BEHIND FIREWALL: Young actor takes an accidental sock in the nose but comes up shining , 2006 

By Mike Youds, Daily News Staff Reporter 

 

Kett Turton is a young Canadian actor known for his ability to nail the nuances of dark characters. 

 

The Leo-nominated actor is in Kamloops to complete a role in the Warner Bros. production of Firewall, which is being shot on location at Tranquille. 

 

Turton sat down on Wednesday at Zack's to talk about his experiences. He plays Vel, a criminal in the Harrison Ford picture. Off-set, Turton leaves behind the corrupt character and dons a casual demeanor. 

 

"He's one of the Bill Cox's (played by Paul Bettany) gang," he says of the role. "He's a computer expert, a hacker, I guess. He's sort of younger and less skilled than the other gang members." 

 

The other day he got a little more torture than the script called for in a fight scene with Cox. Bettany accidentally socked him in the nose. 

 

"Everyone stood there and waited for two minutes wondering if it would bleed or not bleed," Turton says, looking none the worse for the impact, a peril of the profession. 

 

Firewall has been in production since February in Vancouver with the finale -- a closely guarded secret -- coming together in Kamloops over a two-week period. 

 

"It's been really good. It's been a really long shoot so it's cool that everyone gets along. No one wants to kill someone, which is kind of neat on a film set." 

 

Born in Portland, Ore., to Canadian parents, Turton grew up in Vancouver, where he took to the stage at the tender age of four. 

 

"I was 15 when I got into film acting." 

 

He has enough credits at age 23 to fill a career. One of his earliest roles was playing the suicidal Darrin in Scott Smith's Rollercoaster, which earned him the Leo nod. Alongside fellow actor Miranda Richardson in Falling Angel, Turton played Tom, the hippie boyfriend, for which he received critical acclaim. Other film credits include Blade: Trinity, Saved! and, more recently, Walking Tall. 

 

He's as at-home on TV as on film (X-Files, Millennium, Dead Like Me, Dead Zone, Dark Angel). 

 

His recent TV appearances have included roles on 24 and Smallville. In the Stephen King ABC series Kingdom Hospital he was audible as the conflicted ghost, one of his favourite roles. 

 

"I had a lot of fun and felt very successful in Kingdom Hospital. It was very dark, strange and bizarre -- and really, really fun to do." 

 

Turton likes the travelling life that acting can entail. On Saturday he's bound for London, England, to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. He plans to move to New York City in September to focus on theatre for awhile. Eventually he hopes to turn to writing. 

 

Coming of age within B.C.'s maturing film and TV industry has provided ample opportunity. 

 

"I like to move around quite a bit, so I welcome the opportunity to go to little towns like this one and around Canada, but it has enabled me to stay in town." 

 

As an actor he is not one to rest on his laurels. 

 

"I try not to be satisfied," he says. "What's the fun of that?" 

 

Working alongside Ford, Bettany and director Richard Loncraine has been a constant learning experience, he adds. 

 

"I think it will be pretty thrilling," he says of Firewall. "There are also some very, very good characters in it, which is neat to see in a big-budget thriller film, that it is character-driven as well."