On the eve of Hawkeye's penultimate hour - which has been heavily rumored to feature the MCU introduction of a certain character - we caught up with Irish actor Fra Fee, who plays Kazimierz "Kazi" Kazimierczak in the acclaimed Marvel Studios Disney+ series, and spoke with him about what to expect from his character in these final two installments.
He shared more on his familial dynamic with Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) and learning the ropes from Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton), while also teasing possibly becoming Clown, appearing on the upcoming Echo series, and what we should expect when we inevitably meet his "uncle."
Check out the interview below, and keep scrolling for the full transcript!
ROHAN: Kazi seems to care a great deal about Maya, who's been on this revenge path. What would you say his motivations are in these final two episodes? Is he out to protect her or protect his family?
FRA: Yeah, you’ve picked up absolutely correctly. There’s a lot of care there, they’ve been in each other’s lives for a long time, as one of our writers explained on Twitter, they were at the karate class together when they were kids, learning to fight as youngsters and have a familial relationship and it runs very, very deep indeed, but at the exact same time, Kazi has this - just as obsessively strong loyalty to the mafia themselves, this is his surrogate family, it’s the only world that he’s ever really known, certainly the only world that he can remember. I think that struggle and that dual loyalty between that and caring for Maya is going to find himself in quite a predicament.
ROHAN: Kazi's comic counterpart, the villainous Clown, is a much darker character than what we've seen from him in the series. Did you look to the comics to draw any inspiration or did you want to make it your own?
FRA: I’m always a big fan of looking at the source material for anything that I do, whether or not that actually transpires to inform it in a great deal, I just think it’s interesting. So, I definitely read the comics on which the character is based and I found him very intriguing indeed. I loved that he had this brooding intensity that I really wanted to bring into our version of the character, but what we were able to explore with the TV show was what his motivations are, he is very much an inherently bad person in the comics and I think that would’ve been a real straightforward avenue, but what Marvel Studios does so well is figuring out the why about everything. How did they get to be in the position they are? Why are they the people that they are? What has led them to this point and that was one of the most gratifying things to be able to explore, who is this kid and how has he find himself there?
ROHAN: You had such a great scene with Jeremy Renner in episode four... what was it like working with him?
FRA: Yeah, I remember doing that scene. I was definitely a bit nervous before. I just think Jeremy is wonderful, I loved Endgame so much, it’s one of the best films I’ve ever seen. I saw it three times at the cinema. The scene where he loses his family… (makes heartbroken noise) - So, so devastating, he played it so beautifully and I love that Clint’s journey is continuing with such a strong sense of family unit and the importance of family. It’s not just as simple as getting home for Christmas, it’s family, he’s lived without them for so long, so I have huge admiration for him, but he was great on set and just very warm. I think he got that we were just as excited to be there as he has been all these years and for us to be part of his story was a real thrill.
ROHAN: Kazi's also caught the eye of one Kate Bishop, so will you have any more interactions with her in the final two hours?
FRA: I think Kazi really respects Kate for finding herself in this completely random situation and seemingly out of her depth until she actually proves to be some serious world class archer and fighter, but I’m not sure if their worlds collide again at this point. We’ll just have to wait and see, but he was certainly very, very flattered. *laughs*
ROHAN: What was your experience being part of this massive Marvel production that's also basically a Christmas-themed show? Did you realize how fun the episodes would be in the moment or was that something that occured to you after the premiere?
FRA: I love the Christmas setting, I think it’s ingenious. It’s like Hawkeye was written for me to be in. If I could collide two passions, Marvel and Christmas movies, it just would’ve done this. *merges hands* A perfect marriage. I’ve already watched Home Alone 1 and 2 twice and it’s like the 8th of December and I just think the aesthetic really works. What makes it brilliant is that you’re led into a sort of false sense of security that it’s really fun and the stakes are low, but it’s going to kick off, it really is, and I think that’s no accident, but I’m loving the Christmas thing. I’m loving the soundtrack, and I’m feeling proper festive, wearing my Christmas jumper when I watch every episode.
ROHAN: Can you tell me more about your stunt training and learning sign language to play Kazi?
FRA: Yeah, that was one of the most fun aspects of the job. Firstly, learning sign language, I was so privileged to be able to do that, but also the stunt work, led by Heidi Moneymaker, who was our stunt coordinator. They’re the true superheroes of the whole project in my opinion, they’re the ones that make us look good and yeah, there was rigorous training involved, but I just completely loved it. It was a skill set that I had never explored before and I really really loved it and got to do some really really fun stuff on set. Yeah, it was, I was just a kid in a play store sort of thing, we were just having the most fun ever.
ROHAN: There's been a lot of buzz that we'll be meeting your mysterious "uncle" in episode five. What can you tease about your relationship to him and how does this affect your dynamic with Maya?
FRA: Yeah, “Uncle Dave,” he’s very important to us both. Yes, you’re right in thinking Kazi is definitely higher up that most the tracksuits, and if anything, would’ve seen himself in a higher position than Maya. As I said, this organization has been everything that is important to him and for Maya to have somehow found her way up there, when it’s always been Kazi’s ultimate driving force. That’s probably a very, very tough pill for him to swallow. But, yes, this is an escalating order of importance and even Maya has to take her orders from someone.!
ROHAN: It's no secret that Maya (Alaqua Cox) will be getting her own show, Echo, in a few years - have you heard anything about possibly being part of that show? Do you think that's Kazi's natural next step?
FRA: *laughs* Man, I literally sat with my phone just here, just in case Kevin was to call, but he hasn’t yet. *taps phone* I don’t know, is this thing on? *laughs* I don’t know, man, we’ll have to wait and see. I’m very willing to explore this character as fully as possible
Hawkeye is now streaming, exclusively on Disney+