Former pro wrestler “Stone Cold” Steve Austin takes on his first movie role in The Condemned, which opens Friday, April 27. North by Northwestern and two other publications spoke to Austin about the film, his first experience acting and his plans for the future.
Austin on how he received the part:
“I knew I was trying to find a movie to do. Believe me, I was trying to find anything. This script actually found me. An agent brought me this movie and they originally wanted me to play the part of Vinnie Jones’s character, McStarley, and I said, ‘OK, that’s cool,’ because I always want to play the bad guy anyway.”
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The Condemned plot summary:
On a remote tropical island, ten death row convicts compete in the newest, most deadly form of reality entertainment. Killers, drug dealers and rapists are set free to hunt each other. The last man alive after 24 hours gets his freedom. Every moment of the drama is broadcast over the Internet, with millions of viewers tuning in to watch the carnage. American Jack Conrad (Steve Austin) is taken from his Central American prison and unwillingly thrown into the most dangerous situation of his life. But if he can stay alive, he wins the freedom to return home.
On the difference between fighting in front of a live crowd and fighting on screen:
“In wrestling, everything is very big, because if you’re the guy in the worst seat in the house you have to see it. Obviously in technical fighting it’s very precise, and you know that’s just the way they train it, that’s the fight game. If you try to fight a cat like that with this style, with what they do, they’d kill me. I know how to wrestle and I know moves and sequences and stuff. You basically do something to elicit a response from the crowd.”
On filming in Australia:
“I’m a hunter, but when I grew up I’d see those kangaroos hopping around on TV. I only saw two kangaroos the whole time I was there, but I didn’t have any interest in shooting one of them. I went there to work.”
On stunts:
“I was game to do whatever I could do. They said, ‘Steve, you can jump down the big hole there.’ But I’m not stupid either. I’m not a macho man. I ain’t trying to prove myself. I said, ‘If you’ve got a trained professional for that, go ahead and use him.’”
“[The fight on the hill] was great. We filmed that fight over two days on the side of that cliff, and Nathan Jones pounded my back into that cliff for two days straight. I didn’t have anything in back of me, it was just a t-shirt, so my back was sliced into ribbons.”
On injuries sustained during filming:
“That and early in the movie I’m doing that scene with the Mexican guy named Paco. He hit me in the stomach and then he’s supposed to come with a hook. Well, I was expecting the shot to the stomach, and he forgot that one. He hit me right in the side of the head and gave me a black eye. So we just covered it up with makeup and we kept shooting. And boy I wanted to hit that guy.”
On the message of the film:
“Well, I think if there was something like this that actually happened, if someone brought ten prisoners and put them on an island and broadcasted it over the Internet, I think people would watch. I think it’s a timely issue with the way reality TV is today.”
“I am glad that there is a message or some kind of meaning to the movie, because it’s not just a mindless action movie with a bunch of violence. I like violence, but I only like violence if there’s a reason for it, any time you do anything gratuitous, I don’t like that. It just wasn’t a bunch of explosions and people getting stabbed.”
Austin on his expectations in the film industry:
“I always thought that maybe I wouldn’t mind doing movies, but my goal in my life growing up was to be a professional wrestler. I never set myself up just to transition into movies. It wasn’t my goal.”
“It was an incredible learning experience for me and I’m going to learn a lot more. I’m really proud of the movie, and I had so much fun making this movie that I can’t wait to learn more.”