Scott Adkins on Kicking Ass in a 100-lb Fat Suit in ‘John Wick 4’

"I put a pillow under a hoodie when I was coming up with ideas for how I would move and fight with a belly."

Scott Adkins got the biggest role of his career in John Wick: Chapter 4. Sure, his most iconic character is arguably Ukrainian MMA fighter, Bokya, from Undisputed II, but there's no denying the John Wick Universe is the biggest thing in action today. Big is also a great descriptor for his hefty mob boss character, Killa Harkan, head of the German branch of the High Table.

Luckily for fans, Adkins wasn’t asked to put on the weight for real. Instead he hoisted on a fat suit to tack on an extra 100 pounds. This allowed him to throw in a few of those athletic kicks he’s renowned for in his night club face-off with  John Wick (Keanu Reeves). In fact, there were probably a few Adkins fans who didn’t realize that it was the prolific martial arts actor under those prosthetics until he was throwing hook kicks at John Wick.

Men’s Journal spoke with the British action star about building the character with director Chad Stahelski, working with Reeves, and how he prepped for the “biggest” role of his career.

Men's Journal: How did director Chad Stahelski approach building your character in John Wick: Chapter 4?

Scott Adkins: Chad said if I showed up in the movie looking like I usually do in my films, people were going to see me coming miles away. They'd seen me have those kinds of fights before. He wanted me to show up in a way I’d never before. He wanted me to show up, have my moments, and perhaps people weren’t going to solve it was me until I started kicking John Wick’s ass a little bit. That was going to be a surprise for the audience. I always enjoy creating new and interesting characters, and that's what I got to do with Killa.

Tell us about the fat suit...was that on the table from the get-go? 

He told me flat out he wanted to put me in a fat suit. He wanted me to be like that guy from Casablanca, Signor Ferrari—a mixture between him and Sammo Hung from SPL: Sha Po Lang. I knew he was going for a mix of German and Turkish. Then I had my first body scan for the suit while I was in Los Angeles. I had a beard at the time, which I needed to try to keep because of a project. I shaved it down as close as I could so they could get the face prosthetic best.

From that time, I started to work on my German accent and getting the card tricks just right. I had a little while before I finally made my way to Germany and we really created Killa. That's when I put on the suit and the prosthetics. I’d expected to look even less like myself, to be honest, but it really just looked like it was me plus 100 or so pounds. It was a bit of a leap of faith, because we didn’t know if it was really going to come all together, but it did.

Did you adapt your training at all to play Killa?

I put a lot of focus a lot on mobility these days, especially before a project like this. Staying flexible—the whole body, not just the legs—was more important than anything else. I’m a big fan of Ben Patrick and ATG training. I love what they do with strengthening the muscles, but also lengthening the muscles. Things like the single-leg split squat. If the role requires me to be a bit bigger I'll put up the weight. But since we were using a fat suit, I didn’t need to put on anything beyond that. I have a regular free and bodyweight routine I utilize that I've picked up over the years. I like to hit the mitts twice a week, at least with my striking guy. That’s how I get my cardio in. I put a pillow under a hoodie when I was coming up with ideas for how I would move and fight with a belly.

Did you find it difficult to execute those moves while wearing the fat suit?

It definitely was challenging. I had the double chin, which meant that I wasn’t able to look left or right effectively. I didn’t have a lot of movement in my neck. The weight was also pulling my head forward. It wasn’t so bad when I first put it on at the beginning of the day or week. But between the neck not being able to move and the braces the fat suit sat on, it starts to add up. Overheating was the biggest issue. There was an air conditioning unit we could hook up to the suit, and it would pump cool air inside.

I stretched in the morning before costume. Once I got the prosthetics on though, there wasn’t too much more training. The last thing I wanted to do was get an injury. I didn’t want to pull a hammy while running around in the fat suit.

How would you describe Killa’s fighting style?

I wanted him to fight like Mike Tyson—a powerful sort of guy who had a bit of kickboxer in him. The martial arts in the John Wick films are all pretty practical. They aren’t looking for things to be too extravagant. For the moves, it was all basic, fundamental stuff I’ve done for awhile. I did a spinning hook kick that knocked him off the balcony. I did side kicks and round kicks.

There's an epic fight scene with Keanu Reeves in the club. What's it like sparring with John Wick?

We did the fight choreography on the first day. We just talked a little bit about the moves we were going to do, then started filming. Keanu has a great mind for choreography after the years he’s put in. He knows what he’s doing. Not only that but he’s a great guy. Getting to spend time with him between takes and joking around was an absolute pleasure. My first day filming the fights with Keanu, he was in the middle of filming himself, and he got up to offer me his chair. I joke that I was just there for a few days, and he had a lot more fighting to do, but that’s just the kind of guy he is.

The legendary Donnie Yen is also in that scene with you two. Is it a surreal experience?

Donnie Yen is unparalleled in his skill. He’s as good as any of his peers. He also has a great amount of filmmaking knowledge. If you consider what he’s been able to do to elevate cinema with movies like Flash Point and SPL, it’s really impressive. I loved speaking with Donnie about the golden days of those early Hong Kong movies. Back in the day they didn’t even have playback, so they weren’t entirely sure they got the shot or not. I find it incredibly impressive they were able to create what they did like that.

Any favorite scenes from John Wick: Chapter 4?

There were professional dancers in the [casino fight] scene, as well as stunt guys in these glittery outfits doing terrible dances. They needed to be there to keep the extras safe from the crazy action. I made Chad laugh during our takes of me running away. I'd make all these stupid faces as Keanu chased me. I asked Chad if he wanted me to rein it back a little bit, and he said not at all. There are so many great scenes, but I loved seeing John Wick with nunchucks.

There was a time where my scene was going to have me attacked by a dog. I was spending a lot of time working with it. That was particularly difficult because the dog doesn’t understand half or quarter speed like a stunt man. It's going full speed. The dog took me off my feet the first time we filmed.  

Did your diet change at all?

I’m always doing intermittent fasting. I try to eat pretty clean beyond that. I will say that I wanted to take advantage of being in Germany, eating all of the strudel and beer. I was excited to have a project I didn’t need to diet for. That’s pretty rare.

Killa has a few card tricks. How'd you go about learning those?

I was looking at a lot of YouTube videos, but there’s no substitute for someone being there and showing you the way. I started in Los Angeles, but I had someone I really studied with in London. He worked with me for a couple hours every day. There's one trick I do where I flick the card and catch it. That was from someone who lived close to me. I found a few people on social media, and when I'd get in the room with magicians I'd have them teach me a thing or two. I had to do a week in confinement because of the pandemic, then I had another week left to prepare. That confinement was great when it came to getting better with cards.

I know a lot of fans would like to see you appear in the John Wick universe again.

How about we go 20 years in the past and see Killa before he put on all the weight. Let’s see the origin.

John Wick: Chapter 4 is now playing in theaters.