The case for Marvel's next Logan? Daniel MacPherson as Wolverine - AJ Buckley Show

WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.031 --> 00:00:29.377
I'm so excited to talk about this. I am doing a collaboration on lowers with Francis Defense. It will say fire safe, eat a bag of dicks, and they'll have an engraving of the AJ Buckley show. Totally kidding. Unless you're serious. Probably the sickest lowers I've ever seen. We are going to be putting up a link to the website for a pre-order. It's only going to run for one week. It's a very limited run. So get it while you can. These are going to go fast. It is the coolest lower you will ever see. Fire safe.
2
00:00:29.765 --> 00:00:50.369
eat a bag of dicks from Francis Defense and AJ Buckley show. But Russell rang. So listen, man, it's, I'll back you. You know, it's, it's your, it's your turn. And we'll do this together. And, and so I've been by his side and then I've been opposite him. Hold on a second. You have Russell Crowe. He's like, that just gave me goosebumps, bud. If Russell Crowe going, I will back you.
3
00:00:52.006 --> 00:01:18.989
Yeah. Bro. Yeah. Fuck. Yeah. Into a fight movie. Where you're the fucking lead. He's like, I'm going to back you. It's your turn. That is awesome. All right. Welcome back to another episode of the A.J. Buckley Show. My next guest, he's just a handsome fella. Like, what is up with the Aussies? You know? They're just, you know, there are a couple of studs out there. The Irish...
4
00:01:19.107 --> 00:01:46.242
Australia got all the Irish criminals. And you definitely can spot the Irish in Australia anytime you go over there because they are white and red and arrested. That's just the way it is. Or happy and arrested. Something like that. That's what somebody told me when I was there. They're like, oh, the Irish, we got all the criminals. But I will tell you this. This guy's a stud. Absolute stud. And just a great human being. And there's certain people out there that...
5
00:01:46.242 --> 00:02:10.289
have a little spark in him have a little little something something a little je ne sais quoi he's an incredibly talented actor and i feel this momentum for this movie beast that's about to come out that he stars in is gonna be a game changer when i watched that trailer it it made me feel like i was a kid again watching one of those those movies that has a throwback feel to it
6
00:02:10.289 --> 00:02:27.772
and uh hearing his story the journey that he's been on and we've been parallel for so many years we've actually never met in person it's always been through dms he's lit into my dms but just a good human being fan and one of those dudes that you can just absolutely deliver performance after performance
7
00:02:27.772 --> 00:02:54.518
I'm just happy for him. I could not be more happy for this guy. And I'm telling you right now, this movie, The Beast, is going to be one of those movies that you'll want to go with your kids, your wife, you'll watch over and over. I haven't seen it yet, but I can just feel it. And it's going to do great things for this guy. And I'm telling you right now, if someone's listening that has a choice, please make him the next Wolverine. He's like, he's a stud. Please welcome to The AJ Buckley Show, Daniel McPherson.
8
00:02:55.565 --> 00:03:09.352
the AJ Buckley show don't you know he's totally kidding unless you're serious let's get
9
00:03:18.430 --> 00:03:40.553
So are you in Australia right now or where are you at? No, I'm in LA. I'm in LA. I'm at the top of Mandeville Canyon, actually. My buddy's in my buddy's library. I look way smarter than I am, but it's nice up there. Isn't it crazy when you go into a library because I'm not much of a reader, only thank God for audiobooks. Audiobooks I love, but I was never with my dyslexia and just I couldn't fucking. It always puts me to sleep.
10
00:03:40.553 --> 00:04:05.123
But that's, but that's a dyslexia thing, right? I was having this conversation with a, with a bunch of parents and they're like, oh, our daughter wants to be an actress, but, but we've just found out, you know, she's 11 or something or 12 and she found out that she's severely dyslexic. And it's like, most of my good buddies who are all great actors are like, don't, don't worry about that. Like it's, it's, it's, it goes part and parcel with so many creatives, you know?
11
00:04:05.275 --> 00:04:28.563
Yeah, it's a crazy thing. It took me forever to figure, like, I was considered, like, a problem in school because I couldn't, I wasn't, the regular way of how they taught back, especially back then, they, he's all right. Just let him wander around. We'll get to come for one second. My teachers would, you know, because, and the way that my brain worked was when I was learning something.
12
00:04:28.934 --> 00:04:48.712
I would have to move around. I'd have to get up and walk. I'd get excited about things. So the teachers automatically thought that I was being a problem. I just couldn't sit still. If I was into it, I'd want to talk about it, but then I'd get up and they're like, sit down. And then I couldn't, like, when I say from all of high school, I didn't read open one book.
13
00:04:49.538 --> 00:05:14.817
Like I just, like, I don't know how I got through it by the grace of God. But then I kind of figured out if something's read to me and I hear it, I'm good. So every script. Do you have a visual memory? Yeah. So when you hear it, you picture it, then you can learn that way? Yeah. So like if you were to read me, if I was studying, I'd have my lines read out like two or three times and I'd have it.
14
00:05:14.969 --> 00:05:41.783
So once it's read out loud, and once I can figure out in the scene what sort of my flight path is, where I'm gonna go, and what sort of the idea of the scene. But I mean, for the longest time, you know, there's a great app called Scriptation. You heard that? I love Scriptation. Yeah, so it's great, because it can read out the stuff. And then, but it's yeah, technology nowadays, it's so much better. But dyslexia, yeah, it was, if anything for me, it made me really just, once I figured it out,
15
00:05:41.969 --> 00:06:11.905
it made me just work harder at it. And then it allowed me to, I don't know, kind of, because I had to be more prepared in a sense that it allowed me to be more free on set. So you're dyslexic then too, yeah? No, no, I'm the opposite. I'm the opposite. You're just special. You're just special. I'm highly visual. I can look at things on a page. But the big giveaway for a lot of my really close buddies who are also some of the best actors I know
16
00:06:12.209 --> 00:06:35.682
Yeah. It was when someone, when you're on a show and someone would rush in and go, Hey, here's the rewrites. Um, can we just do a quick cold read of these three pages? And they go, uh, uh, uh, no, no, I can't do that. But you know, what, what a great lesson in going, it's, it's not about, sometimes it's not about that. Like if you can tell them what it's about, tell them what they're doing, tell them what they want and let them fly free. Yeah.
17
00:06:35.682 --> 00:06:59.341
You know, there's some of the greatest creatives and imaginations that I've ever worked with, but you want them to look at a chunk of dialogue, read it quickly and spout it out naturally. Um, which is often what I do sometimes when I'm learning stuff and it gets you caught into it like this. I find it paints me into a corner and, and, and it's, there's lessons in not learning things that way.
18
00:07:03.087 --> 00:07:23.185
What's with the internet? Every day it's losing its mind again. Each week there's a new panic. Something's coming. Something's happening. Everybody's freaking out. Literally freaking out. Nobody's getting any sleep except this guy. Because I got my ghost bed and I got my zero gravity. Every time I hit that button, not a care to the world. I'm gone. Okay?
19
00:07:23.185 --> 00:07:47.333
I don't care if the world ends at 3 a.m. When I wake up at 7, if it's still here, I'll deal with it then. Go to ghostbed.com forward slash Buckley, code word Buckley, B-U-C-K-L-E-Y. Man, I came from a soap background. I started out in a soap background. So I started out on Neighbors back in Australia 25, 30 years ago, man. You know, we've done 15 scenes a day. So instead of going to drama school, I was learning music.
20
00:07:47.857 --> 00:08:14.030
three or four or five page scenes, regurgitating them, trying to say them naturally, then instantly forgetting them and picking up the next one. And, you know, I think I've had to unpick that way of learning and unpick that way of acting for many years after to try and rebuild it from the ground up, you know? Did you find it strange when you would have scenes where there's the most...
21
00:08:15.110 --> 00:08:38.228
interesting parts of the character are done in silence and where you're really the audience is learning about when there's nothing being said was that uncomfortable for you like really like fuck i'm what am i because that that sort of pace of like and there's everybody's on top of their lines and really moving but then when it's like when you have the ability to slow it down and there's nothing but there's so much happening but there's nothing it was that was that difficult
22
00:08:38.228 --> 00:09:07.928
Yeah, we were taught, we were educated, you know, this started at 17 years old when I started that pace and energy is what it's about. And not only was it pace and energy within the scene, it was pace and energy in the schedule and to make our days. And we were, you know, when you're on Neighbours, you're shooting five 28-minute episodes per week, you know, in five days. So that schedule was incredible. So when I finally understood what acting was and you're in a scene and there's, you know,
23
00:09:07.928 --> 00:09:18.222
two people in a kitchen dancing around each other because they're avoiding the fact that one of them's been caught cheating or something. And the entire audience is
24
00:09:18.847 --> 00:09:46.589
waiting for who's going to do what and who's going to say what and you're like that's when i discovered what acting was about yeah and the pad the power of behavior and and that that took me years and even you know even now we've you know been fortunate enough to do tv do musical theater do theater and then more recently more particularly the last five years it's been mostly film film and theater but but then to really have
25
00:09:46.808 --> 00:10:10.501
the confidence and faith in your own ability to stand on a set and let a camera come to you and let an audience come to you and trust that what you're doing is deserving of all that coming your way and just trusting that you never have to push it, you never have to show it, you never have to kind of
26
00:10:10.501 --> 00:10:20.727
get on the front foot with it. That's been one of the most joyous and joyful and satisfying evolutions in my craft. And that's
27
00:10:21.132 --> 00:10:47.575
That's, you know, 28 years in, man, you know? Yeah. Sometimes I'm a slow learner. Yeah, we're kind of, we've been, it's so crazy. We've actually never met in person, but we've been just mates over Instagram. Yeah. Our passive, like, we have so many friends in common. Yeah. And even when I was over in Australia, I like, your name, like, you was always, there was always, because I was- You were on my beach.
28
00:10:47.575 --> 00:11:05.834
Yeah. Like I, like I'd seen who you were and I knew who you were and I knew your career. And then like, I saw some photos, like he was, he was on my beach. That's it. And I I've been back living on that beach back in Cronulla beach, um, Cronulla beach, man. I moved back at 17. I moved back at 42 to raise my son, you know, after the pandemic.
29
00:11:05.834 --> 00:11:30.674
to raise my boy on that beach that I grew up on. And now I go between Cronulla and LA. But you know, that's, that's the year, man. Then obviously when I was doing strike back, you guys, you guys were just starting out the SEAL team and that was very, very similar, you know, cut from the same cloth and we were training a lot of the same people and doing a lot of the same sort of, you know, military and tactical stuff. And so, you know, we were in Europe. Kevin Libby, that's where we connect. You connected me to Kevin Libby, man.
30
00:11:30.674 --> 00:11:57.320
Yeah, you did the best. Yeah, I need the best. I love it. Kevin Libby changed my life. I was so that was after season one of Strike Back. Let's talk about Born of Discipline. Go to bornofdiscipline.com and get yourself some merch. The staple merch of the AJ Buckley show. It's something that I really believe in. It starts with spirit. Okay. Then it's the mind. Then it's the body.
31
00:11:57.742 --> 00:12:21.687
Spirit leads, get your mind right, body will transform. This is the ethos of bornofdiscipline.com. And I understood what the workload was as you would with SEAL Team and everything you do, but the physicality of that and the schedule. And I came back after season one, I was like, I literally can't train any harder for this job.
32
00:12:21.687 --> 00:12:50.138
So what can I do to continue to improve, but I have no output left? And it was like, fix your diet. It's like, cool. So I ended up, once you hooked me up with Kevin Libby, nutritionist and dietitian here in Los Angeles, and Kevin enabled me through fixing my diet that I could train less, have better results, have more energy on set. And man, I'm grateful, bro. You changed my life. And that was...
33
00:12:50.138 --> 00:13:16.109
2017 that's coming up 10 years man yeah because it was right when i started sealed and i forget we were going back and forth about something because i think i reached i saw something a stripe back or something and i was like dude big fan of yours and we started going back and then we connected the australian thing and did that and i and i remember having a conversation about i was like and i actually just saw an interview with uh um david boriannis the other day and he was talking about seal team and he said you know
34
00:13:16.109 --> 00:13:28.175
During season one, like we get back to the hotel, even on the pilot and like every part of my body and he was saying the same thing just was so sore.
35
00:13:28.546 --> 00:13:57.098
And we only done like 10 seconds of the 45 second action scene that we were doing. And we were like, I was sore in places I'd never been sore before. And we had to make this look like, you know, holding the 249 in a prone position and like not be shaking. Like as if it was super easy. It's like a 40 pound gun with fully loaded. And then the movement and then just the repetition. And it was so great because I'm sure you're the same way. The excitement of just like we're getting paid to do this.
36
00:13:57.098 --> 00:14:16.943
You know, but prior to this, I'd been in a fucking lab for nine years on CSI New York and I never saw the sunshine and now I'm fucking out the thing. I'm like, fuck, this is nuts. And also then you're taking on the responsibility of playing those characters and representing those real people, representing those characters.
37
00:14:16.943 --> 00:14:32.215
combat and military active duty guys and girls and veterans. And so there's a great amount of responsibility that comes with that. You can't fake that. And particularly a strike back had such a military. You guys crushed it.
38
00:14:32.215 --> 00:15:00.582
Thank you, man. And we inhabited that. We inherited that from Phil and Sully and the guys that went before us. So we had a great template to draw from. But we had a great crowd base and fan base all around the world, but particularly in the U.S. and particularly in the veteran community, in the military community. And so we were held to a really high standard, not only the standard that had been set by the guys that went before us, but by the real men and women. You guys were Delta guys, right? You guys were...
39
00:15:00.582 --> 00:15:20.140
I was, I was actually Marsoc. I'd really, I'd come from Marsoc and a JSOC and then, and then Warren had come from British SAS. And, um, you know, so we were kind of this American English thing, but he was English. I was Australian and it was all, it was all, it was a little bit of a great area, man. He's a solid actor, that guy. He's great. Maze Deslantic. Maze Deslantic.
40
00:15:20.410 --> 00:15:40.154
Is he really? So yeah, man. So Warren is a brilliant actor. He's a brilliant actor. Well, we were, we were doing the, uh, we were doing the audition chemistry read. So they flew, you know, half a dozen guys for my role, half a dozen guys for his role. And they flew us all out to London and a couple of other roles. So it was like one big kind of acting workshop and Warren walked in and
41
00:15:40.154 --> 00:15:55.493
And I did a double tape because he was in Luther with Idris Elba for a couple of years, for three years. And yeah, mate, that was one of my favorite shows. And I did a double tape. Oh my God, that's for going from Luther. And I like started having a bit of a fanboy moment of, oh shit.
42
00:15:56.067 --> 00:16:18.832
And then we started, after every day of this workshop, this casting workshop, we'd all go to the pub in London and sit down and chill out and have some food and chat because everyone was from all around the world. And I got to know him really well. And then suddenly every day there's a few less people. And he was the first guy to call me. About a month later, I was on a flight back from Chicago. I was filming a show in Chicago.
43
00:16:18.832 --> 00:16:34.964
And I landed and the first call was a FaceTime from Warren Brown. I was like, that's the guy, that's the guy from Luther. And he's like, hey, mate, you heard the news. Hey, mate, you heard the news. He's like, no, mate, what news? Mate, we've got a fucking job, mate. Come on.
44
00:16:34.964 --> 00:17:02.892
yeah man it's all he knew before you and called you he knew before i did he says i had all these voicemails and he was the first one i want to turn my phone on so um so that we we became as you do we became instant best buddies and and to this day remain you know he's one of my best mates it's so crazy that the whole screen the screen test process and the mix and match and and now being like on and you're the same like be on the other side of the camera and like just seeing what it
45
00:17:02.892 --> 00:17:18.451
what it boils down to how much is out of your control i mean i i don't know if i ever told you a story but i don't know if i i might have told it on here or whatever but so there was a series called roswell um that was on american tv david nutter was the director
46
00:17:18.940 --> 00:17:46.666
And I'd known David Nutter because I just did a movie with him and he'd actually told me to move down to Los Angeles. I was staying with him and his family and I ended up going, I'm testing for it. And so they have Jason Bear and Brendan Fair as one set of brothers. And they have myself and Heath Ledger as the other brothers, okay? And so Heath and I, Heath had just done 10 Things I Hate About You, right? He has his long hair, he's barefoot. Like, who is this guy?
47
00:17:46.666 --> 00:18:10.696
Right. So him and I are being paired off as brothers with scenes together. And then they and they're going back and forth. And I'll never forget this. I was staying at Nutter's house. And you go down to the end and I could hear the head of whatever studio it was saying to Nutter because Nutter was like, this kid's a star, this kid's a star. And the head of the studio is like, I don't know what you see in him. We're going to go the other way.
48
00:18:10.696 --> 00:18:38.692
and it was just like there's i will never forget because i there was something about that guy i'm sure that community guys all but he had this like he was barefoot like ripped t-shirt he had a skateboard in his hand and i was like this dude doesn't give two and he had his video camera and he was like having the time of his life and he just walked in and just owned the room i was like i just i remember doing a scene with him the first time i stopped because i was like i didn't i was like so fascinated by what he was doing i was like
49
00:18:39.012 --> 00:19:07.075
he's beautiful. Like I was just like, you know, as a heterosexual man, I looked at it was like, what a jawline. I was like, what a step he just made this charisma about him that a presence and just owned it. And I was like, this guy's got it for sure, like in the bag. And it's crazy how the studio is like, it's not him. But thank God, because he would have never gone on the journey that he Oh, man, totally, totally, totally. I mean, he was, yeah, we were of the same age, we're of the same era. Yeah, he was
50
00:19:07.075 --> 00:19:24.457
Yeah, as he proved, he was light years ahead of everybody. And Heath was an artist in his own soul long before I even knew what an artist was. Me too. I didn't know what it was. No, no. And it was in, it was wide open and it was deep.
51
00:19:24.457 --> 00:19:47.609
You know, I only had limited experience with him, but I obviously watched him and I watched him come through all the TV shows in Australia. And then I watched him be the first guy on the ground here. And I was over in London. So I'd left Australia to go to London and he was here. He was, he was, you know, I think it was just after 10 things. It was before the Patriot with Mel Gibson and he was kind of having his thing, but, but he is just amazing.
52
00:19:47.609 --> 00:20:04.163
just extraordinary depth of soul and artistry. And the one moment I have, and I don't know, Heath, and people have many moments of ownership over his memory, but the one that I remember that I just hold with me in my heart a little bit is that...
53
00:20:04.163 --> 00:20:20.735
We were on Bondi beach on must've been December 27th or something like right after Christmas. I was working in London on a show. Um, and I knew that Heath was working on in America cause it was all over the news and all over the magazines and whatnot.
54
00:20:21.123 --> 00:20:42.773
And you go down to North Bondi and you can stand on the rocks and you can jump in. Oh, yeah. And it was one of those days where it's crystal clear, super hot. Bondi's packed. The water is amazing. You know, it's just perfect and idyllic. And summer, that summer energy, that Christmas and festive energy. And I look over and I'm about to dive into the water. And the guy next to me is Heath Ledger.
55
00:20:42.773 --> 00:21:05.133
And I'm like, oh, hey, man. How am I, man? And we dive in at the same time and we both come up. And I don't know if you've been in London in a London winter, but London in December is horrific. And I just got home like four days before. And you come up and like the relief and the look and the salt and it feels like home and the sun. And I look over and there's this heat major next to me with this massive grin. He's like...
56
00:21:05.470 --> 00:21:23.881
How good's this man? I was like, oh, how good's this bro? And we swam in, you know, the same when we kind of got up and we kind of looked at each other and cheers man, have a good day. Yeah, you too bro. And off he went and it was just sunshine, perfect Australiana. And look, he may or may not even know who I was, but we had a bit of a sort of a chat and a nod, but like.
57
00:21:23.881 --> 00:21:50.105
Just a couple of dudes back in Sydney over Christmas. And so that was a little, I saw him at a sunshiny moment that was a really special moment in my life as well. So big soul, man. Big soul. It's crazy too. Yeah. And that's the word I think I'm looking for. It's like, you know, a guy at that age who just knew like an old soul, he just knew who he was and he was so honest in his dreams.
58
00:21:51.067 --> 00:22:13.190
how he walked into the room. I remember I was so caught up in what are they gonna think of me, what should I do to impress them? And I remember being in awe of like, he gave zero fucks. He just would walk in and be himself. And that was like, I was like 21 years old and I had no clue. And he just had this, and I don't think he consciously did that. I think he just was who he was.
59
00:22:13.190 --> 00:22:34.368
And I'm only now after like having three kids and, and like, I'm, I'm kind of just figured out who I am over the last little bit. I'm still figuring it out. But like, I feel like I'm hitting my stride for the very first time in my life. Oh, this is who I am. This is what I represent. And I can hold true. But I didn't for years. I fucking bullshitted my way through the whole fucking thing.
60
00:22:34.368 --> 00:23:01.992
You know, but it's 100% exactly the same. Mate, I literally, I've been saying the same thing in those same sentences to people only in the last, you know, two years, you know, whereas, whereas, you know, and, and you said something too, that, that kind of, that I want them to like me. I want to impress them. I want them to show I'm a good actor. You throw all that out the window and you go in and you're, you're fearless. Like some people like Heath were able to do from the very beginning. You're like, oh, yeah.
61
00:23:01.992 --> 00:23:24.284
Even now, you're not 45. I go, shit, I should do more of that. Did you feel fatherhood brought a lot out of you? Oh, 100%. You know, when I, so my son was born on the 1st of December, 2019. Are you? 1st of December? Yeah. My dad passed away on the 1st of December.
62
00:23:25.330 --> 00:23:54.575
Wow. Of the 2011, but December 1st is just like- Wow, so first of December. Yeah, yeah. It's a powerful day. It was the first day of summer in Australia. So the Southern Hemisphere. So I thought my little ray of sunshine turned up on the first day of summer. Isn't it creepy in a dad? Jason, you better answer. Call him back again. We're calling, calling again. Jason, I'm calling again. I'm calling Jason who's the owner of Purex. You better answer. It's like a very important person, but I'm his number one client.
63
00:23:54.693 --> 00:24:16.242
All right, Jason, look, I'm doing a commercial right now for Purex, and since you're one of the owners of it, I wanted you to say something. Jason, next time I call you, FaceTime you 17 times in a row. Pick up, it means I'm doing the podcast. It's tied up right now, call you back. I'll call you right after this. Oh, he's doing a podcast. Oh, he's doing a podcast. Jason's doing the podcast. He's not doing the 80-bucky show.
64
00:24:16.242 --> 00:24:44.018
I'm trying to promote, I'm really recording an ad for you right now, and I want to get the owner of Purex on the phone to talk about what a great company it is. Purex is really unique because we're taking the white glove customer, the actors, the elite athletes that have always had access to some of the best medications in the world, best treatment programs, implementation, coaching. We've made it available to the masses. Yeah.
65
00:24:44.018 --> 00:24:59.645
All right, Jason, thank you so much. Thanks for being a sponsor of the show. Make sure you go to www.purerx.co. Go do it now, I promise you. By summertime, you're going to be so shredded. You're going to be wearing a Speedo, and that package of yours is going to be looking glorious.
66
00:25:00.657 --> 00:25:27.353
So I had wrapped three years of Strike Back four weeks before. So I'd come out of a year in Budapest, a year in Malaysia, and the last year was a year in Croatia and Zagreb. Oh, Zagreb is the best. And my wife, oh, it was incredible. Croatia was incredible. And of all the places I've been and worked and traveled around, that was the one I nearly...
67
00:25:27.353 --> 00:25:51.080
I nearly was like, that's, that's, I'm going to get a place there. That's my life split. All that dimension. We would go to Havar every, every weekend. That little party island that they had out there with the DJ. So, so, so the first person we met, the first person Warren and I met in Zagreb was the DJ, the Dutch DJ, who would go down and play that party every Saturday night through summer.
68
00:25:51.080 --> 00:26:07.432
So we, yeah, we had a, we had a summer. We had quite a summer. I took some random ecstasy from somebody there and I didn't know what it was. And I'd never done it before. And all I know is I could have been talking to a tree, but everybody I talked to was the greatest conversation I ever had in my life. And I was like, blah, blah, blah, blah. It was just like.
69
00:26:07.432 --> 00:26:31.343
I was like, my buddy's like, what did you take? I'm like, I don't know. So my girl was like, hey, you guys, we're taking this. I was like, all right, cool. I'm like, what is this? After I swallowed it, they're like, what's going to happen? It was like the closest thing to like techno Woodstock. Like it was an island. You know, I remember we'd get boats home with the guy, the manager, who's still a really good buddy of mine, his wife, Luca and his partner. And I've just had a baby. But we're like.
70
00:26:31.343 --> 00:26:46.379
You know, they'd be like, okay, we're on the 6am boat home. Well, yeah, cool. And we get this boat home and the sun's coming up over Havar. And you're like, I mean, the thing doesn't start till midnight, you know? So you go out there all day, you come home, you have dinner, you have a nana nap or a siesta or whatever. Yeah.
71
00:26:46.379 --> 00:27:07.979
and then you you're out there at midnight it was that was that was pretty they do it pretty well over there i fell in love with yeah and also just like a simple life like the yeah the you know the seafood and the what i mean i've traveled the world and we talk about you know the water at bondi and the water in australia but that water there in the adriatic and particularly at have some of the most amazing salt water i've i think it's my favorite water in the world
72
00:27:07.979 --> 00:27:37.156
You know, I travel the world to go jump back in there. I was backpacking at the time. I'd broken up with a girl and I flew to Italy because I thought that was a good idea, but everything was so romantic and love in a morning. I'm like, this is fucking terrible. My buddy's like, I'd gone on my own and my buddy JT was like, where are you? And I was like in Venice. He goes, stay there. I'm flying to come and get you. I'm worried about you. So he hops on a plane, shows up and he's backpacked all through Europe. He goes, we're taking a boat across to Croatia. We're going to backpack our way down.
73
00:27:37.156 --> 00:28:03.616
So we're just stopping off things. And Havar was like our split was our first or second stop. And we had plans to go to like all along thing. And we ended up staying in Havar for like two weeks. And like became really good friends with this family we stayed at. Like they had this little boy named Spider. It was his nickname. And like we were like helping with the house. And like we came like we'd have that grappa or whatever that drink every night. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
74
00:28:03.616 --> 00:28:33.569
Yeah, Vavagia. And, you know, just like the people were just so lovely. And it was just, you couldn't beat this. And then the other side of the island there was like all the lavender fields. It's beautiful. My girl and I went to, we had to go to a wedding in Italy in 2024. And I hadn't been back to Europe for a little while and been busy. And she's like, okay, we've got a week in the wedding. And then what are we doing? We should go to Europe. We go to Italy. We go to France. We're flying straight across the Adriatic and we're going to Havar. She's like, what?
75
00:28:33.569 --> 00:28:54.713
So we did a week in Italy and then we literally jumped in a plane over to Split and we went out to Hava for a week and it was just as good as it was ever before. I mean, a little bit different now. Croatia's joined the Euro and the EU and everything a little bit more expensive because part of that joy back then was like, it was so cheap. It was so relaxed. It was great, man. I loved it. I loved it.
76
00:28:54.713 --> 00:29:07.589
That's crazy. But my son was born just right after that. So I came home straight after a year in Croatia and, uh, and my son was born as I was still recovering from three years on strike back. You know, we, you know, we, you know, we, you get any injuries from it.
77
00:29:08.635 --> 00:29:35.770
um strike back i was pretty good oh no that's a lie that final season i tore my right quad in two places yeah uh and they're about you know uh one was a one inch tear one was a sort of a two inch tear and and i remember they you know the joys of eastern europe they took me to this doctor and the doctor was like do you get drug tested i was like no it goes great i've got some stuff for you and they gave us this this russian uh this russian
78
00:29:35.770 --> 00:29:55.362
anti-inflammatory drug. It was called active vegan and it goes into the shot, into the tear. And it causes the thing. I got that same thing in Serbia. So yeah. So it causes the muscles to contract for like five minutes and it takes you six, you six week recovery down to two weeks.
79
00:29:55.362 --> 00:30:20.827
So I had like a bunch of these shots and two weeks later, they're like, great. Are you ready to run? I said, yeah, I feel really good. So I jumped out of the car, you know, fucking door open, run down the street, bang, other quad, two places, same thing. So I tore both my quads in that final year, like the third year of Strike Back, tore both my quads, one after the other. And that was...
80
00:30:21.147 --> 00:30:27.104
That was when my body was like, it's ready to go. You had some fight scene, I remember, and it was with this, like...
81
00:30:27.391 --> 00:30:51.387
I don't know if he was a national champion, like Thai kickbox, but he had longer hair. Was it in a bowling alley or something like that? Oh, man, that was – yeah, man, that was in Malaysia. Jesus Christ. That was one of the most intense fight scenes, bro. I was like, did you do all your own stunts on that? Yeah, yeah. Dude, yeah. Look, I had – there was one or two where Attila, my Hungarian stunt double, he went through a couple of walls. But no, I –
82
00:30:51.387 --> 00:31:06.912
I dislocated my, uh, collarbone, my clavicle off my sternum at like in the second take of the morning. So I've gone back over a couch and you're supposed to, I'm supposed to fall except everything in Malaysia was.
83
00:31:06.912 --> 00:31:22.522
broken or cheap or whatever. And so I've gone over the couch, the couch is broken and I've landed on my shoulder and popped my clavicle off my sternum. And I'm like, this is a two day fight shoot, a fight sequence. And I've kind of like, okay.
84
00:31:22.522 --> 00:31:44.948
And I kind of had to go up to the showrunner about three o'clock that afternoon. And I was like, oh, listen, man, I'm good. I'm going to keep going. I just need some painkillers and I might just have to get an x-ray tonight. I don't want to worry you. I just got to, because what's up? I was like, I think I've broken my collarbone, but I'm, but I'm good. You see this bone sticking out? Yeah. See that thing there? So, you know, and it's one of those things you're like,
85
00:31:45.758 --> 00:32:10.379
you six, seven months shoot you're on every day, like you cuts, bruises, infections, you know, especially somewhere like Southeast Asia, um, you know, and then it's like food poisoning and the, and the, the food's terrible. So you're eating nothing anyway. Um, we were smoking like chimneys because that's what everyone did in Southeast Asia or Eastern Europe. And so, and it just fit perfectly in a mag pouch, you know? So we're like, great cut to, um,
86
00:32:10.379 --> 00:32:38.965
You know, cut, okay, action. And it was so, you were putting yourself through hell every single day. And sometimes it was just easier to go, I'm just going to keep going, bro. Like, don't get the stunting in. Don't wake the schedule. Don't make us come back Saturday. Yes, I've broken this. Yes, I'm bleeding. I'm just going to get through it. We'll deal with it. So Cheche was an Indonesian Hall of Fame kind of fighter who was in the, I think he was in the raid or comes from that school.
87
00:32:38.965 --> 00:32:56.330
We had a couple of great guys that came from that school. One of my favorite movies ever is The Raid. The Raid is my favorite. Is that an umbuck? Yeah. Or just like, you're like, what just happened? They're like spiritual moments in the theater. I'm like, that's an action movie. Yeah. Extraordinary. And my only, my only kind of,
88
00:32:56.448 --> 00:33:17.440
wish if I was to go back is that Warren Brown, my, my, my sidekick on, on a strike back with a two-time world champion Muay Thai fighter. And so I was like, and I'd never learned how to fight. So I was like, you can do all the fighting. I'm going to go with the guns and I'll just be really good at that. Cause I love that. And that's, that's cool. And you can be the fighting guy and I'll be the gun guy. Um,
89
00:33:17.440 --> 00:33:40.222
And so it's only now in the last couple of years when I've been training for Beast for this film, this MMA film, that I've learned how to fight properly. And I just go back now and there's just some real basic stuff. I'd love to go back and if we ever went back to strike back or another job, it's like, well, I can shoot and I can fight now. So, you know, I know. And those skills now that like I didn't realize I went and done something recently recently.
90
00:33:40.222 --> 00:34:04.606
And I had to, you know, hand us the weapons and I literally walked up the armor and it's something I didn't have confidence ever in my career before. But now just getting in there and I was able to just do all the movement and then do it correctly. Well, with, you know, I'm sure someone could critique it, but with a lot of confidence and then being mag change and all sorts of stuff and being efficient in that when you're moving at a pace as an actor. Yeah.
91
00:34:04.606 --> 00:34:24.181
And being able to, it took me a good, it was probably halfway through season two, I started to feel comfortable with it. Because there's all these other things, and then pyrotechnics are going off, and all this sort of stuff, and you're just like, oh, then, which obviously gives you just the utmost respect for the real guys that just can do it so calmly, and just like, and you're asleep.
92
00:34:24.181 --> 00:34:41.917
But it is those things where you have those, you become that triple threat. Now you can act, you can fight, and you can shoot guns. Because there's nothing worse when you have the Keystone cops that are doing this or they're triggering this. You start to pick that up and you're like, fuck. Oh, 100%.
93
00:34:41.917 --> 00:35:06.554
I remember the first, one of the first sort of training, you know, we were training for our first season of strike back. Jeff Reeves was one of our instructors who really, really got on really well with Jeff. And so many people, same as, you know, I'm sure with SEAL team, but so many people came out of the woodwork to really try and help us and passionately and generously kind of help us. And Jeff took me up to Taron Tactical for just an afternoon just to work together. Yeah.
94
00:35:06.554 --> 00:35:24.728
And he's like, here's your movement, here's what you're doing and dah, dah, dah, dah. Okay. Three, two, one, go. And I was like, stop. So what? Why are you breathing so hard? Oh, and I just like automatically as an actor, you're like, or as an athlete, someone says, right, action, go.
95
00:35:25.555 --> 00:35:40.692
And he's like, dude, dude, you're behind cover. You've got a weapon. You think, what are you doing? And you're like, oh, yeah. Oh, okay. What? Okay. That makes sense now. And then it was.
96
00:35:40.692 --> 00:35:58.681
all about calm, efficiency and slow and smooth and smooth and fast and just not getting out of your body. And then you go through and you read all those books, all those great books and audio books that you can find, particularly guys who've come through Iraq and Afghanistan more recently. And there's so many great
97
00:35:58.681 --> 00:36:23.993
and a SEAL team and special forces books that have been written. You know, there's just a wealth of information out there that you pick up. And it's incredible. We would hear some playback of guys on missions, on comms, going back and forth in an actual gunfight and no joke, they're cracking jokes. They're like, hey, one guy was like, oh, man, I think that that girl that I met and wherever I got to get some penicillin burns when I pee. And then you hear them.
98
00:36:23.993 --> 00:36:42.775
And then they'd be talking about, like, I've got the shits. Then they'd move in on a target. But you couldn't hear shit happening. And they are fucking just having – when the shit got very crazy, they dialed in with it. But, dude, if I was a mile away from a gunfight, I would be fucking shooting my pants.
99
00:36:42.775 --> 00:37:01.945
I wouldn't be like, hey, you know, but it just, the ability to just stay absolutely dialed in and not let the, allow your discipline to not dictate your emotions, which is such an art form with these guys do. Even with the martial arts guys, like when, like you look at any of the guys, which brings me on to my next question with the beast. It's like,
100
00:37:01.945 --> 00:37:27.967
when that, you know, that cage closes, like you're an animal that walks into this, this cage and you just see these fighters just like, like even Justin Gaethy and, uh, uh, Patty, um, uh, yeah, that was right. Gaethy just has that stone cold killer, like doesn't nothing. He's smiling. He's laughing. You know, um, it's just a different mindset. So dude, when I saw your trailer for the beast, I mean.
101
00:37:28.422 --> 00:37:50.275
It took me back to my childhood. It really felt like I was watching something. Like, the tone of the trailer was so honest to all the movies that I grew up with. And obviously, I haven't seen it yet. I'm dying to see it. One, I'm so freaking proud of you, dude. Like, this is, you know, and again, not seeing anything, but I really think...
102
00:37:50.275 --> 00:38:05.682
People have moments in their career, and I really believe, and you've had many brilliant moments, but I really believe this fucking thing, I think, has got a bit of lightning in the bottle. So take me, tell me the whole, I want to hear all the details. How did you get this? Yeah, man. Thank you. Thank you very much. Of course.
103
00:38:05.682 --> 00:38:20.988
Yeah, man. Look, yeah, thank you. And so the teaser trailer was the first thing that anybody has seen of this film. So I shot a movie. So how far do we go back? So when I finished Strike Back and I went back to Australia...
104
00:38:20.988 --> 00:38:49.118
turned 40, had a baby, got locked in the country, went through a pandemic, went through a divorce, went through all the things, came out the other side, was on foundation. Foundation was supposed to be a five-month shoot. It ended up being 17 months. Life looked, you know, a bit different. And after 10 years in Los Angeles, ended up back in Australia, raising my child or, you know, learning how to parent. And, you know, and...
105
00:38:49.253 --> 00:39:06.803
There was a film called Poker Face that Russell Crowe was doing and he was directing and it was being shot during lockdown in Australia. So the parameters of shooting in an entire lockdown in Sydney were quite tough. Anyway, long story short, I ended up doing Poker Face. I ended up auditioning and I got a role next to Russell.
106
00:39:06.803 --> 00:39:33.584
playing Russell's lawyer. So we'd known each other for about 10 years, but it was the first time we'd worked together and he was directing and my first day on set was a two-hander opposite him. And he was on one side of the bar, I'm the other. I walk on set, I've got two lenses and they're an 80 mil and 120 mil, both pushing in on me. And not only is he my guy opposite me, he's also my director and he's standing behind the bar, cleaning glasses and whatnot. He goes, yeah, you good to go?
107
00:39:34.428 --> 00:39:39.878
Yep. Yep. So we do a take and he's like,
108
00:39:40.267 --> 00:40:08.093
How did you feel? I said, I felt like everything was kind of here and it kind of needs to be down here. So yeah, yeah, let's, let's do that again. Yeah, cool man. Slowly we did that. It's Russell Crowe. It was my first time in a new film, you know, and you know, it's, it's, it's the greatest mate, the goat. And so we did that film. And then from there we, I went into a movie called Land of Bad, which was, we do really well on Netflix action, action film. Milo's a good buddy of mine. Yeah.
109
00:40:08.093 --> 00:40:33.068
Mike, man, he did so great. So Liam and Luke Hemsworth, Milo, Ricky Whittle, um, uh, Will Eubanks and David Fruggerio, uh, was the right. It was a great movie, man. Really good movie. Yeah. You know, really, really punched above its weight, I reckon, you know, and came out really well. So I auditioned for, for one of the, the, the military guys. Um, of course the Hemsworths had taken all those roles. So they were like, man, there's not much left. Yeah.
110
00:40:33.068 --> 00:40:59.123
I said, well, there is this role and it's with Russell and you'd be back with Russell in studio for two weeks. I mean, you get two weeks one-on-one with the greatest acting coach I've ever had, you know? Come on. Great. Great. I'll do it. And truth be told, the character didn't have a name. He was just the Colonel. I was like, oh, I'm going to do it, but you've got to give him a name because I don't want him on IMDB going the Colonel or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
111
00:40:59.123 --> 00:41:24.959
So anyway, so I got to, I got to work again with, with Russell then. And he kind of, we, we, every morning we get on set and we'd, we kind of go through the day scenes and he'd sit down with David Frigerio and they'd rewrite the script. It was the final two weeks of the shoot. It was the final two weeks of the year. And so Russell had come off a year full of stuff. So he was like, his advice to me was, listen, man, it's going to be, it's going to be bumpy and I'm, and I'm tired, but we just got to stay agile and we'll get this done. Cool.
112
00:41:25.432 --> 00:41:44.365
And we did, we rewrote as we went, David Fuggerio rewrote, Russell had come into my trailer, go, here's today's materials. It's all changed a little bit. I'll see you on set in two hours. Great. I would learn everything. And we'd, when we go and do it like a, like a workshop every day. And that was incredible. At the end of that two weeks, David Fuggerio said, I've got this.
113
00:41:44.365 --> 00:42:07.670
other script you know i've watched you guys work and i watch you guys work together i think you're great together i've got this mma script and it's it's it's an old coach and it's a retired fighter and they've had a falling out and and it's set you know in upstate new york it's set in buffalo new york and a real working class you know family and a working class you know part of part of america and in a steel mill kind of town i think it was
114
00:42:07.855 --> 00:42:37.083
And, um, so he gave it to me to read and I had a look at it and I said, we're looking for some directors and they found Tyler Atkins, who was an Australian director who had just done another film with, with Luke Hemsworth. It was called Bosch and Rocket in Australia. It was called Ocean Boy, I think over here, which I think over here got the worst end of the stick, you know, in terms of titles. Um, but it was, you know, it was a bi autobiographical story of Tyler's life growing up in Byron Bay and in Australia. It was, it was, it was a great first film for Tyler. Yeah.
115
00:42:37.387 --> 00:42:57.957
So they put Tyler and I together and we were like, what the hell do we know about growing up in Buffalo, New York, let alone growing up in, you know, in a steel mill out there? So we started banging ideas around and we're like, well, I'll tell you what we do know. We do know what it's like to come from some of those mining towns and some of those steelworks towns and some of those port towns in Australia.
116
00:42:57.957 --> 00:43:14.123
And someone like Alex Volkanovsky has got a very similar story to that. And we, you know, we, we know Volk and we know, but he's really famous and he comes from a shell harbor, a mining town and there are other port, port towns. And, and what I, so we kind of flipped the story back there.
117
00:43:14.123 --> 00:43:32.163
And we're like, okay, now we can make a movie about what we know about. So this was 2022, 23. We're rewriting the script with Fugirio and Tyler and we're all good to go. Long story short, the money kept falling out multiple times. But Russell rang and said, listen, man, I'll back you. You know, it's your turn.
118
00:43:32.163 --> 00:44:00.918
And we'll do this together and so I've been by his side and then I've been opposite him. Hold on a second. You have Russell Crowe. He's like, that just gave me goosebumps, bud. You have Russell Crowe going, I will back you. Yeah. Bro. Yeah. Fuck. Into a fight movie. And you know. Where you're the fucking lead. He's like, I'm going to back you. It's your turn. That is awesome. So you think I did. You can't just casually drop that.
119
00:44:00.918 --> 00:44:26.095
you think i didn't start training bro you think i didn't just think a little bit went into those punches so bro i um i would play the rocky music every time i took a bro i'd be like so i lost i i lost and gained you know 25 pounds three times because the movie came in the finance kept going but it was you know you talk about divine timing you talk about you know um just just
120
00:44:26.095 --> 00:44:44.253
divine interaction and and man if we had a shot that movie in 2023 with me on on six months or a year's worth of training different film different actor different guy so were you different outcome the whole time yeah yeah i was i was um and then i went off and did i did two plays
121
00:44:44.253 --> 00:45:02.883
So the, the Riley strike was over here. Did the woman in black and it did the woman in black. Yeah. Yeah. Man, extraordinary. So great. So again, all this stuff lined up every time beast would fall over. Um, another opportunity would, would come up and there's no way
122
00:45:03.271 --> 00:45:29.191
I would have been ready the way I was to start Beast had I not had three years to train and had I have not gone back and done eight months of theater in a two man play in a show like The Woman in Black. So, which is such a great, I would, it just, I mean, I can only imagine. You know, no, that was extraordinary, you know, and. You know, there's places you can go.
123
00:45:29.579 --> 00:45:46.454
You can take your truck. You can get things done. And you leave and you're like, eh, it was good. It was good. I was introduced to total off-road and more about a year and a half, two years ago when I got my Ford F-150 Tremor. And let me tell you something. First of all,
124
00:45:46.943 --> 00:46:16.475
It's like a family and people say the family, but these are some of the nicest people you will ever meet. TJ and Dan and the rest of the crew at Total Off-Road Moor Charleston are some of the best guys. I had my sister, her tire blew. She happened to be outside the store. I literally called Dan. I was like, my sister who's got my mom has got to go to a doctor's appointment. They're outside your store. Can you help? They literally saved her everything. Like these are just great people. So if you're in Charleston, you need something down with your truck. If you're anywhere in America,
125
00:46:16.475 --> 00:46:35.459
and you need something down your truck, they have stores across the country. This is the best place to go anytime, anyplace. It's a family. It's good people. They do good by you. And we all work hard for our money, and we put something into our truck that we love or whatever we're building. We want to make sure that it's done right. And these guys at Total Off-Road and more, they do it right.
126
00:46:36.404 --> 00:46:53.060
Just as a side note, we learn scripts or we get given scripts and more often not in a TV world, you're like, great, here's a script. I either need you to audition for it and have it back to me tomorrow or maybe we'll shoot it next week and whatnot. But to have...
127
00:46:53.330 --> 00:47:08.332
70 pages of incredibly written and refined English dialogue, uh, screenplay. And to go out every single day and refine the same.
128
00:47:08.332 --> 00:47:33.847
material and you're just digging deeper and deeper and deeper it's it's like it's like that drop of water on the stone and you do it for a year and all of a sudden you got a big a big hole in that stone and it was the same doing this this same so we're doing eight shows a week it's a two-man play i'm trying to pre-characterize yeah thousand thousand people a night around the country man mark bro and so the the groove
129
00:47:33.847 --> 00:48:01.927
that you're deepening every single day. And we, and John Waters, who was opposite, you know, wonderful old English actor, musician and theatrical actor. And so, you know, even on the last night of the tour, we're like still trying new things or still finding new things. And so there's times when you're standing out there and it's just you on stage, you've got six, seven pages of a monologue of a ghost story to tell people about. Yeah.
130
00:48:01.927 --> 00:48:15.089
And you're looking out at a thousand people and your mind goes, I don't know what I'm going to say next. And you go, oh shit, oh shit, I'm going to get to the end of this sentence and I've got no idea what comes next. And you're like, da, da, da, da.
131
00:48:16.000 --> 00:48:42.646
And it just comes out and this, and this stream of consciousness and creativity just goes and you're like, holy shit, I'm a passenger. I know this so well. I'm a passenger in my own performance. It's like, your mind is just fucking with you. It's like, I'm going to fuck with you right now. Get out of your own way, man. Just let, let the creative, creative juices flow. So that was, that was an extraordinary lesson. Yeah.
132
00:48:42.646 --> 00:49:12.312
And again, coming back to the thing I said earlier is, you know, that's, that's a play that is built upon minimal light, minimal sound, minimal score, minimal staging. And it's about an actor performing to take an audience. So what that gave me was the confidence to step back into something like Beast. So, so I wrapped the play in August, 2024 and got a call from David Fuggerio, the writer of Beast. I said, Hey man, we're green lit. We're going end of November. Fuck yes. Yes.
133
00:49:13.730 --> 00:49:34.857
August, September, October. That's 11 weeks, Fridge. Yeah, mate, let's go. And man, I was exhausted. I was 20 pounds overweight. I've been on. So, you know, there's a great line in the film where, you know, I say to Luke Hemsworth, he goes, you know, he goes, how long do you need to train? I need six months. He goes, you have seven weeks.
134
00:49:34.857 --> 00:49:59.798
So it was like that, you know? So, and so we started beast finally, and it was like third time lucky. If we, if this, if it goes this time, everyone's walking away, no one's going to stick around for this anymore. And it's in Australia, you're shooting it. We shot it in Sydney, between Sydney and Wollongong, which is just south of Sydney. So port town, mining town. Um, so, so, and then.
135
00:49:59.798 --> 00:50:19.846
And then we were able to shoot with one championship, uh, the mixed martial arts organization in Bangkok, Thailand. So we went up and shot, uh, our final fight sequences over the course of a week in front of 10,000 fight fans at an actual MMA world championship event in Bangkok, Thailand. So that was a real crowd.
136
00:50:20.099 --> 00:50:39.303
Real crowd, man. That walkout scene is not CGI or anything like that? None of that. It's all real. So we shot five days in that cage. Four of them with three Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Friday night was in front of 10,000 people. And then we had to go and pick up Saturday and finish the fights. And...
137
00:50:39.303 --> 00:51:02.962
And then we were in Bangkok for a couple of days before that shooting lots of training and montage and stuff like that. Did you guys rehearse all the fight scenes prior to getting there? You knew what you were going to do? Yeah. So the schedule, you know, so I worked with Bren Foster. Bren was in the show called The Last Ship, a great actor, but also a fantastic martial artist, multiple world champion martial artists. And he came in and so we'd shot...
138
00:51:02.962 --> 00:51:28.088
Russell out before Christmas. So we started the film end of November. We shot Russell out in the first two weeks. Then we had five weeks off over Christmas, Christmas and New Year. And I trained every day with Bren to rehearse and choreograph these fight sequences. So I've been training for three years, but then we dialed in the choreography. So we got up to Thailand and we nailed this choreography up there.
139
00:51:28.088 --> 00:51:42.972
And, and then after that, we had another two weeks off and we came back to Sydney and we shot another five weeks of drama. So it was, it was segmented, which was perfect because I had, you know, we talk about the ambition of it, but I, I had to.
140
00:51:43.293 --> 00:52:07.087
act like Russell Crowe. I had to fight like Conor McGregor and I had to try and look like Chris, Chris Hemsworth with my shirt off, you know, and on an indie movie budget, um, on, you know, and, and with minimal support. It wasn't, it wasn't like, you know, we didn't have the nutritionist on set. We didn't have the personal trainer. We did. It was like, you're doing it. I mean, that's, that's kind of, you know, it, and in a sense,
141
00:52:07.087 --> 00:52:33.698
I feel like movies like that, the heart always comes out of the movie. You know, there's no, you know, it's like there's a, you know, you hear with fighters. I've heard them say this about Conor McGregor or other fighters that have become champions or Mike Tyson. It's hard to get out of bed when you're wearing silk pajamas, you know. So it's like when you're put in those situations in a real indie film, you know, we're spoiled as actors. We are spoiled. 100%. But when it's boiled down and you've been working on this for three years and this is –
142
00:52:33.698 --> 00:52:53.408
your movie that the goat himself has passed the torch to. It's crazy, though. That energy, without knowing this story, it's in the essence of the trailer. It's in the minutia. It's in the minutia of the film. You know, we weren't sitting in our trailer drinking lattes waiting for someone to tell us when the stuntmen are finished. Yeah.
143
00:52:53.408 --> 00:53:20.746
It was like, I was living it. I was doing my own food every day. I was doing my own washing. I was coming from picking up my own son from school and making sure he was fed and then, and then staying up and then training at 10 o'clock at night. And then, you know, I was living it. Man, I lived it. And we lived it. Parallel that in a sense of, it seems like it's got that Rocky-esque sort of vibe. So who is the character that you play?
144
00:53:20.898 --> 00:53:40.068
play a guy called Patton James. He's easy in his early forties as an ex MMA champion. And he's been out of the sport for 10 years. And he's, he's, he's, um, there's a few little bits and pieces. I'll let you discover when you watch it, but he's, he's now working on a fishing trawler trying to provide for his wife and his young daughter. And they're living in a, in a, in a,
145
00:53:40.068 --> 00:54:07.000
fishing port town, you know, down south of Wollongong and this guy's, you know, all the, you know, some of those, those great fight themes of like the town's shutting down. There's no jobs. There's no work. And he's a dude. He's a man just trying to provide for his family as a provider, as a protector, as a role model. Yeah, it's totally, man. And then, and then the, what really unlocked it for me, AJ was the,
146
00:54:08.215 --> 00:54:19.876
was as a 40, I was 44 when I shot that, I turned 46, you know, in April, but there are so many men around the world
147
00:54:20.838 --> 00:54:41.729
veteran or not, that get to that point in their early 40s or late 30s, which I think is a real inflection point in masculinity and in life, where they decide that for whatever reason, there's no way out and they take their own lives. Yeah. And we never...
148
00:54:42.640 --> 00:55:12.290
vocalize that in, in, in his character, but the loss of purpose and the loss of, um, intention and the loss of direction in a man's life. And particularly in, in that time when I went through all my shit was 38 to 42. And I needed to call on every skillset I had from sport to friendship,
149
00:55:12.290 --> 00:55:41.855
So I was able to go in and make this beautiful character study of a man who loved his wife and loved his daughter and was scared of, um, failing them, but also has lost his own, his own path and his own purpose. And unfortunately his purpose was, was, was fighting. Yeah. And his identity was wrapped up in it. His identity was wrapped in it. And he's, and as so many men lose that sense of identity around that time in life. So once I was able to really anchor that and sprinkle that in across what was already on the page. Yeah.
150
00:55:41.855 --> 00:55:52.199
you've got this guy fighting for himself and for his family and for his town. And it means everything. And, and that's what,
151
00:55:52.570 --> 00:56:21.983
And that's what great sports movies are. And it can be... That could be a fight movie. That could be a baseball movie. That could be a hockey movie. That could be any sports film. What's the why? What's the heartbeat? Why am I watching this? And I've referenced this movie a bunch. But, you know, Bruce Willis, John McClane, you know, greatest character ever written. That movie's based on him just wanting to fix his marriage. He wants to get back together with his wife. The entire movie...
152
00:56:21.983 --> 00:56:41.322
He just wants to, you know, get, wants to fix his marriage. And you understand that. And, and he's like, not super jacked. He's just a little pup belly. And he just is like, but he's like, fuck it. I love her. And I'm going to figure this out and I'll kick the shit out of anybody in my way. That type of character, that architect of a character is,
153
00:56:41.322 --> 00:57:02.652
when you see that and I feel like without seeing it, I feel like it's the simplest thing because as a man now too in my 49, you know, figuring out like one, being okay with being flawed, you know, and pointing the ship in the right direction where you make mistakes, but also
154
00:57:03.209 --> 00:57:19.527
allow my kids to see my flaws and explain to them how you recover from those. But also to then with the business that we're in, who are we? Like we've been actors and there's a facade that we have of like, we're actors, we're in that thing. But then I've had a lot of sort of internal work of like,
155
00:57:19.527 --> 00:57:45.683
man, who am I? Like, who are my kids? If I was to die, like who, what are my kids going to say? Like I wore makeup and played as an actor? Like, what are they going to say about like, what is that? And that was sort of a life changing thing in that for me over the last couple of years. But I love characters that are at that age because it's honest. It's about what men are really going through. And it's true what you hit there. It's scary. It's like we in a society now,
156
00:57:46.645 --> 00:58:04.128
As men, it's like, we're always supposed to like not be emotional, not talk about this. And, and, and I think there's, there are some great people out there that encourage that, but we're just sort of are built in our DNA of like, nah, you know, sort of push it down, push it down, push it down. But admitting to people like, Hey, I'm scared. I'm worried.
157
00:58:04.128 --> 00:58:32.663
I don't have the answers. And that played the, the, the, the record that just keeps repeating in your head, repeating your head of like, and the pressure that builds up that you don't realize is there. Cause you're not fucking dealing with it is a scary thing, but that's such a great, I really, I dude, I fucking, without you telling me any of this, I got that vibe from the, from the trailer. I was like, this is going to be fine. And it looked like everybody that saw that trailer, like it fucking went nuts online.
158
00:58:33.237 --> 00:58:57.908
I've never experienced anything like it. And I just wanna go back to one thing you said before we jump onto the trailer, cause it's really important, but like we're only one generation away from the push it down generation. Yeah. And we're raising, should I have a boy, do you? You got boys and girls? I got twin boys. And actually before we end, they wanted to come in and say hi, cause I've shown them the trailer.
159
00:58:57.908 --> 00:59:25.786
Oh man, of course. I picked him up from school just before he came. I'm like, hey, you know the guy from the trailer? The Beast movie? Because they watch UFC with me all the time. I'm like, I'm talking like, no way. Oh man, of course. I mean, that's why we do it now. The only reason I do it now is go, great, I can take my boy on set. Or you get to watch your dad do it. Oh, that's what, what was the message for that? My dad did something really, really special. Or when I was on foundation, he was a bit too young. But I took a video of my spaceship.
160
00:59:25.786 --> 00:59:55.148
And I was like, because you reconcile, you reconcile the stuff like, hey, I'm away for a couple of months. I'm missing some significant time of my child's life. Yeah. Okay. But it's what we have to do. And it's what we have to do, you know, working at that significant, then that level that you want to work at, but also you want to minimize that because now every, every job and the superpower that came with parenthood was every job gets measured against time with or time away from my son. And so the quality of jobs, you know.
161
00:59:55.148 --> 01:00:12.968
I remember you and I had a conversation about, and I had so much respect for you for doing that. It was an audition I think you were up for, and we were talking about it. And you were like, I don't want to go do it because I'll miss my son or something like that was the reason. I was like, man...
162
01:00:12.968 --> 01:00:31.885
There was a season arc, wasn't there? It was a season arc that came up. And I had a couple of other sort of shorter job, a couple of film jobs. It might have even been Land of Bad or Poker Face. It was something around that time. But it was a series or something like that. You would have to come to America or something like that. Yeah, I turned down one of the big...
163
01:00:33.472 --> 01:00:55.882
I turned down one of the big ones. I turned down Hawaii. That's the Hawaii. I remember. Yeah, Larry Tang, the director. Yeah. Yeah, I remember that. We were talking about that. And I have so much respect for you. You're like, I don't want to miss my son growing up. And I've just been away. I've just been away for too long. And, you know...
164
01:00:56.084 --> 01:01:24.299
I mean, and preface that by saying I was testing, you know, I was, you know, I hadn't, you know, there's still a few hoops to jump through, but it was like, it was all, you know, full gas. But to make the conscious thing, because I do the same thing too now. It's like, if like I weigh time away from my kids and if I cannot in my mind tell them that what I'm going to do while I'm away is worth missing your soccer game or missing your football match or whatever it is,
165
01:01:24.772 --> 01:01:44.279
Or being there for my daughter to play across or something with my wife. If it isn't moving the needle in the direction that's going to be life-changing for you or that fills my soul so much that I have a story to come back and tell you that I grew. And the reason I miss it because I was getting better and I was doing it. If it was just, it's just not worth it. It's not worth it.
166
01:01:44.279 --> 01:02:11.144
And the, and the, the pang in my gut that I get when I miss my son is, is yeah. Every, every parent gets it, man. What, I mean, what a privilege to, to have that love and have that connection to be, oh man, but, but I don't want to be sitting in, I mean, I'll never forget when I'm the first time I'd finished strike back, Austin was born and I got foundation at the rap party for strike back.
167
01:02:11.144 --> 01:02:41.131
So literally, as we're showing the blooper reel after three years on strike back, my agents is like, Hey, man, we need a whole team chat, like at seven o'clock on Friday night. It's like, guys, I'm, we wrap at five o'clock after in Croatia, after three years on this show. I mean, we can talk, but I don't know if it'd be making sense. I'll be honest. And so sure enough, we're at the wrap party, and the goof reel, the blooper reel is playing, and I'm walking out, pushing through the
168
01:02:41.131 --> 01:02:51.678
And I was like, I can't do foundation. I've never been home. I'm about to have a baby. I'm in Zagreb. I've been home since February. And they're like, that's okay. You don't start till February. You can have three months off.
169
01:02:52.994 --> 01:03:12.316
Oh, wow. So I went home. My son was born and when he was eight weeks old, I flew, I jumped back on a plane. And now I've been the same as you. I've been on planes my whole life. I left home at 17 to start work. But when I flew from Sydney to Ireland to start foundation, the first flight I took after my son was born.
170
01:03:13.312 --> 01:03:42.387
I may as well be going to Mars. I was like, where am I going? What am I? Shit. No, my son's back. No. And, and Ireland to go Sydney, London, London, Dublin, and then Dublin, Limerick to the West coast of Ireland. I was like, no, no, I'm, I, my son, my son's, I've got to go home to my boy. This suddenly felt complete. It was only in November the year before where I'm like, I'm in Zagreb. It's great. Fast forward four months. Yeah.
171
01:03:42.387 --> 01:04:02.013
Yeah. I was like, this is completely different. Oh yeah. Completely different. And so that was a massive revelation and, and changed the course of, of sort of the last, you know, six or eight years. Um, especially since we've been chatting from, from those, you know, from those strike back and foundation, you see everyone was like, where were you, what you were doing? And I was like,
172
01:04:02.013 --> 01:04:25.705
Well, I went home and I mean, you talk about career wise, but like that decade through until 2020, I've been living here working in LA to get up and going. And the plan was that Strike Back and Foundation were going to come out at the same time in 2020. I was going to be a free agent. I just got my green card and I was going to be back in LA with two big shows and go, right, I'm here. And yeah.
173
01:04:25.705 --> 01:04:51.524
God, the universe, whomever you believe in went, no, man, you got some lessons to learn first. You're going to end up back in Sydney and going to... I'm a big believer in everything. Even like the, I'm sure you've had it, like the roles that I was like, I tested for and I didn't get and I was gutted over. Like just, it would take me, I couldn't shake it. I was like, man. But then I look at what would have happened if I had, I wouldn't have gone on this journey that...
174
01:04:51.524 --> 01:05:11.420
So when people are like, I wasn't meant to be like, before I'd be like, how could you say that? But I mean, everything in my life, that's the journey that I've been on and the people's paths that I've crossed unknowingly has come full circle in some way or is like created, has added, it's like,
175
01:05:11.420 --> 01:05:30.353
such wealth and, and, or lessons, you know, and the times I didn't listen, I was, it was like, you know, I, there was, there was so many times in my life, I'm sure you've gone through this too, where things kept fucking just like, I was hitting road bumps. And I explained sort of as like, like when you're reading a book,
176
01:05:30.353 --> 01:05:54.434
and you're going through a chapter, and you don't understand the chapter, so you go back and read it again and read it again. And you can't get to chapter number two because you don't understand what chapter one's about. Even if you go to chapter number two, it's not making sense until you actually slow down and look at the details of what is happening and what is the construct of this first chapter. And then once that clicks, you flip the page, and you're like, ah, okay.
177
01:05:54.434 --> 01:06:15.443
Oh, I get it. That makes sense, because you can't get to here if you don't understand here and here. And it's like owning your mistakes and owning the fucking nonsense. Less of like passing the buck. I'm like, oh, this person, it wasn't. No, no, no. End of the day, it's fucking on you. Cannot. And everything, every decision made, every argument, every sort of.
178
01:06:15.443 --> 01:06:42.106
right or left, you make that decision, your reaction of any situation or how you absorb it, it's on you at the end of the day, you know? And it's how you sort of deal and process good or bad. And I really feel like, look, I'm a fucking working prockers, but I feel like when you sort of take that approach of like, okay, this is on me, how could I have been better? How could I communicated? Where was the ball drop? Okay. That's maybe, maybe I didn't communicate the way I needed to. Maybe I didn't prepare the way I needed to. I feel like that going into it is,
179
01:06:42.275 --> 01:06:58.508
I think from the acting standpoint or the fatherhood, I feel like as a man going into, you know, this sort of next chapter, I feel like the more that I take that sort of listen more as opposed to, and be, uh, um, be more,
180
01:06:58.508 --> 01:07:23.804
less of like what I know about something and more, what can I learn? You know, I feel like is, uh, is, uh, is, is, is the jerk. And that's why I love doing podcast stuff too. It's like finding out like guys like yourself, like we're on, we're on the same fucking journey. We feel the same. Our journey particularly now I felt has been really synchronous in a lot of ways. Um, and just, you know, just cause we're on it, you know, like,
181
01:07:23.804 --> 01:07:40.139
And that, that ego thing, the ego in the athlete or the ego in the, in the performer is like, yeah, I want the role, but I also, I want to beat everyone to the role, you know, or whatever. And I just had one, I just had one to kick off this year. I've been auditioning for a show.
182
01:07:40.139 --> 01:08:08.067
over the course of a couple of months. And then I have one of those like, hey, can you be in LA tomorrow at one o'clock for a network test? I was like, cool. So I'm in Sydney, drive back to the hotel because we're still on Christmas vacation. I drive back to Sydney, get my passport, fly to Melbourne, get over here, end up at Burbank, do the thing. Cool, man. Sign the contract, sign the test deal. And like you're down to like the final five and then you're down to the final three and then you're down to the final two and you're kind of waiting. And yeah.
183
01:08:10.042 --> 01:08:21.685
And I remember the day that they were viewing the tapes and I woke up sick in my stomach again. And it was that thing of going, if someone rings me today and goes, you got the job.
184
01:08:22.107 --> 01:08:48.803
you're moving back to LA, you're moving back to America, and you're going to be here nine months of the year, and you're only going to see your son at school holidays or when he comes over. But it'll be the biggest contract of your life. But that's what today is. And I have a strong faith. I have a strong spiritual side. I find as much God in church as I do in the mountains and do in the ocean and do in...
185
01:08:48.803 --> 01:09:13.272
solitude and silence and so on that day you know manifesting picturing no i want i want it i want it and i remember i was going for a hike and just cleared it clear my head and i was praying about this job and god said if you really want this job i'll give it to you all right uh if you really want it i'll give it to you yeah
186
01:09:14.285 --> 01:09:21.946
And deep down, I couldn't say, I really want this job because I knew that this job
187
01:09:22.823 --> 01:09:51.292
in comparison to beast that was about to, yeah, two weeks time was about to release and the level of work that I'd done and all the things I knew that I could do a great job. Yeah. But I had deep down, I was like in your heart of hearts, you know, but there's something in me that it's like, I got to keep working. I've got to keep making money. I've got to say, yes, I've got to show everyone how good I am by getting the job. And there's the lessons in that man. And so, and when I got the call saying, Hey man, I went to the other guy.
188
01:09:51.663 --> 01:10:06.918
The first thing I got was relief. Was it a Hemsworth? I was like, wow. Was it a Hemsworth? No, thank you. Thankfully this time, this time it wasn't a bloody Hemsworth. But yeah, man, the lessons we still learn, you know?
189
01:10:06.918 --> 01:10:27.640
27 years in bro i think being okay more in the lesson when it happens when it doesn't go back all right that wasn't like now being like all right that just wasn't the way it was supposed to go because i had so many people yeah i had so many people and i think that yeah i think that the point that that i wanted it was i thought about before too is is is that particularly with your kids and things like that
190
01:10:29.564 --> 01:10:58.437
Your happiness and your satisfaction and your quality of life isn't affected by the yeses or the nos that other people are giving you. When someone, hey man, you didn't get this job, great. But bless them. Thank you for the ride. It was amazing. I wish you guys all the very best. And I know you guys are going to do a great job and I loved meeting you guys. Yeah. Yeah, wholeheartedly. And there's a great piece in that. And that I think allows longevity because if you're...
191
01:10:58.943 --> 01:11:11.549
If your whole life is going to be affected by what some dude in an office down in Century City or in the, in the Valley or, you know, decides. Yeah.
192
01:11:12.038 --> 01:11:41.907
you know, New York or wherever, it's like you're going to be yo-yoing for the rest of your life and you can't do that. You got to find what makes you peaceful, what makes you grounded, what makes you happy and that's got it in your hands. There's power in saying no too. There's power in being like, I'm good right now, you know. And there's something in that ownership of being like talking with the family, making that decision and being anchored in that. It's like the decision that you make now as a dad and the journey that you're on
193
01:11:42.312 --> 01:11:57.888
being able to say yes or say no, but have an educated decision how it's going to affect them, that's something you can always then look at them later on in life, be like, every decision I made to the best of my ability, because we're just fucking winging it at the end of the day. We don't have the answer.
194
01:11:57.888 --> 01:12:25.445
You've got to listen to that inner side. And I feel like when you make those good decisions, you listen to that, then you can look at your kids and be like, man, I love you guys so much. I made the best decision for us, not just for me, but for, from what I knew at that time. And that's all I can, you know, and when you're honest with that, that your kids are only going to love you for that, you know? Yeah. Yeah, man. You know, the kids and partners and my, my partner Jess has a six year old as well. And you know, it's, and it's, it's,
195
01:12:25.580 --> 01:12:46.403
Where you, where you prioritize that stuff in, in your life, you know, and that's, that's because you, your, your energy is, your output is so important. So where you, where you prioritize to put that is, is something that I've, as I've got older, the, the ownership and prioritization of that, you know, putting the output out there. I have to ask you, cause when I was watching this, I'm sure you get this fucking all the time. Are you not going to be the next Wolverine?
196
01:12:48.412 --> 01:13:07.160
Man. Because Beast trailer, and I was looking, I'm like, fucking hell. He's not the next Wolverine. I don't know who the fuck is. No, I have always. You get Russell Crowe give you the blessing. Then you get Jackman. Dude, you are like, you're like the perfect agent. That trailer is like Beast, and like, you could totally fucking do it. Like.
197
01:13:07.160 --> 01:13:23.512
I'm not going to lie. I made a little collage of all the comments on Instagram, you know, because there were so many. And I sent it to my agent going, boys, just let's just make it happen. So I've been talking about manifesting, but I've been talking about that.
198
01:13:23.512 --> 01:13:52.908
for many years, David Goya, who was, who was our showrunner at the Foundation. I was like, hey, Goya, do you have anything to do with, with Wolverine? You know, I just always, that was always my favorite. And there was the Australian connection. So, you know, careful, careful what you manifest, man. But I was, I was really, I was really, it was, it was, I was pleasantly smiling. I saw the beast. And I've always thought that with some, but, but when I watched you in that trailer, it was like, there was a, there was a, when you bang your fist in or hit your face and thing, I'm like, oh my God, that's fucking crazy.
199
01:13:52.908 --> 01:14:20.903
That's Wolverine fucking, you know, that you just, you look like a fucking superstar in this, man. And that was like just, that was just on the moment. I knew, you know, again, it's indie filmmaking. You, we've got, great, we've got two minutes. It's between round one and round two or round three, round four. We're just going to do a little push in on you to do whatever you want. And I just remember like sitting there, you know, that was, there was an empty stadium that day, but you're covered in everything. And you're like, and, and the, the, the,
200
01:14:22.237 --> 01:14:49.760
the ability to, to understand a really strong and powerful man's self doubt. Yeah. He's fighting against his own demons. Yeah. Um, you know, some of those, some of those directions from Tyler, our director, um, were, were leaning into that way that made some of that stuff so much more interesting. So, but yeah, that, that teaser came out and I've never, I mean, you would have experienced it with seal team and whatnot, but I've, I've never experienced that.
201
01:14:50.283 --> 01:15:19.848
something travel and get reactions on a scale that that got last year a couple of weeks ago. Like was six a, I'm here in LA, I was in LA at the time, six a.m. East coast, nine a.m. West coast. Then it was like lunchtime. It was when people were waking up in Australia. And then at 6 p.m. was when people were waking up in England. And then I woke up the next morning and it was like India and South America and Asia. Yeah. Yeah. So what is this thing?
202
01:15:20.337 --> 01:15:49.514
When does it come out? This thing is just travel. April 10, man. April 10. So April 10 in the US, uh, Lionsgate, uh, theatrical across the country. So, so plenty of screens, big, big number of screens. Uh, there's a full, there's a full trailer coming out soon. I think, I think they're going to release potentially like an actual, like a bit of the movie, um, which, which is really cool, which is a really, really cool moment for
203
01:15:49.514 --> 01:16:05.866
with me and Russell in the film that just gives everybody goosebumps every time they see it. And then we're, yeah, April 10 in the US. Australia, I think, is going to be a week or two after that. And then it rolls out around the world, man. So...
204
01:16:05.866 --> 01:16:28.799
I've actually got a screening, got a screening in LA tonight. You know, I had these friends and family screenings down at Lionsgate have just been Barry Brooker at Grindstone and the guys at Lionsgate have just been behind us from the very beginning since they saw the opening scene of the film, which we essentially sold this film on the first four minutes, which was, which was me and Russell. Were you naked? I was half naked.
205
01:16:28.799 --> 01:16:53.707
I was pretty naked, bro. But nothing motivates, we talk about Kevin Libby, our dietitian, we talk about the amount of training, but nothing motivates like knowing you're going to see your naked ass on screen for the rest of your life. Yeah, that is true. I remember I played an autistic kid that was naked. It was the first time I was ever naked on screen. I'm like, well, this is not flattering. I always thought I'm going to have my hammer out. It's going to be glorious, all oiled up and shiny.
206
01:16:53.707 --> 01:17:18.496
And I am like, I am autistic in a bathtub going, it was not. It was not. It was that Seinfeld quote, it was like there's good naked and there's bad naked. Yeah. I swear, it's a grown, not a short, whatever. It's cold, the water's cold. Yeah. At that time, I have this part of the show, it's new that we had, we just like this rapid fire question, it's like a couple of questions that we shoot off just to kind of,
207
01:17:18.496 --> 01:17:36.721
have a bit of fun and find out who the man you are. Oh, good Lord. So rapid fire. Let me know. Yeah, yeah. Let me know. All right. So choice, coffee or whiskey? Coffee. Can't live without it. Can't live without it. Beach workout or gym workout?
208
01:17:40.214 --> 01:17:49.563
It's like asking which of your children do you like more? Beach, Beach, Beach. Beach. Favorite movie of all time?
209
01:17:53.900 --> 01:18:21.322
Braveheart or Casablanca. Fucking Braveheart, come on, bro. Yeah, man, Braveheart. Braveheart was the one that changed my life. I was about 14 years old. Dude, I've been out, it was a Saturday morning. I've been out for like a run or something. And I came back in and I went and said, my mom's gonna watch TV for a little bit. I'm gonna have a stretch and have some breakfast. And I turned it on and it was about two minutes in when she's getting tied up. And I sat there for two and a half hours
210
01:18:23.077 --> 01:18:38.669
And I think it was the first time I really, truly experienced the power of cinema. And I walked out and my mom was like, well, sorry, I thought you must've gone out. I didn't know you were home. I was like, I just watched, I just watched the most amazing thing. I've.
211
01:18:39.040 --> 01:18:57.350
ever seen. And that was it. And Braveheart taught me what, what film, filmmaking could be in the power of cinema. I did a, just did a movie with Mel Gibson and I had a fan boy moment at my first scene with them. And, uh, you know, Braveheart was a life changing thing. I went, I, I was in Burbank, I was in LA at the time. And, and,
212
01:18:57.350 --> 01:19:21.042
I went to the theater, I think like 10 times, and I didn't have the money going, so I kept sneaking. I saw it once, I paid for it once, and then I snuck in and watched it over, and I just couldn't believe what was happening. And I think just because of my Irish roots and all the story, but then just the extra thing. So when I showed up to set and saw him at Mel, I was like, you know, I talked to him for a little bit, and then we got into the scenes, and the very first scene,
213
01:19:21.515 --> 01:19:44.870
I just totally blank because I just kept fucking looking at him and like, oh, is this William Wallace? Like he's got these beautiful blue eyes. And I was just like, I'm doing a scene with William Wallace. And he was such a stud. Like you don't talk about an absolute like stud, just a great guy. I literally was fanboyed and I was like, can I ask you some questions? He's like, dude, you can ask me anything you want. And we sit there for hours. I'm like, how did you shoot this shot? How did you do these things?
214
01:19:44.870 --> 01:20:00.192
Wow. And then I was like, apocalypto. And then he was telling me about like Passion of the Christ and all. I'm like, the movies that this guy's made and just. See, one of the most underrated filmmakers and directors of all time. Oh, yeah. You know, truly, truly. It just. Yeah.
215
01:20:00.192 --> 01:20:28.475
It did. What a stud. So, but, but yeah. I had the same, I had the same moment. I was doing a film. I was playing a jockey in Australia. It was a, it was a Melbourne cup, a real, real life horse racing film. I was down, I was down at 68 kilos. So I was like 150 pounds or something with another actor playing a jockey. And the actor playing Dernot Weld had flown in as Irish actor. His name was Brendan Gleeson. Brendan wants to take you out to the, to the pub. You boys out to the pub.
216
01:20:29.133 --> 01:20:50.024
And we get to the pub and, mate, I haven't eaten. I've been eating straw for four months. And we get there and have one pint of Guinness and I'm screwed. And then Brendan casually starts telling Braveheart stories. And in that moment, I looked up at him and went, that's Hamish. Yeah. Oh, my God, that's Hamish. I'm doing, I'm doing.
217
01:20:50.497 --> 01:20:59.778
And I had to literally excuse myself. Excuse me, guys. I have to just go. And I did that Emma Thompson thing from Love Actually, where you go to the toilet and you're like –
218
01:21:01.212 --> 01:21:25.630
yeah he's like fucking yeah yeah he's a big man too isn't he there's a big boy man what an extraordinary actor man yeah in bruges and all his stuff and martin mcdonough anyway yeah i had that moment in real life where it was like i'm working with damage it's crazy okay couple more questions uh your dream role the dream role you haven't played yet is that is this wolverine
219
01:21:26.845 --> 01:21:50.757
Yeah, let's do that. Let's manifest that. Wolverine. Yeah, for sure. I see it in you, buddy. Yeah, I love it. I love it. And I think if you see Beast, you'll see a nice similarity. But also where Hugh Jackman took Wolverine in Logan, in that final installment of Logan, you know, they released that in black and white as well. I think it was James Mangold who directed that. But that was just...
220
01:21:51.044 --> 01:22:09.910
If I could go and do that, I'd be a happy man. That would take me away from my family for six months. I think everyone, I mean, dude, your son would be like, my dad's Wolverine. I mean, come on. Come on. I'll get away with that one. Do you know how many girls he'd pick up by just saying, I come from the lineage of Wolverine.
221
01:22:09.910 --> 01:22:37.788
done i mean that is a good thing well dude i i i so appreciate you jumping on man i could not be more proud of you i'm looking forward to today we get to hang out and i hope we get to to uh share the screen together at some point soon yeah man and they don't need to come and visit you too man i need to come over that side of town and uh south carolina man like you got you like look like you could set yourself up such a wonderful life over there and and it looks great i love i love yeah similarly watching everything you're doing man
222
01:22:37.788 --> 01:22:56.907
We got, I'll take you fishing or hunting or something. We'll, we'll go redneck it up. I have, I've fully embraced the redneck life out here and it's, it's, it's like the red, the redneck Riviera. We, I live right in the water and it's just, it's just good. It's good people, man. It's, it's, it's a little slower paced and drive a golf cart around and, and, and getting some trouble.
223
01:22:56.907 --> 01:23:25.493
So, but dude, I have, yeah, I really mean it, man. You're, you're, you're such a stud. You're, you're, you're a force to be reckoned with. And, you know, I really feel that this movie's, you know, is gonna, is gonna be that one for you. And, uh, I'm, I'm really fucking proud of you. No, it means, it means the world to me, man. Coming from you, someone I've, I've watched growing up and I've watched on screen throughout my career. And, and I really appreciate it, mate. So thanks for all the support from afar. And I look forward to doing it in person soon, mate.
224
01:23:25.797 --> 01:23:41.474
Fuck yeah. I love it. All right. Fuck yeah. That's it. That's all. Thanks for listening to another episode of the AJ Buckley show. We're out. Thank you so much for watching another episode of the AJ Buckley show. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did like subscribe and share.