karrion kross blue evening

Karrion Kross Helped Breathe Life Into ‘Blue Evening,’ Shares How He Approached The Role

By Bill Pritchard, Jayakrishna Dassapan

Karrion Kross is getting to show off his acting chops in his latest acting role.

WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard spoke with Karrion Kross, Cory DeMyers and Jett Jansen, part of the team who worked on the new independent short film, Blue Evening. Kross, billed as Kevin Robert Kesar, plays Frank, a man who encounters a homeless addict named Jack and offers him help along his journey. Jansen serves as director, writer and producer, while DeMeyers is credited as an executive producer with Kross.

What is Blue Evening about?

“In a last-ditch effort to turn his life around; a homeless addict in Los Angeles stumbles upon a lost masterpiece in a thrift store, setting him on a desperate journey of redemption, survival, and self-discovery that forces him to choose between the high that’s ruined his life and the future he never thought he deserved,” reads the film’s official synopsis.

Blue Evening is a sad story that deals with addiction, but it’s also told with a sense of optimism. Jansen, a veteran of the film festival circuit, said that his preference for happier endings sometimes backfires since indie films can often have “melancholic or depressing” endings. However, he wanted Blue Evening to be more of an “underdog” film, not unlike the themes in some ’80s movies.

“I want people to leave the theatre in a good mood when they leave the movies,” Jansen explained. “Structurally, it’s essentially Rocky, more or less. The Adrian character, the training sequences, things like that. But I took that genre and flipped it on its head and turned it into a drama. You could tell any kind of story a hundred different ways. I wanted to tell a human story, a rags-to-riches kind of underdog story. So, it has a lot in common with those early films. But, as Cory was mentioning, it has a modern flavor to it. It is always important to break up the doom and gloom with a little humor here and there.” 

Karrion Kross on how he approached his role in the Blue Evening

The sense of optimism is aided by the humor used throughout Blue Evening. DeMeyers pointed to one of Kross’s lines in the film as a highlight of that success, which got a loud ovation at their first public screening.

Kross is known for being more serious or menacing on WWE TV. He shared his approach to the role, noting that all of the characters felt like they were familiar to him.

“The way they were written and the way Jett was able to articulate the characters, they felt relatable. And so, from an acting standpoint — and I’ve even done this with wrestling — if I understand the entire narrative context of where we’re at and what we are doing and who’s involved, it’s sort of a safe place to start improvisationally getting things out there,” Kross said.

“It was more like just getting in there, understanding Gustavo [Ramirez] as an actor. And like I said, it was weird; I had moments of deja vu being there,” he added. “Because I was so in love with the script and I had so much sympathy for the lead character in the film, Jack. And the way Gustavo played him is exactly how I imagined who I’d be on set with in my head. It was awesome. It was really really fun. When you have an opportunity to work with [Gustavo], and you have Jett as a director and a writer who provides flexibility and what he’s looking for, for us to find something and bring it to life the way we feel like we could do best, it’s just very fun and easy.” 

Jett Jansen on Karrion Kross’ character in WWE, pushing him to continue acting

Jansen, Kross and DeMeyers have all known each other for several years. Jansen pushed Kross to continue acting and shared his appreciation for Kross’ recent work in WWE, which has seen him take on a “devil on your shoulder” approach.

“The Karrion character has been rotting at the baby faces in WWE for years. His character is a cancer, and it’s fantastic,” Jansen said. “It’s a very long-form storytelling. So, watching the Karrion character slowly manipulate his way through the locker room has been such an interesting path as a fan of professional wrestling myself. It’s lovely, lovely storytelling. And I love when fans pick up on all the clues he’s been leaving for people for the last several years.”      

DeMeyers agreed, recalling Jansen calling him to pitch him on working with Kross. He also praised Kross for his desire to learn and for always being a professional, no matter what the situation entailed.

“Jett and I used to run a small indie promotion in Los Angeles called Rogue Tournament Wrestling,” DeMeyers explained. “Kross was the guy that would show up to our events hours early. He was living in Vegas at the time. He’d come out to LA, we’d still be building the ring, putting things together. He’d be in a suit and tie, he’d be the sweetest, kindest man in the room, asking if he can help us put the ring together while he is wearing a suit.”

Karrion Kross is a self-made man and the consummate professional

DeMeyers expressed his pleasure at seeing Kross’s career continue to grow. He’s thankful to have another chance to work with him on Blue Evening. He also highlighted why it’s important to be seen in more than one respect, rather than “just” being a wrestler or actor.

“You just want to be creative. You just want to make things and not one thing needs to take precedent over the other necessarily. It’s just about expressing yourself through these other mediums. And so, it’s been really amazing over the years to have an opportunity to work with Kross,” DeMeyers said. “And then watch him grow in all of his various different skill sets that he has. I’m thankful to have a guy like him on the team. But also somebody who’s genuinely a kind person in his day-to-day life, helping breathe life into Blue Evening.”  

“I will say that Kross is a self-made man,” Jansen added. “We’re in a situation now, the professional wrestling business has been built on the shoulders of listening to your audience. And we’re in an interesting situation where the entire wrestling sphere, the fans, and almost every single wrestling legend… Guys like Kevin Nash and stuff were all saying that Kross should be the next guy. So, I think the rules of wrestling, where you give the audience what they want, should be respected and it’s very self-evident that he should be the guy.”

Blue Evening had its first screening at the Pasadena International Film Festival on April 8. Follow Kross’ respective social media accounts for updates on future screenings. Check out our full interview with Blue Evening’s Karrion Kross, Cory DeMeyers and Jett Jansen below:

Bill Pritchard, Jayakrishna Dassapan

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