Michael Clarke Duncan Remembered in His Final Role by Producer Jamie Kennedy

Michael Clarke Duncan’s co-stars remembered the late actor as “lovely,” “sweet” and a “legend” at the Hollywood premiere of his final film, A Resurrection.

“He was a big-hearted, sweet man,” Jamie Kennedy told The Hollywood Reporter at the event Tuesday night at ArcLight Cinemas.

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Added Mischa Barton: “The nicest guy … his energy on set was lovely. He was always joking around, and he made me comfortable.”

Duncan plays the school principal in the horror film about a murdered student who rises from the dead to seek revenge against his killers. The actor, an Oscar nominee for The Green Mile, died in September at age 54 after previously being hospitalized for a myocardial infarction, from which he never fully recovered.

J. Michael Trautmann, who plays a disturbed boy mourning his brother’s death in the film, told THR that on set he connected most with Duncan, noting that the late actor was humble and taught him patience.

“He is a living, walking, legend. … It was fantastic to work with him, he is surely missed,” Trautmann said.

Kennedy produced the film through his production company, Jamie Kennedy Entertainment. The comedic actor strutted his stuff down the red carpet giving his best Zoolander look as he excitedly pointed to his production company logo on the backdrop of the carpet. “I wanted to start making my own stuff, and I’m really excited because this is our first one,” Kennedy said.

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Kennedy told THR that casting for the film became a little creepy when a group of local Pittsburgh Wiccans, a religious group who identify themselves as modern-day witches, got upset that the production cast an actress in the role of the witch instead of one of them. Kennedy gave a humorous, heartfelt proclamation that though the Wiccans misunderstood they were not in need of real witches, he loved the Wiccan community.

Kennedy will soon be debuting a reality-based courtroom show, Kennedy’s Court, where he is disguised as a judge overseeing real court cases. “I was not recognized as the judge,” Kennedy said. “In one case I was a black man, in another one I was an old Jewish lady, and in a third I was a gay man.”

Barton, who plays the role of a high school guidance counselor, joked to THR that she enjoyed her role in the film because she is naturally bossy. Barton, best known for her starring role on the hit TV series The OC, said that being involved in the film drove her to watch classic horror films Rosemary’s Baby and Amityville Horror. 

E-mail: Naja.Hill@thr.com
Twitter: @najahill