My Kick-Ass 2 experience

Back in October 2012, I received a message from Mark Millar saying that he had just had dinner with Jeff Wadlow, who promised Mark to put me in his superhero brawl. I screamed the house down for about 15 minutes and quickly packed a bag. The next day I got on a plane to London and headed for Pinewood Studios, to be in my favourite film. Oh. My. God.

When I arrived, they asked for my name and then said to me: “Ah, yeah, the Mark Millar direct!” That was the first surreal moment I had. I was given my map of Pinewood and walked through past the 007 stage, Goldfinger Avenue, set warehouses. Dreamland. When I got into the extras hut, I was surrounded by costumed vigilantes and villains all tucking into some scrambled eggs and sausages. But this wasn't a cosplay, this was the making of Kick-Ass 2. There was about a two hour wait, until I was called to go to the costume department to get “superheroed” up. Getting driven in a jaguar to the costume department was nothing compared to what I experienced next. As I walked in, there were stunt costumes from Kick-Ass to policeman number 2. Not to mention the several dirty Kick-Ass masks just lying around ( I wish I had slipped one under my coat). The people of the costume department were very accommodating and as soon as they told me that I was changing in the same room that Aaron Johnson, Miss Moretz and Chris Mintz Plasse get costumed up in, I got serious butterflies. I was masked up, caped up, and they let me keep my homemade logo on the front. The Green Vixen was ready...ready to fight some crime.

The moment had came where I was in a car, getting driven, to The Motherfucker's Lair. This was something I had only dreamed of, something I had only read in the comics. It was actually happening. The doors opened: Pool tables, arcade machines, a ferrari, shark tank, bar and of course about a hundred and fifty TMCs and Justice Forever members! My jaw dropped and stayed like that for basically the entire day. I was literally hopping around and from the corner of my eye I spotted someone giggling at my fan-girling actions. It was Hit-Girl herself. My favourite character in the entire world was laughing at me. Chloë Moretz was standing getting the purple wig combed and put into place ready for the next take. Try and calm down, act cool I thought. She gave me a wee wave and walked into position. I distinctly remember saying to the girl next to me: “That's Hit-Girl over there, can you see her?! She just waved over at me!”. There was no way I was going to be able to act “cool”. As I looked ahead, I could see Jeff Wadlow, holding a massive orange microphone, giving directions to the large group of the Justice Forever gang. I was in too much awe to properly listen and before I knew it: “First positions, annnnnd Action!” it was safe to say, rather than focusing on my role, all I was thinking was “this is the bit in the comic where...I'm in Kick-Ass 2, ahhhh” However, after the first 25 takes, I began thinking more seriously: “I've got to pick up my pace a bit...put on a real determined face this time...stop watching Kick-Ass and The Motherfucker battling it out, focus!”
I was given a chair leg as a weapon and guarded it like a child. It was my ballisong, my green baton.
During a short fifteen minute break, I sat on the Motherfucker's floor and just took in where I was. To my right, I could see a half naked Aaron Johnson, getting sweat wiped off of him with napkins by two female runners. Infact, he constantly had his very pleasing six pack out, which was a beautiful eyeful. To the right of Aaron, I could see Chloë Moretz, tapping her thumbs on her phone, dawning some ugg boots and a nude wig skull cap. But then the door opened behind me and I heard a fellow scottish accent. Mark Millar came sauntering onto set with his wife Lucy and his very adorable baby daughter. I was immediately greeted with “Hi Brontë! How's it going?” With a hug added on at the end. I was in disbelief that the creator of this dream instantly recognised me. Thanking him for this opportunity he gave me, he was extremely kind about it and was pleased that I got down to London easily enough and onto set. During breaks between takes, all the extras got dainty wee sandwiches handed out. You'd have one or two each. However, two was not enough for Olga (Mother Russia). I kid you not, that 6ft5 machine of a woman walked around holding what looked like 15 sandwiches. I suppose she needed it to build up all that muscle to beat up a 15 year old ninja. On the first day being on set, I met a fellow fan named Paul, who was also from Scotland. He was just as in awe as I was and he'd been there for about a week before myself. I asked him if he had gotten his Kick-Ass 2 comic signed yet, but he said he hadn't found the right opportunity. We were surrounded by opportunities! So that afternoon, I bagged myself a Hit-Girl autograph!

I had my comic with me on set to read and to remind me that I was in the movie of what I was reading. But I also had it to see if I could get the cast to sign it for me. When I approached Chloë with my sharpie and book, I was literally trembling. I was about to meet my all time favourite character. I was starstruck, which surprised me. I simply asked “Hey Chloë, would it be okay if you signed my comic?” “Of course, yeh!” she replied. I chatted to her and her mum, Teri for about five minutes. Teri Moretz thought it was great that there was a fan on set and that it was good for Chloë to experience ME being there! They were both fascinated that Mark Millar had gotten me into the film and Chloë told me that my accent was a lot easier to understand than Mark's Glaswegian one. When I spelled my name out to her, Teri was saying how it fascinating and had an umlaut like Chloë's. We talked about how she'd read the comic to the latest X factor scandal that weekend. Her down to earth attitude definitely made me stop trembling. The most surreal thing Chloë told me was that she had remembered that I wrote a song about Hit-Girl on YouTube. So THE Hit-Girl has seen MY Hit-Girl song. What. The. Hell. After superhero brawling for several hours, the excitement had not died down. Paul and I constantly glanced at each other with massive grins on our faces that read: Can you believe it?! There was one take when I found myself fighting about an arm's length from Kick-Ass and The Motherfucker's brawl. I was thinking “oh shite, I shouldn't be so close to the stars, move back, move back!”

After getting Miss Moretz's autograph, it gave me the confidence to approach Chris Mintz Plasse aswell. Chris was incredibly chilled and we spent about two minutes looking for a cool Motherfucker page to sign. But due to the pen being black and all the Motherfucker pages being black, we had to agree that he just sign in the same place as Chloë. Shooting went on until about 8pm that night and Jeff said at the end of it “You're all fucking movie stars! That's a wrap everybody!” So I couldn't have messed up that badly. While the rest of the extras went back to the warehouse to get changed, I had realised that I had left my clothes in the costume department, which was at the other end of the studios! It was locked, so I had to be trusted with the security code and go get my things. (And yes, I do still remember the code to get into the costumes of Pinewood studios mwahaha) On day two, the press were there. From MTV, to Total Film. An area of the set was sectioned off for about 50-60 chairs reading: Press Only. It was just crazy. Extras were sent to wait outside while certain shots were being filmed and you weren't allowed to talk when you heard: “First positions. Rolling. Quiet Please. Annnnnd action!” While waiting, Aaron and Chris came outside to do some interviews. Obviously I was going to be extremely nosy and listen in to every word. Reading the latest article in Total Film magazine, they mention that there are a bunch of superheros waiting outside the Pinewood lot. Reading that was unbelievable as it just hit home that I was one of them. Extras weren't allowed inside that morning, due to specific scenes being filmed. I hated that I couldn't see it, I wanted to know what was going on! So sneakily, I went back in the door and just stood next to my mum at the back. Getting to experience it from behind the scenes was awesome. The actors would do their bit, come running to where I was, and harshly criticise themselves as they watched a playback on a big TV screen. They worked extremely hard and greatly enjoyed themselves at the same time. It was pretty inspiring. Another thing that was amazing to see, was the off screen relationship they all had. I would look over and see Chloë pretending to whack Aaron in the face with her Hit-Girl stick giving the: dooosh, chhhh... sound effects. Chris and Chloë had constant banter offset: From play fighting each other, constantly laughing, to pat-a-cake. It's a shame they're enemies in the movie. There was a point during filming that day when everyone was quiet for “action” except one. In the background you heard Mark Millar's baby girl making very cute, yet very loud baby noises. Everyone just laughed about it while Mark hurriedly took her outside.

I got to talk to Mark properly that day: asking me where I was from and he was keen to know my thoughts on the new “grown-up” Hit-Girl costume. To which I told him that it was awesome, the costume has aged with her character, it needed to be vamped up. I also got John Romita Jr. to sign my comic that day. He was lovely. He described my name as “wonderful” and loved that I was a fan on set living my dream. We chatted about my favourite parts of the comic and he was keen to chat to my mum aswell. That day, there was a whole lot of running around, and, due to me wearing a shoe size too small, pain came with it. We got a long break at about 6pm for dinner. So I sat up the back with my shoes off, dawning some odd socks with holes in them. Then I saw a Nandos next to me! I had gathered that it wouldn't have been for me and as I thought this, in swooped Chloë and Chris grabbing the best burgers first. It was a good thing they got there first before Olga, although i'm pretty sure, she would have had a special request, for about a tonne of burgers. I remember saying out loud but to myself “Those guys get Nandos?!” and Chris looked up at me and was like “Yeh! It's a total perk to the job” then smiled and walked off to munch. With all the runners on set, usually it'd be there job to put the cast's rubbish in the bin. I remember seeing a runner nervously approaching Chloë asking if she'd like her rubbish put in the bin for her. But Chloë just got out her seat to walk to the bin herself. I liked that. It's no secret that Teri, her mum, keeps her very grounded on set, doesn't treat her like a “Movie Star”.
I could also see Clarke Duke asking a dude next to him what Nandos was being confused that it was all chicken. He was a cool guy. He would always smile at me when walking past and when he came to sit down near to where I was he would say “Hey” before sitting down. It was just crazy. I had literally watched Clarke Duke in an episode of New Girl like a week before and he just says Hi to me like it's no big deal. It was a shame that Jim Carrey had finished his filming just a few days before I got on set. I can only imagine the hilarity of his off set character. But Donald Faison must've been a close match. He would constantly be telling jokes and he would attract a small crowd around himself as he told them, even Jeff Wadlow would take a break just to hear what hilarious thing he was coming out with.



My last day on the Pinewood set was probably my favourite. It was certainly the most action packed and I ended up with a genuine bruise on my upper arm. I think I got killed about four times that day. It was amazing! There were fewer extras that day, as people chose to go home. Why they did that? I have no idea. That was the day that Hit-Girl and Mother Russia fought it out. I wasn't part of this scene and again I was meant to be outside, but I hid next the Ferrari and watched the battle unfold from about a metre away. It was totally surreal. This was my favourite part of the comic, and I was watching it come to life before me. They went to film one take and half way through it, Jeff shouted: “Cut! Chlo, you're not wearing your Hit-Girl gloves” “Oh crap yeh, my gloves!”. Just little things like that put me in a dream state. One thing I was determined to on my last day, was to thank as many people as I could. Unfortunately, Chris Mintz-Plasse wasn't on set, but I did manage to get a photo with him the day before. I can remember walking up to Chloë and just thanking her for everything. Teri felt bad that I was having to get a 9hour bus that night back up to Scotland. I had also just seen the teaser trailer for Carrie and wished her all the best on that project. She was extremely flattered by that and asked if I'd seen the original. But before I knew it, I was sitting next to Hit-Girl watching a playback of her fighting Mother Russia. “Ugh, my hand looks weird in that take.” She'd say. She was saying to me, how this was just a massive spoiler for me because I was a fan, but like I cared! I was watching my favourite comic part come to life, with THE Hit-Girl. It didn't get much better than that. After each take Chloë and Olga did together, they would give each other a massive high-five. Although, Hit-Girl had to basically jump to high five that Russian machine. I had managed to sneak in a photo with all three main cast members, that was a a tough challenge in itself. And by the end of my last night, Aaron Johnson had given me the best autograph yet: “Brontë, nice kicking ass with you! Justice Forever!!” I got a handshake from Jeff and thanked him for the amazing experience and he was really pleased that I had a good time. I had lived the dream at Pinewood. The best three days of my life had come to end. Until two weeks later, when I got a call from “KA2 extras.”

I was at a friends Halloween party, dressed as Hit-Girl, when I received a call from Dan Smith. Daniel was the guy who dealt with each extra in Kick-Ass 2 and knew how dedicated I was. In his call he asked if I would like to come back down to London, to act as a school pupil in the scenes they had lined up for that week. I was in shock. I'd already lived my dream, but to get the opportunity to do it twice was just beyond me. Paul, had told me that he'd overheard they were shooting at Ashmole Academy in London, so I decided to give it a bash and email Dan. He had said the extras were only for pupils at the school and he wasn't sure if I'd get a slot. But he somehow squeezed me in! When I arrived at the school, I was the only non-pupil extra. However, I liked to think that I was the only extra with an alter-ego, Brontë by day, fighting crime in Justice Forever by night! I just wore my own clothes for the scenes, but a change of top was to be taken. This was incase in one shot you'd be walking outside the cafeteria, but in the next shot, you'd be inside. So you had to look like someone else for continuity reasons. On day one, I was in a scene with Lynsey Fonseca and Aaron Johnson. This was a scene that wasn't in the comic and all I wanted to do was to stare and listen to everything Dave and Katie were saying each other. I felt too intrigued to focus on “mime talking”, but it was alright because I could still catch the dialogue and actions out the corner of my eye. It was so exciting seeing a scene that I had never read about and it was an important moment for Dave's character. It just showed what Jeff was capable of. This was gonna be an awesome movie, it was certainly exceeding every expectation I had.
The 30th of October 2012, was the most memorable Halloween ever. I was shooting scenes with Chloë and Claudia Lee, in a corridor plastered in “Milliard High Science Club”, “Cheerleading try-outs..” and about a hundred fake locker dials glued onto the existing keyholes of the “British school” locker. Ashmole Academy had been Kick-Ass'd. There was a short break between takes, so I used that opportunity to give my Kick-Ass 2 another read. Chloë was standing about a metre away from me, twiddling on her iPhone, so I didn't bother saying hello. She then looked up at me, then back down, and back up again with a face full of thought, pointed and said: “You're back!” I wasn't sure what to do, wave? Go over there? I was in disbelief that she had instantly recognised who I was, without my lime green superhero get up. I decided to go over and say hello and she was keen to know how I got back in so soon. I explained that I'd been at a party dressed as Hit-Girl when I got a call: “Haha really?! That's funny!” she told me. I was holding my newly signed Kick-ass 2 book under my arm at this point and asked her if she'd be willing to sign at my favourite Hit-Girl page: “Game on motherfuckers”. She happily agreed and said to come back over at the end of the scene. To be honest that scene was harder to film than beating up bad guys. I had to make sure I was at a specific spot for when Chloë said a specific line. So it was all about timing my walk, not too slow that I get bumped from behind, not too fast that I'm in my position two lines before. I could hear other extras slightly whinging about doing it over and over again, but I didn't want it to end! I had no idea what they were fussing about, it's not everyday you're in a Hollywood film. I decided to approach Miss Moretz again after she had finished dancing and singing to Gangam Style up and down the corridor, with the Mindy “backpack” instead on her front. She also danced what looked like some sort of Tango with Clarke Duke, I had no idea what that was about.

After her 15 year old hyperness had calmed down a little, I went to get my Hit-Girl page signed. This time Claudia Lee, Ella Purnell and Tanya fear were all with her. Chloë immediately introduced who I was to the other actresses, explaining that Mark got me in and that I filmed at Pinewood. I was shocked that Chloë Moretz was just casually treating me as someone she knew. I still can't take it in. Claudia was lovely, she was asking if I had read the all the Hit-Girl comics and that she was looking forward to meeting Mark Millar in person. The 4th issue of Hit-girl actually had came out that day but I had no idea where to buy a comic in London. Again, Chloë was just extremely casual about it, directing me to a Forbidden Planet in Covent Garden. So basically, Hit-Girl had just told me where to buy Hit-Girl. I agreed to go and buy and jokingly said that she could maybe sign that one too. “of course! Bring it to me on set tomorrow!”And that is why it was the best Halloween of my life. Needless to say, I did buy the comic the next day and passing her in the corridor, she gave me a “hey!” and happily signed it, after telling me she had been at Jonathan Ross' Halloween party the night before. Again, I just couldn't help feeling so in shock at what was happening. Casual conversation with a movie star. My Kick-Ass 2 experience was coming to an end, it was my last day on set. And they certainly saved the best school scene until last. It involved about 100 extras in a cafeteria covered in American flags, Mountain Dew vending machines and a fake lunch consisting of cold chicken nuggets and corn dogs. This was another scene that Jeff Wadlow cleverly altered for the movie and it is just amazing. I cannot wait to see it on the big screen, it's one of those scenes where you walk out the cinema and say “Aw man but what about that bit with...how amazing was that?! So unexpected!”. Sitting with my cold, stale, American lunch infront me (which I was warned not to eat), I was just gazing around the room, again taking it all in. Then Claudia shouted across at me: “Look there's Brontë, Hey Brontë I got your tweet, thanks!”
It was one of those moments where someone walks into a classroom and every one in the room turns around to stop and stare at you. I couldn't care less about the fifty stares I got, my tweet of thanks to Claudia was vocally appreciated. And let me just say, it's a million times better than a simple “re-tweet” or “favourite”. Shooting went into overtime that night, as Jeff wanted to get it absolutely perfect. There were so many rehearsals as there needed to be big reactions. I was at one point told to mime “What the Fuck?!”, which for someone who doesn't drop f-bombs, I rather enjoyed it. After I heard: “Annnnnd cutttt! That's a wrap everybody, great job!”, I realised that was it over for me. I was heading back up to Scotland the next day to adjust back into reality. No more beating up the TMCs. No more chatting to my favourite movie stars. Although I was sad to go, I couldn't help but just be incredibly grateful to have lived my dream. I am so thankful to everyone who made it a reality: Daniel Smith, Jeff Wadlow, Chloë, Aaron, Chris and of course Mark Millar. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have gotten this opportunity, heck there wouldn't even be a Kick-Ass 2! All I can say is, I got lucky.

16th August 2013...





By Brontë Tierney

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