In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Colson Baker, also known as Machine Gun Kelly, revealed why he decided to drop his stage name for acting roles.
While promoting his new film, The Last Son, the star told the publication that he didn’t want to be an “inception” of person, referencing the 2010 film. Inception is about a skilled thief stealing information by entering his target’s subconscious; he offered a second chance at a new life by implanting another person’s idea into the subconscious of that said target.
“I don’t feel like being Inception in a person. Like there’s a character inside of a character inside of a character inside of a character. I’d rather it just be me playing a character in one world and then me playing a character in another world.”
He added despite not using his stage name in the acting credits, fans don’t have to choose between Baker and MGK. “That legacy has defined itself and solidified itself. I love my fans, and I don’t want to make them choose.”
In the interview, Baker also opened up about how playing characters from a young age helped him prepare for his current role as a violent outlaw named Cal in the 2021 Western.
Baker said, “I was always playing characters because I was a nomad in my childhood. I was very much lost and I found grounding in being other people, like the people that I saw on TV or the people I was listening to. I think they just combined, and it turned into being a character on screen.”
The Last Son is out now.