The prolific Latino film star John Leguizamo has bounced back to the small screen following his limited run on NBC’s now-deceased ER. Beginning Sunday, July 22 (time, TBA), the eight-episode Spike TV mini series, The Kill Point, features Leguizamo as Wolf, an embittered and disillusioned Gulf War vet who masterminds a bank heist that goes horribly wrong. The ensuing hostage crises pits Leguizamo’s would-be bank robber against Horst, a master crises negotiator who is also a war vet, portrayed by Donnie Wahlberg. Although the action is rooted in the tension of the moment, the series eventually exposes the complex demons that are driving each of the men.
“One of the great aspects of the show is its slow reveal of character, the slow reveal of
the past,” says Leguizamo. “And the audience is taken slowly through it. You have to wait it out. It isn’t all spoon-fed right away. It’s brilliantly written and directed. The tension just keeps building right through each episode.”
“The two combatants are men who have been shaped by the social and political events of their time but have followed vastly different paths,” says James DeMonaco, series creator/writer. “The current ongoing crises in Mid East and the various reactions people have to that is a palpable part of this series.”
Series director. Steven Shill, concurs. “Irrespective of what side of the political divide anybody happens to be on, the truth is we are creating a new generation of combat veterans who are, in fact, having problems reintegrating into society. And that's a fact. And that's really just one of the aspects that we tried to incorporate into this series. Across eight episodes, it goes deeper and deeper and deeper. The strength of the writing is that there's a great deal of introspection into the consequences of violence.”
Even though Wolf is the criminal, Leguizamo does not view him as a villain. “For all purposes he is sort of the antagonist of the piece,” he admits, “but I see him -- the way he is written – as a hero, who cares deeply for those around him. To better understand the characters we were portraying, we went to a V.A. facility and hung out with veterans from Iraq, many of whom also served in Afghanistan. Many of them had done a lot of tours, and we spent lot of time with these guys, had dinners with them. They cooked for us and everything. They shared their stories and their pain. And that's what hooked me into the show. How do we make these guys as real as possible and address this whole issue of vets coming back?”
Leguizamo came to empathize with Wolf’s motivations when he learned of the indignities many recent vets have suffered. “All the PTSD, post-traumatic stress syndrome, and guys not getting their benefits, is a fact. And if you speak against the war, then everything is taken away from them and they become ostracized from everybody. Many of them are driven by intense personal pride and believe if you go to therapy, then you become weak. Yeah, I came to understand exactly where Wolf is coming from.”
The Kill Point is produced by Spike TV, a division of MTV Networks.
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