Interview: Kurt Russell from The Hateful Eight

Absolute legend alert.

Quentin Tarantino's new movie, The Hateful Eight, is perhaps the filmmaker's bloodiest, ballsiest film yet.

No wonder he called Kurt Russell.

The legendary action hero (of Escape From New York, Big Trouble in Little China and The Thing fame) last worked with QT in his 2007 Grindhouse flick Death Proof. He reunites with Quentin and joins a bunch of Tarantino favourites - like Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Madsen, Tim Roth and Walton Goggins - for this intimate chamber piece, which one day might receive a second life as a staged theatrical production.

If only they can work out how to replicate all the gore and viscera on Broadway.

Russell plays John "The Hangman" Ruth, a bounty hunter transporting the dangerous prisoner Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) across America's west shortly after the Civil War. When a blizzard strikes, he takes up residency at Minnie's Haberdashery, alongside six further hateful characters. The blood begins to flow almost immediately.

We caught up with Kurt while he's in town promoting the flick alongside Quentin Tarantino and co-star Samuel L. Jackson. In our chat, he tells us how he'd be open to playing John Ruth on stage, and, hypothetically, would even like to see the story from the perspective of Jennifer Jason Leigh's character Daisy.

He also, most importantly, reveals how exactly he grew and groomed that mighty moustache; the kind that says, "I'm a big G**damn deal and I'm coming your way." Take notes. The man knows of what he speaks.

Check out our review of The Hateful Eight. We liked it.

The Hateful Eight’s 70mm theatrical roadshow is now showing in select cinemas. A slightly shorter version of the picture, projected digitally, will be released widely in Australia on January 19.