Now that you’re immersed in Hollywood, are you learning new workouts from guys like The Rock and Vin Diesel, and I know you happen to know Henry Cavill who has an extreme regimen for Superman?
Yeah, when I did Haywire I kind of got immersed into how Hollywood does things. Diet is always extremely important but I think the older I get, the more mature I become, I’m a late bloomer so I feel like I’m really growing into my confidence and my body in a way that it’s a lot easier for me to control myself and have the desire to know that I need to train just to keep myself feeling good. Going and hitting pads or jujitsu or hitting a bag, that’s my yoga and I can lay down afterwards and feel like I’ve exerted that energy. And then I have picked up, of course, things from MMA and through personal trainers on different movies and throughout my life. The body is such an amazing thing, and a constant thing. It’s a lifestyle. You can always improve it. I really am a late bloomer and I think I can do a lot with myself.
Does Hollywood have different needs for fitness, maybe more for appearance than practical use?
Not at all. I think there’s a certain place for every body type, every personality. You see older people on films, thicker people on film nowadays. You see all sorts of different characters and I like where I’m at. I used to hate it when I was little, and even in the fight world I was just like, “Gosh, I’m so much heavier than I need to be. I wish I was fighting down at this weight.” Now, even just today, the weight I’m walking around, it would be so much easier to drop down to a lower weight. But for some reason when I was fighting, you feel stronger with more meat on you. You feel more secure, you feel stronger.
In the acting world and Hollywood, it’s more about internal. You have to learn how to let go of that extra muscle and that weight and supplement it with strength inside. I mean, I haven’t reached my potential physically yet. I’ve actually got a healthier mind than I’ve ever had as to where I can take it now. It’s been a lot more of a maturing process and I’m a lot more grateful for what I’ve been given than I ever was. So to just love yourself and appreciate it is I think the first step in making anything better.’
Right now do movies seem like better prospects to you than returning to the ring?
Absolutely. What I love about movies is I get to go play a character. I get to go explore and research and learn about different parts of life and visit different parts of the world. Not that you can’t do that in fighting but what I do love about movies is that you give that character and people get attached to that character, and then they wonder about you. When you’re an athlete, you’re representing yourself. I am creative and I’m emotional and I want to learn. I desire to research and explore different things. That’s why acting is such a beautiful thing. We get to flirt and experience in ourselves different ideas and ways of thinking that you might not normally do if you’ve got a cage fight in a couple months.
Would you still like to go back to fighting and go out on top?
For me, it’s a question that I’ve struggled with for a long time. To have helped pioneer and be a part of where women are at now and be a part of that and see how wonderful it is now, that was a dream I wanted so badly to have was to one day fight for the UFC. The more I am able to get into my characters and express myself and grow this part of me, the more I think my focus is definitely on film and doing this right now. I don’t think that it’s fair to split that energy. If you want to be a fighter, then be a fighter and give everything to that and it’s beautiful and focused. If you want to be an actor and perform and entertain and get any good at it, you have to do the same and train and focus on it. So right now, today, in my life and for the last little while, it’s been on film. I’m reading through scripts and characters and seeing where I really can express that and show people a different side of me.
Last year you were on the fight choreographer panel at Actionfest and I should have asked you: what do you love in a movie fight? What sells it for you?
You know, I love the chemistry between two people. I think that that’s something that tends to get lost with CGI. It’s just exactly what I love watching in movies. I love the raw interaction. When you watch a movie, you love two people and relating, oh my Gosh, I feel like that, that seems so real, that person really played that awesomely. When I watch fights, I like to see the movement and the technique and the stances. I like to see real and I like to feel it.
Knowing what to look for as a fighter, I think the more and more popular fighting and MMA and mixed martial arts around the world gets, it’s going to be important for people to portray that on film. CGI can be so much fun and such escapism but when you see the interaction between two physical bodies doing something like a fight scene, I think that’s really special and I think that I have the opportunity to do more because I’ve only just begun. I’m three movies in and I feel like there’s so much more to do in that arena and make it good.
Who are you watching in MMA right now?
I’m more of a fan of MMA than I’ve ever been now. Of course I’m watching all the female fights. I watch the Ronda Rousey fights, I watch all the guy fights but I’m just really proud to look on screen and see females, whenever they fight, you just kind of really perk up and watch and everybody in the room perks up and watches and sees oh my gosh, they’re so good and they’re taking it there. They’re entertaining. These two women are usually the ones who are just giving it everything.
I just saw the Sara McMann fight and I thought there was such great technique and strength. You get excited for the buildup of who’s going to fight who. I’m more of a fan and I can be a little bit more removed. At the same time my heart aches because there’s a part of me that’s like, “I want to get in there.” You can’t have everything sometimes. Right now I really want to focus on the film but I’m more of a fan of MMA than I’ve ever been.
Lastly, how different was a Fast and the Furious set from a Steven Soderbergh set?
It was completely different. Completely different style, people, surroundings. What was wonderful was the professionalism of everybody. Universal really has a professional atmosphere and Steven had a very professional atmosphere so those are the similarities but they are just on two different scales. One was more intimate and one was just humongous. The characters and the actors were just on two different levels and different types of actors. You’ve got your action stars over here and then you’ve got your actor actors in Haywire, so I’m just really blessed to have that kind of range now.
Fred Topel is a staff writer at CraveOnline and the man behind Shelf Space Weekly. Follow him on Twitter at @FredTopel.
