Paul Johansson Talks Detective Knight: Redemption, His Character’s Motivations, and Finding His Love for Acting Again

Award-winning storyteller Paul Johansson is best known for the dynamic characters and stories he’s brought to life in projects including One Tree Hill, Mad Men, The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie, and Van Helsing. His ability to transform into a role or read between the lines of a script that has made him a standout throughout his career.

This winter, he stars opposite Bruce Willis and Beau Mirchoff in the must-see film, Detective Knight: Redemption. Bruce Willis stars as Detective James Knight in this second film of the action-packed trilogy. In custody in New York, Knight finds himself in the middle of a jailbreak led by the Christmas Bomber (Paul Johansson), a brutal fanatic whose Santa Claus disciples are terrorizing the city. With the promised return of his badge in exchange for taking out the terrorists, the steely-eyed Knight doles out mercy for the just…and merciless justice for all the rest.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Paul about Detective Knight: Redemption, exploring the layers of his character, and more.

PC: Tell us about Detective Knight: Redemption and your character in the film.
Paul: It’s a great, fun genre film. It’s got all the seasonal taste. We have this big Christmas theme involved. We’ve got heists involved. We’ve got great bank robberies. It’s two powerful, opposed souls, one played by Bruce Willis, the other played by the massively talented actor, Paul Johansson. I’m kidding. [laughs] We had a blast together. I would’ve loved to have him as a partner, but since he didn’t come on as my partner, he’s going to come on as my enemy.

The film has a great vibe to it. There are a lot of callbacks to some of Bruce’s earlier films in the way that it plays out. Structurally, there’s a great payoff in the movie. Because it’s a trilogy, you get to travel with his character through these different films.

PC: You’ve brought so many dynamic characters to life on the screen. What was it about Ricky and this script in particular that drew you in?
Paul: A lot of it was that I knew the filmmakers. I’m a fan of Edward Drake (our director). I’m a big fan of the producers. Corey Large is a very dear friend of mine whom I’ve done several films with before. I also knew that Lionsgate was going to get this movie into the right places. They have access, and I knew it was going to get seen. But most of all, I’d say these types of characters don’t work that well if you play them small, so I knew I would have permission to make a big film and character. I thought that would be a lot of fun because I do play a lot of characters who don’t get to make big choices. It’s like someone allowed my wings to grow and I got to fly.

PC: Throughout the film, it’s revealed what’s led Ricky to where he is in his life, and there’s this underlying pain that motivates him to do what he’s doing. While he takes that to the extreme, it establishes the why behind his actions. As an actor, you handled that journey with so much nuance. How did you create the space for yourself to dive into that morally gray area?
Paul: That’s such a beautiful question. I’m glad you asked it because I think it’ll help people want to see this movie. The reason that question is so important is that every character needs to have that footing. I’m a single dad of an eleven-year-old boy. I raised him. I spend all of my extra minutes with him. Every ounce of love that I have in my body is for him and built up in my hopes for him. Imagine if that was all taken away from me…what would happen? I’ve thought of that life. What would I do with my life? That’s what happened to Ricky.

So I get to live that out through a character without having to experience it in real life and without having to experience pain in that way. Like you said, there are no rules for somebody who has lost everything. There’s nothing left for him to lose. What you try to do is rebuild the world that you live in because the world that you want is gone. I think what you said is really profound, and it lays a great groundwork for building this story.

PC: Edward wrote and directed this film. Is the filming experience different when the person who created this universe is also at the helm directing? What was that collaboration like?
Paul: There was no collaboration. [laughs] Ed would beat us. He would come to work and cower us into little balls of humans. We’d all be like, “No, not again, dear Edward.” Obviously, I’m kidding. [laughs]

He was the smartest person in the room. He’s brilliant. He took the camera and did a lot of creative things with it. As an actor, my hope is that when the cameras are rolling we capture the moment. A lot of times when you’re acting, you think, “It’s a wide shot. They’ll never see what I’m doing. Or it’s a post shot, so I’ve got to put it all out there now.” But Edward shot in a way that made you feel like nothing was going to be wasted. There was a real economy to the filming. There had to be because we shot this so quickly.

Creatively and collaboratively, Edward never told me no. If I ever came up with an idea, he always said, “Let’s see.” He would let me try things. With his great guidance and openness, he really allowed me to put some of my own fingerprints on this role, which made it fun. You don’t always get that. I’ve worked with a lot of directors who have it all figured out before the actor gets there. You’re like, “What am I here for?” Edward didn’t make us feel that way. He was wonderful.

PC: You’ve also written and directed in the past. How have your experiences behind the camera impacted the way that you’ve approached your work on screen and the way you collaborate with your different cast members and directors like Edward?
Paul: We should grab a coffee because I could take the whole day talking about this. We’d have a great back and forth. I can hear in your voice that you have a great love and affinity for this industry and for the work. At the end of the day, when you’re doing press, you’re sort of taking our work out and selling it. But what you’re talking about are the great questions that keep me interested in this business.

As an actor, I’ve tried to divorce myself from the outcome. As a writer and director, I’m fully involved in the outcome. But as an actor, I’m not trying to convince anybody of anything. My job is to be truthful in the moment, whatever that may be. I’ve got to fully immerse myself in that moment and commit to it regardless of where it’s going to go because I don’t always know where the scene will go. If you’re living in an organic moment, given the dialogue and blocking, you’re truthful to it. You have to trust that your instincts are going to take you there if you’ve done your homework.

As a writer and director, you have to be way more concerned with getting there in the scene or with the outcome of the scene. But as an actor, that’s the death of it. If you’re a professional athlete and you’re playing basketball, you’re constantly concerned about whether you’ll miss a shot. You can’t start over. You’ve got to stay in the moment because you’ve got to be fluid. You’ve got to keep going. You have to live in the moment and divorce yourself from the outcome completely.

PC: Outside of this project, you’ve done so much already in your career. What’s left on your bucket list? What’s next for you?
Paul: I’ve done six films this year. It’s been a big year. I’ve been working like crazy. I just got back from Bulgaria on a really terrific film, which I’ve signed a nondisclosure for so I can’t talk about it. I did a film in Detroit before that which was also fantastic. They aged me for that one as I was a dying father on my deathbed trying to reconcile with my son. I’m getting better parts.

It’s funny. After One Tree Hill, I did Mad Men. After that, I took five years where I focused on writing and putting projects together. I produced a film for Nick Cassavetes last year, God Is a Bullet, which has Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Jamie Foxx, and January Jones. It’s a great, great movie.

But I took some time off from acting because I’d been burnt out after ten years on a series. I have slowly fallen in love with it again as you can tell from this conversation. I’m more inspired, happier, and better than I’ve ever been in my life. I feel inspired to do better work.

The last scene on One Tree Hill where my character Dan Scott dies was the same day that my mother died in real life. While I was shooting that scene, I went back to my dressing room and found out my mother had died. The connection between my life and work is so profound that I know it’s part of my destiny. My mom and I were super close. We said our goodbyes. We knew she was passing. But it’s one of those things where I know that I’m intricately woven within this industry and this has to be my life.

To keep up with Paul, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Detective Knight: Redemption will be available in theaters, On Demand and digital on December 9, 2022.