Conor McGregor,who just made his acting debut in theRoad Houseremake opposite Jake Gyllenhaal, asserted that acting in a Hollywood film was tougher than mixed martial arts, and it’s an opinion that UFC commentatorJoe Roganflat out disagrees with.
Road House
During interviews promoting the film, McGregor pointed out how demanding acting was compared to fighting due to the time commitment, memorizing lines, and interactions with other actors during a performance. McGregor, who plays the villainous Knox in the Prime Video remake, essentially made it clear that it was much more difficult than he realized.
“Acting [is harder]. Time, time, time consumption, and it’s not just action and fighting and stunts, it’s also remembering the line, and you have to time things correctly, you’re engaging with another person. It’s just a difficult game, a lot more difficult than I gave it credit for.”
However, during a discussionon his podcast, Rogan was quick to disagree with McGregor’s stance, referencing McGregor’s leg break at UFC 264.
“That’s crazy talk I think he [Conor McGregor] probably just meant that he’s bad at it. He broke his f**king leg in a fight…broke his leg…like that’s harder, yes that’s way harder than talk.”
McGregor became the first UFC fighter to hold UFC championships in two weight classes simultaneously and most of his victories in mixed martial arts have come by way of knockout or technical knockout from punches. His personality outside the arena was that of a trash talker, which made him even more popular in his field. It also likely made himperfectly suited for his role in the Road Houseremake as Knox, since he already has skill as a fighter and his personality made him a natural for the scene-stealing villain role.
While Rogan may not be able to speak about acting in an action film, the podcaster, known for his popular podcastThe Joe Rogan Experience, actually began his career in comedy before relocating in the late 90s to Los Angeles. He landed on several television shows, most notablyNewsRadio,where he played Joe Garrelli, a street-smart electrician and handyman. The series, which ran for five seasons and 97 episodes, was led by Dave Foley, but is probably best known for the late Phil Hartman’s character, Evelyn William “Bill” McNeal. BeforeNewsRadioended its run in 1999, Rogan started working for the UFC as an interviewer and commentator.
Conor McGregor Reveals Why He Chose Road House for His Movie Debut: ‘I’m Not an Actor, but I’m Show Business’
The MMA fighter will make his acting debut in the reimagining for Prime Video, but Hollywood was courting him long before Doug Liman came along.
Despite mixed critical reviews,Road Househas proven to be a big hit for Prime Video,registering a record-breaking 50 million+ viewerson the platform over its first two weekends. To put it in perspective, Prime Video has stated the film has had the most eyes on it in that time over any other original movie they have ever produced on their service.
