SCREEN AFRICA EXCLUSIVE: Lt. Joe Kenda, a retired homicide detective and the star storyteller in Crime + Investigation (CI) series Homicide Hunter, talks to Screen Africa about what to expect from the show’s new season, becoming an overnight celebrity, and laying down the law – on and off set.
Homicide Hunter has a huge fan-base in South Africa – did you ever expect to become such a celebrity?
Kenda: Absolutely not. I didn’t expect the people next door to be huge fans of the show, let alone anyone in South Africa. It is a shocking thing to me that this has become as popular as it has. We’re currently filming another season with 20 episodes in it.
You seem quite comfortable in front of a camera?
Kenda: Yes. Oh yes. I’m very direct. Some people find that to be disturbing but I’m a very direct person. I’m no different on a camera than I am in person. That’s me. Turn on the camera. There’s no script, I say whatever I want to say about a case.
What is it like to watch yourself on television?
Kenda: It is a very shocking thing to see yourself on television. The first time I did, I was like, “God, that’s me.’ It was shocking. It still kind of is, because I’m not an actor, I’m not an entertainer, I’m a policeman.
In your job as a detective you were the one calling the shots, and now you have a whole production team fussing over you all the time – how has that experience been for you?
Kenda: We came to an understanding between me and all the television types. I said, “Look, here’s how this is going to work. It’s either going to work this way or it’s not going to work at all. You turn the camera on, I talk, I’m done, I leave. You take what I said and you do whatever it is you want with it but you’re not going to tell me what to say and you’re not going to tell me what to do.’ Everyone was a little shocked initially and said, “Well, you have to…’ and I said, “No. I have to die and I have to pay taxes. I don’t have to do anything else. So I’ll tell you what I’ll do.’ – This is the first time I did this – “Turn that camera on and I’ll talk to that camera for 15 minutes and if you don’t like what I say, then we’ll get into a discussion about what you want me to say.’ So I did that and they said, “No, no. That’ll be fine.’ So that’s what I do. They don’t participate in that, really they don’t. They sit there and watch.
So they let you do your thing?
Kenda: I do my thing and I do one episode in the morning and one in the afternoon when I film. I’ll sit and talk about a case for four or five hours and they will edit that no end, of course, to get pieces that they like or pieces that fit in. And how they do it is they do a transcript of what I say and they provide that to the director of the re-enactments and he uses what I say as a guide to write a script for the actors who play the re-enactment parts, so that it all fits together. Because I don’t know what I’m going to say until they turn the camera on.
Do you consider yourself a leader?
Kenda: Oh yes. To many people’s regret, but yes I am a leader. One time, one of my detectives looks at me, and he’s all distressed. He’s a new guy and he says, “I have to go home.’ I said, “Why do you have to go home?’ and he said “I want to see my wife.’ So I told him, “If I thought you needed a wife, I would have issued you one.’ Everyone looks at me like, “Oh what a monster!’ Yes I am a monster, when it comes to this I am. I explained to them, “We’re going to chase the bad guys and have a good time doing it, we’re not ever going to be hungry, we’re not ever going to be tired and we’re not ever going to go home as long as there’s something to do. And if you can’t cut that, tell me now and we’ll end our relationship and you can go do something else and we will keep doing this.’ That was the way it was – and as a result we were very successful because we were dedicated to it. It’s not a job; it has to be a mission.
What would surprise people about you?
Kenda: Well, I’m left-handed which means I’m the only one in my right mind. Now you can be impressed with the fact I’m left-handed because very famous people in history were left-handed, Emperor Charlemagne was left-handed, Alexander the Great was left-handed – before you get too excited you must understand that Jack the Ripper and the Boston Strangler were also left-handed.
What do people have to look forward to in this next season of Homicide Hunter?
Kenda: I think the cases you are going to see this next time around are a little more involved, a little more intriguing, a little more complicated, a little more graphic than they have been in the past. I think it’s incremental but I think it’s noticeable and I think you’ll find them to be more intriguing than you’ve seen before.
The new season of Homicide Hunter premiered on CI (DStv channel 170) on 24 April and continues on Fridays at 21h00.
