very good friends and Kirzinger stated they enjoy seeing each other at conventions.[4] Kirzinger is of German Descent.