‘Novice’ Conor McGregor Admits Taking Inspiration From MMA for ‘Road House’ Acting Debut

After becoming the most popular mixed martial artist in history, Conor McGregor went on to become the highest-paid boxing debutante, reportedly earning an eye-watering $100 million in his 2017 fight against Floyd Mayweather.

And now the former UFC concurrent two-division champion has set his sights on pursuing a career in acting, where he has become the highest paid first-time actor. As the release of his first film nears release, McGregor revealed how he used his martial arts training experience for his foray into acting.

Conor McGregor says he approached acting as a white belt

Conor McGregor’s debut film, a remake of the 1989 classic ‘Road House’ is set for worldwide release on March 21 exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. The Irishman is playing the antagonist named ‘Knox’ in the film, opposite Jake Gyllenhaal, whose character, ‘Dalton’ is a former UFC fighter working as a bouncer in a Florida Keys club where he has to deal with more than he had signed up for.

McGregor, who tried his hand at acting on the silver screen for the first time, has spoken about his challenging experience of trying his hand at acting. In a recent interview with ‘Good Morning Britain’, the bombastic Dubliner revealed that he had approached acting as he would his martial arts training, comparing his acting experience to being a white belt and trying to take directions well and do his best.

“It was an amazing experience, a lot of hard work, you know, a lot of humbling hard work and I approached it like I would approach my martial arts training, I am a novice at this, I’ve never done a movie before so I am akin to a white belt, a beginner. So I just went in I took direction well and I gave my all,” he said.

McGregor reveals he was asked to tone the crazy down

Conor McGregor stole the show as the violent and loud-mouthed ‘Knox’ in the trailer of ‘Road House’, where he is at his bombastic best, smashing objects and head-butting Jake Gyllenhaal. Many have pointed out that, only half-jokingly, the Irishman must have barely needed to have acted since his character had many of the attributes McGregor had in real life.

And while McGregor has talked about the hard work he put in, it seems the fans were right about the character of ‘Knox’ being right up his alley. The former UFC champion revealed that he had to turn down the craziness when playing ‘Knox’.

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“Yeah, it was a hell of a lot a fun my first time down. Amazing cast! They guide me, direct me, assist me and they just told me to turn the crazy down a notch and that’s what I have done. That was me turning down the notch. That was Knox,” McGregor said.

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