26th September
2013
Today sees the release of WWE film No One Lives on DVD, co-starring
WWE Superstar, Brodus Clay, in his first feature film role. The film is a
violent portrayal of a gang of ruthless highway killers who kidnap a wealthy
couple travelling cross country only to shockingly discover that things are not
what they seem.
I caught up with Brodus this morning and was given a 10 minute
window. I began by asking him how the role had come about and how it had been
proposed to him.
Well, it was actually
right after a ppv. I was working with Alberto [Del Rio] at the time and had
just been busted open so was coming backstage for treatment. John Laurantitis,
who is head of talent relations, came up to me and said that they might have a
project for me and I was just all over it from the word go. I didn’t really
mind what the role was, I never saw a script or anything like that because I
didn’t really matter – this was always a dream for me.
Given that you hadn’t
seen a script, how did you feel about being involved in such a violent picture –
were you nervous about playing a role that’s such a departure from your normal
character?
Well at the time I
wasn’t actually the Funkasaurus yet. I was playing a kind of monster anyway and
was teaming with Alberto and we were feuding with Edge and Christian. So I was
playing a villain on screen anyway and I didn’t think anything of it. It kind
of only hit me after we made the movie and I kinda thought “wow, yeah I wonder
how this is gonna go down.” But it’s been cool so far and people don’t seem to
have a problem with the two roles.
Is this something
that you can see yourself doing again, if it arose? Given your size, I guess
you could easily become typecast?
Definitely. I want to
do it again. Anything like this good for development and helps you to expand as
a performer. If I get typecast, so be it! I mean there are plenty worse things
in life than being typecast, “oh no, I gotta go and do another movie, ah man!”So,
yeah I would love to do this again and we’ll see how it goes.
So, when you started
with the company, what were your goals back in Deep South and FCW?
It was all about
taking baby steps. To be honest, I just felt I had been on an amazing journey to
even get to be with WWE. All I wanted to do was move up the card. I didn’t get
ahead of myself – you start in developmental, then you get on roster, then you
wanna try to get on TV and then you hope that you can work in a good feud and
so on. It’s all about small steps at that stage.
And in 2008 – when you
were released – did you kind of write it off, was there part of you that had
given up on working with WWE again?
Well don’t get me
wrong, I had no delusions of grandeur, I left and went back to being a bodyguard.
I mean I knew I’d wrestle again with but I just had to work hard it and try again
to work for them. I didn’t give up even though it was a setback. By 2010 I was
back with the company.
What are your
memories of NXT? It looked like a fun show to work on?
Oh yeah, NXT was a lot
of fun. It gave us all the chance to expand. We’d get there and they’d say “so
what are you going to do?” and we’d be like “we don’t know!” So there was a lot
of room to be creative. I mean even though were competing with one another,
everyone was really supportive of one another. It was a great group to work in.
So, I’m sure you’ve
been asked this many times but how did the Funkasaurus character come about?
Well, the nickname was
something that was invented by my trainer, Rob. We kind of played around with
it and then I think it was Bill De Mott who came up with ‘Planet Funk’ and it
kind of spiralled from there. The American Dream, Dusty Rhodes, worked on my
entrance with me and then we realised that I couldn’t dance! He just said “one
you hear that crowd, you’ll know what to do”
First time you did
that entrance was live on Raw – that had to be nerve-wracking?
Oh yeah. I mean I was
definitely nervous. I knew that as soon as you do something like this it’s
replayed and it’s all over the internet. And I hadn’t done it in front of more
than a few of the guys really before so it was new and was so different.
Fastforward to today;
you’re really over at the live shows, you have a ton of merchandise, you have a
tag partner (Tensai) and you’re a fan favourite – so what’s the next step for
your character/for you as a performer?
Well erm… I think you
always dream of that world championship, or that one moment that you will
always remember or that WrestleMania moment – something that you can kind of
come back to again and again. I mean it’s great right now, I’m obviously
tagging with Tensai, which is a real honour, so who knows where that will lead.
Maybe something will happen for me in the singles roster.
No One Lives is out on DVD today
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