This is William’s directorial debut and I thought it was remarkable what incredible performances he guided not only from yourself but from Cosmo and Naomi.
Yeah.
Did you guys go through extensive rehearsals? What was the environment that fostered these portrayals?
The rehearsals weren’t huge. We had rehearsal time before we started filming because the shoot was so short. We needed to be able to, especially on big scenes, we needed to be able to know what it was that we were doing. For example, the scene where Sebastian comes into my room. All these really complex, difficult scenes. We needed to know how were going to go about before we started shooting because we didn’t have time to rehearse them on the day. Because, if we didn’t get a scene on the day, we lost the scene from the film. That was basically, the general consensus of how this film was going to go down. We didn’t have enough time. We went up and we, basically, lived together all in a house. Cosmo, Naomi, and me, and we walked through and did rehearsals. It was obviously just to get to know one another and just to get familiar with the place that we were going to be working in for the next month or so. To get the accents down. We then had lots of play time with Will where we could figure out, we could just see how these very difficult, whether they were violent or nonviolent scenes, were going to pace themselves out. We didn’t rehearse every single scene in the film. We only had a specific scary few that we decided to do because we didn’t want to be the ones that couldn’t, basically, deliver on the day.
When the film premiered you got a tremendous amount of buzz and publicity. Even though the film is just coming out in the US now do you feel like this role has given you a substantial opportunity in your career? Has it opened a lot more doors than some of the previous work you’ve done?
Of course, it has. This film, I owe a lot to this film, because it was the first lead that I’ve ever been allowed to, well yeah, ever. The trust that Will and Shaheen and everybody who gave me this role, essentially gave me, was crazy. I suppose the trust between by me and Will was quite bit. You don’t get roles like this when you’re 19. Usually, you have to prove yourself over about a decade and then you get an incredible role like this. You don’t get roles like this when you’re an unknown. I know I’ve done a film, but I was still, essentially, an unknown. The doors that this film has opened for me are endless. I don’t think I would have got “Fighting with My Family” if this film hadn’t been such a success. I think, also, when you do get the platform to actually show what you’re made of, there’s a certain sense of relief, because you can go, “Finally, I have something that I can show people. I can show people what I can do, and then how far I can go.” I’m just amazed that someone trusted me with an entire film. It’s a very lovely gift to be given.
I wanted to ask you about “Fighting with My Family.” I only know the log line of the film, but do you actually wrestle in the picture?
Yeah. Of course. You can’t do a wrestling film and not wrestle! Come on!
Well, the log line is, “His kids want to do it, but-“
Of course, of course. No, no, no, I know, I know. I’m so amazed by that, as well. It’s like, “I’m doing a wrestling film, and I’m allowed to wrestle?” Because being physical in films is very difficult to actually ask for because people are so scared that you’re going to break or that you’re going to fall over and hurt your face and then guess what? You’ve can’t film for the next six months. This is why it was such an amazing opportunity because you’re not allowed to do that kind of stuff usually. Definitely not allowed to throw yourself in a ring and do all these flips. It was absolutely incredible. I was so just amazed by that lifestyle. I didn’t really know much about wrestling before. Then obviously, I got the role, and I had to learn from scratch what wrestling was and how to do it. And, my God. My eyes have been opened. It was an amazing experience.
Did Dwayne give you any tips or were you off with other trainers teaching you the moves?
Yeah, he did. Well obviously, I got trained by some teachers at NXT. Robbie Brookside, who is one of the main teachers for me and Jack Lowden. Then, we came back over to America, and we had a lot of sessions with the stunts. Dwayne Johnson did give us some tips, yeah. He called it “special sauce.” He said, “Let me, let me …” Because it’s like the special stuff. You gotta have the special stuff. You can learn how to wrestle, but it’s only when you get taught by Dwayne do you realize what you’re doing wrong. Dwayne helped me out and I owe him hugely. When we did the big fight after “Monday Night Raw” at the Staples Center in February he was so helpful. I remember him saying, “If anything goes wrong, I’m going to be right outside the ring,” and he was, so I owe him a lot.
Last question. Having gone through that experience, have you watched “Glow” yet, and what did you…
I have!
What did you think of it?
I think it’s perfect. That’s exactly what it’s like. You know when they’re all testing the back bumps, and it’s going catastrophically wrong?
Yeah.
That is exactly what it’s like. When I was watching it, I was looking at the screen smiling because that’s literally what you have to do. You throw yourself down 50 times, and every single time is wrong. Then the moment you get it right you know what it’s supposed to feel like. Then, you get it right. Watching “Glow” made me quite emotional, because that’s exactly what the process is. You’re in this ring with all these crazy, amazing people, and they’re teaching you how to do something that you just don’t know how to do. You have to trust them. That’s what wrestling is about. It’s about trust, essentially.
By the way, do you guys know when that’s going to come out? Is it definitely next year?
Yeah, it’ll be next year.
Well, congratulations to you. I hope you have fun for the rest of your time in L.A.
Thank you. Cheers.
“Lady Macbeth” is now playing in limited release.
