Fact: Kane Hodder is the only individual to play Jason Voorhees in more than one film of the Friday the 13th Film Series.
Kane first put on the hockey mask in Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood in 1988 and hung it up after appearing in the futuristic movie, Jason X in 2001. While he was offered to play the role again in Freddy vs. Jason, he declined due to the impact that the stunts from various movies had caused him over the years.
How he got to play in the movie Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood came as a result of his prior stunt work in the movie ‘Prison‘ with Viggo Mortenson. Originally, they had a guy set to play a character that would shoot out of the ground all decayed and such (with prosthetics). For whatever reason, this individual was unable to play the part, and reasonably the director looked around for whomever else could. Kane raised his hand. He put on the prosthetics and really worked the role with the addition of worms, and stuff like that. Because his performance in make-up and character went so well, John Buechler wanted Kane to play the new Friday the 13th movie as Jason. This movie was much more labor intensive than the other Jason movies. After that, every installment they kept asking Kane to play the role.
After so many stunts, and various Jason roles, Kane suffered back problems. He also suffered from problems with his knees and has burn scars over 50% of his body from a 1970s film stunt gone wrong. Passionate about his role, he has the word, “Kill!” tattooed on the inside of his lower lip.
Despite being one of film’s most iconic killers, Kane is a down to earth man who spends his free time working with children in burn hospitals and is always glad to meet fans and pose with them, even grabbing them by the throat and raising them up in the classic Jason death grip. As a stuntman, he now teachers younger individuals how to become a stuntman, with his only experience coming from all the breath of work he has had. Kane has never studied stunt work, he has simply lived it.
Kane Hodder has also written a book about his own work as a stuntman and actor called, “Unmasked : True Life Story Of The World’s Most Prolific Cinematic Killer.” More importantly, many people don’t know that Kane also played Freddy Kreuger and Leatherface. For instance, when Freddy was falling down into hell in “Jason goes to hell,” his arm is in Freddy fingers as his hand comes out of the ground. Also, Kane doubles as Leatherface in the Chainsaw series.
