It’s kind of funny to see a guy who has proudly worn the red, white and blue in the Olympics and professional wrestling, all of a sudden transform into a Russian fighting machine. But that’s exactly what Kurt Angle seamlessly did in the soon-to-be released film, Warrior.
The current TNA World Heavyweight Champion has been toying with crossing over to MMA for the last few years as he’s had extensive talks with UFC president Dana White.
“I don’t like the word toying, but you’re probably right,” he laughs.
That said, Kurt candidly spoke about why he chose to stick with TNA; and if shooting Warrior reignited the flame for him to possibly look at an MMA career down the road…
“Basically, we (he and UFC President Dana White) couldn’t come to terms. It had to do with that fact. I was ready and prepared for it. I love Dana White and he has given me opportunities that I either let go or passed up. I just wanted to do my best and that’s all I’m going to say. But the movie did light a spark in me, you would think for MMA, but no, it lit a spark in me to tryout for the Olympics again. Because I realized that I still had the ability of wrestling, which is obviously my biggest strength. Which is what I would have brought to MMA. I was a very good striker but the wrestling is what I did best. So thank God, the movie helped me to realize that I could probably make the Olympic team again if I worked hard enough and stay injury free.”
He doesn’t rule out MMA if he can prove himself on the Olympic platform. More importantly, his loyalty to TNA wrestling was another driving factor in not jumping into the octagon realm; for he revealed that he just inked a new three-year deal with the company and this is where he will “phase out his pro-wrestling career.”
“These will be my last three years.”
A pro-wrestling lifestyle keeps one fairly busy 365 days a year. Kurt has been fortunate that TNA president Dixie Carter has allowed him to pursue other interests when they come about. For instance, Warrior is his third major movie he’s been a part of, as he co-starred in Dylan Dog: Dead of Night (released earlier this year) and made an appearance as a wrestling coach in Beyond the Mat, which also released in 2011. So how did he become the indestructible Russian in Warrior?
“The way I got this film was a friend of mine was at a casting call at a fight club (Eric Hibler is the friend & owner of the club) and he told me they were looking for a character. And I kind of blew him off because I was on-the-road/off-the-road and I was tired. They were filming in Pittsburgh and he said listen, this is a really incredible movie and I think you’d be perfect for this character Koba. So the next week I came home and he kept calling me and after the 24th time I said I would come down. So I went down and sparred for a little bit, threw some punches, did takedowns. Then the director, Gavin O’Connor, came up to me and said, ‘Hey how much do you weigh?’ I said 230 and he said ‘Can you lose 30 lbs?’ I said yes. And he asked if I could quit tanning for a couple months, I said yeah; ‘Do you have any tattoos?’ No. Well, we want to make you the character in the movie, Koba.”
Kurt Angle was pumped to book this role and was honored to be a part of a Lionsgate production (the studio is co-producing an distributing the flick). Anyone who knows a little bit about his Olympic and pro-wrestling career, the gold-medalist trains like a madman. He brought that same work-ethic and preparation over for this film. For Warrior, he took three months to learn the Russian dialect but unfortunately, and to his slight dismay, his lines were cut out at the last minute; as the filmmakers wanted to keep the Koba character stoic and silent…
“At the last second they just pulled it (lines). They said we wanted Koba to be quiet. I was a little bit disappointed but you know, I’m not going to complain. It’s my biggest movie role as far as popularity even though I did Dylan Dog and did Beyond the Mat. But as far as this movie, and with Lionsgate being the power behind it, Warrior is a great movie with a great story. But when I did watch the movie I got a little bit upset at the end. I was like, darn I did such a good job of being a Russian and speaking Russian, it was kind of sad I didn’t get to see that. Hopefully, God willing, they’ll have an uncut version where they have me being interviewed in the movie.”
Aside from the language prep and obvious physical cage battles he had to perform against a few guys in the climatic tournament depicted in the final act of the film, how does he go about getting into a role…
“You just have to get into the character. I’ve played a werewolf and I’ve played a Russian fighter and I’ve played a high school wrestling coach in the three biggest movies I’ve done. With Koba it was easy because they wanted to me to act like Fedor Emelianenko, who absolutely shows no emotion at all. So that was a pretty easy role, considering Fedor is one of the best heavyweight fighters of this generation. And the way he shows no emotion, it wasn’t really difficult for me.”
Cool thing about Kurt is that he’s up for discussing anything and is not standoff-ish or defensive about any question. He’s not afraid to admit if something didn’t turn out the way he hoped. And that’s when we started yapping about Dylan Dog…
“When we were filming it, it was fun and it just seemed like it was going to be great. It just seemed like the movie didn’t have a middle, it just went. When it came to the end I turned to my fiancée and said is this the end of the movie? I don’t know what happened? I thought Kevin Monroe was a great director and did an awesome job on set, but I don’t know what it (the film) was missing.”
When talking to Kurt Angle, pro-wrestling will naturally creep into the convo for he is extremely passionate about the business – and it just so happens yours truly was once a die-hard fan of the biz as well. After briefly reminiscing about the glory days (late 90s/early 00s), we eventually landed back on topic and we closed the chat with what his thoughts are on the final cut of Warrior and what are his favorite movies of all-time…
“I love the Rocky movies, I’ve always been a big fan. I just love fight movies, I loved The Fighter; I thought it was an incredible movie but I think Warrior is a better film. I was just surprised.”
He went onto to say that Warrior was the best movie he’s seen in 15 years. Sure he realizes people might not buy that evaluation because he was a part of it; but after he subtly panned Dylan Dog, the guy who developed a career under the moniker, “It’s True” & “It’s Real”….we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.
And what did he think of his co-stars’ (Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, etc.)?
“Blown away!”
“The fighting was really true to MMA. It wasn’t over-the-top; it was really true to how the fighters fight in MMA.”
Warrior opens in theaters across the country this Friday. If one wants more of Kurt Angle after seeing the flick, check him out every Thursday night on TNA’s IMPACT Wrestling programming.
By Joe Belcastro
