Joel Kinnaman Tried Not to Speak for Two Months for Silent Night

Joel Kinnaman tried to stop talking for two months while working on his film “Silent Night.”

The actor plays a grieving father who loses his voice in a shooting that kills his son, and he has no dialogue as his character embarks on a silent revenge quest to avenge his death – so Joel decided to adopt the acting technique by refusing to speak throughout filming.

During an appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” Joel said he decided to “go all in” on this and then had to break the news to his fiancée Kelly Gale.

He added: “(I told him) ‘Listen, this is going to be hard on our relationship. I’m not going to talk during the whole shoot and I’m not going to talk to you either. So we’re not going to have any communication.’

“(She finally said) ‘This is a sacrifice I’ll make. And, you know, we’ll find a way to make it happen.'”

However, Joel admitted to breaking the rules shortly after arriving in Mexico City – where the film was being shot – and decided to call Kelly because he was feeling lonely and he said she told him: “You’re supposed to be quiet for the two months.”

He then swore off talking on the first day of filming, but that didn’t last long either. Joel added: “Then the first day of filming starts and I get in the car. Super quiet the whole way to set. And then I get in the makeup trailer and everyone’s hanging out and talking, and I’m sitting there in the makeup trailer.

“I had a very, very intense, silent drive to the set. The drive was pretty much everything, you know? It gave me enough silence for the rest of the shoot.”

“Silent Night” is released on December 1st.