'RoboCop' Actor's X-Rated Death Wasn't Gory Enough For Paul Verhoeven

By Ryan Parker

It was a visit to the cafeteria over lunch where the special effects crew on RoboCop found what they needed to make one of the most violent deaths in the 1987 sci-fi classic as gruesome as director Paul Verhoeven imagined. 

The estimated 200 blood squibs (small one-way charges) strapped onto then-26-year-old Kevin Page to make it appear his character, Omni Consumer Products (OCP) junior executive Mr. Kinney, was being decimated by the tremendous firepower of the enormous robot police officer ED-209 weren't enough for the director with eccentric taste. 

The inventive solution? The lunch special: Spaghetti squash.

Now, as the classic Orion picture turns 30 (July 17), Page granted The Hollywood Reporter an interview to discuss how he landed the role of Mr. Kinney, what it was like to work with iconic actors Ronny Cox and the late Miguel Ferrer and the wild tale behind a death that was so graphic it required a substantial cut to secure an R rating. 

"For three days, all they did was load me up with squibs," Page told THR. 

The accomplished actor landed his first ever speaking role as Mr. Kinney in RoboCop while a student at Southern Methodist University. Thrilled to have the opportunity, the theatrically trained Page said he knew his character was going to be killed in short order. That much was on the page. But he had no idea it was going to be so savage.

"It was a film script, so the stage directions were minimal," said Page, who has since appeared in numerous other films and TV shows, including Seinfeld, Friday Night Lights and Dallas.

For a few days, Page and the other actors shot on location in a Dallas office, filming an exposition that featured Mr. Kinney being mercilessly gunned down  — all done with a full-size ED-209 in the room, which was built by special effects wizard Phil Tippett.

Read the full story.

Other alumni stories are available in the SMU Magazine.