Joel Kinnaman's Martial Arts Workout to Prep for 'Silent Night' | Train Like | Men's Health
Swedish actor Joel Kinnaman takes us through the workout routine that got him in shape for 'Silent Night'. Plus, the 'Suicide Squad' star shares how his approach to training changes depending on the role.
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00:00 Hey, Men's Health, this is Joel Kinnaman.
00:01 I'm gonna bring you along for a day of training.
00:04 Come on in.
00:05 (upbeat music)
00:07 So I'm here with Yoko Hamamura, dear friend.
00:16 He's also, he plays Ruiz in "Silent Night"
00:19 and absolute savage.
00:22 And we usually do a little mitts,
00:26 do some punches and kicks before we get into jujitsu.
00:29 My diet and training is pretty much dependent
00:32 on what kind of role I'm preparing for,
00:34 how I want the character to look.
00:36 So if it's a special forces guy or superhero world,
00:40 then I wanna be a little more jacked.
00:42 So then I'm eating a little more,
00:44 trying to get a lot more protein in.
00:46 And if I'm more just kind of trying to slim down
00:49 and be skinny, then it's the opposite.
00:51 So just protein and vegetables, basically.
00:54 So we're just practicing some kicks
00:59 and I was told to say what the benefits of it is.
01:02 And the benefits of that, the better the kicks are,
01:04 the more it hurts on the other person.
01:06 We're gonna have him shadow box a little bit,
01:09 have him kick the pads as I hold it up.
01:11 So, Joel, I'll have you shadow box a little bit.
01:14 Go ahead and start shadow boxing.
01:16 And then we'll have a kick when you're ready.
01:18 (punches landing)
01:18 Yes.
01:19 My goals with training are usually tied
01:21 to whatever role I'm working on at the moment.
01:23 If I'm playing some more cerebral,
01:25 even more intellectual character,
01:27 then I focus on just training jiu-jitsu
01:29 and eating less to just kind of get skinny.
01:32 Whereas if I'm doing something more in the action space,
01:35 then I usually try to hone some skills
01:38 that are good for the role,
01:39 but also building up the body a little bit.
01:42 (punches landing)
01:43 Go ahead and time.
01:43 Work.
01:45 For "Silent Night", the training was kind of varied
01:47 'cause on the one hand, I needed to get into shape
01:50 because in the movie I had a (beep) montage.
01:54 So as soon as you get a montage,
01:56 where you need to go with that.
01:57 So it was like lifting weights
01:58 and doing that kind of work.
01:59 But then we wanted to make the action sequences
02:02 really dirty and messy and frenetic.
02:04 So Jeremy and Yoko and all the other guys here,
02:06 they had me doing kind of classic stunt work.
02:09 And we also designed the fights
02:10 so that I could do the absolute majority of them.
02:13 We mixed in some jiu-jitsu also for fun,
02:16 some kickboxing and stuff like that,
02:17 but then a lot of focus on the actual stunt work.
02:20 In "Suicide Squad", it was a little different training.
02:23 I'm playing a colonel, a military special forces guy.
02:26 So doing a little bit more tactical training before that,
02:29 a lot more weapons training.
02:31 And then I also had a shirtless scene in it.
02:34 So I was also training.
02:35 I'm here with Jeremy Marinas, who is a dear friend
02:41 and one of my longtime teachers
02:44 in both martial arts and in stunts.
02:47 I think we started training like 2016.
02:50 - 2016, 15.
02:52 - 2015 for "Ultra Carbon".
02:54 And that was kind of my introduction
02:56 to taking action seriously.
02:58 But also for me, it was the big introduction
03:00 to martial arts and really taking that seriously.
03:02 And that's something that definitely changed
03:04 and benefited my life.
03:06 So we're gonna do a couple of rounds.
03:07 Pull it.
03:10 So for me, I always need to keep training
03:13 to keep my mind sane.
03:14 So regardless of what role I'm preparing for,
03:17 I'm always keeping my regimen on some kind of good level.
03:20 Like I need to train at least like four times a week.
03:23 And it's also because this business,
03:25 things can come up pretty quickly.
03:27 Something, someone falls out,
03:29 you get an opportunity to jump into something
03:31 really interesting, but you gotta be in good shape.
03:33 So that's why you gotta stay ready
03:36 so you don't have to get ready.
03:37 Nice.
03:40 See, he would never have given that to me
03:42 if you guys weren't filming.
03:43 It's weird that the guy who's getting choked
03:45 isn't breathing as hard as the guy choked.
03:47 It just happened.
03:49 All right, Miz Health, thanks for hanging out with me.
03:51 And, you know, tagging along for one of my workouts.
03:55 We did some Thai pads, some boxing pads,
03:58 and then a little jiu-jitsu.
04:00 So it's part of what I do, and thanks for tagging along.
04:03 (dramatic music)