Years Before His $200M Spotify Deal and UFC Fame, Joe Rogan Received an Offer to Star in a Hollywood Movie Alongside MMA Icon and Action Star Michael Jai White

Joe Rogan is undeniably one of the most influential people in the world. His commentary work in the UFC and the success of his ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ podcast have garnered him a lot of fans and followers. Meanwhile, MMA icon and action star Michael Jai White recently revealed the 55-year-old once had the opportunity to act in a movie as well.

Joe Rogan’s friendship with martial arts instructor Eddie Bravo is well-documented. However, Bravo also trained with Michael Jai White, and that’s how the Hollywood star got acquainted with the JRE host. That was the time when he approached Rogan to work with him in a movie. Let’s see what White had to say about that.

Michael Jai White offered a movie role to Joe Rogan

During an interview with ‘djvlad’ on YouTube, Michael Jai White revealed that he had known Joe Rogan for a long time. Moreover, he offered the 55-year-old the supporting role in his movie ‘Blood and Bone’. It was arguably one of the best low-budget martial arts movies ever made. White said, “I have known Joe Rogan for a long, long time and, incidentally, I offered him the co-lead role in ‘Blood and Bone’ back in the day.”

However, acting in movies did not interest Joe Rogan. He was active in the stand-up comedy scene back then and wanted to focus on growing more as a performer in that discipline. Michael Jai White added, “He turned it down because he really wanted to focus on his comedy. He wasn’t crazy about doing movies.”

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The character in question was ‘Pinball’, which was later portrayed by Dante Basco. White added, “But I personally offered that to Joe Rogan, the ‘Pinball’ character. The guy who was managing [me].” However, Joe Rogan turned out to do pretty well for himself as the years went by.

Rogan became a success despite turning down a movie role

Joe Rogan started his ‘JRE’ podcast in late 2009. It was one of the earliest podcasts in the internet space. However, little did he know that his show would go on to become the biggest audio platform in the world. Rogan became famous for inviting guests from various walks of life and engaging in some of the most interesting discussions about a variety of issues. The JRE podcast became so popular that Spotify came to him with a multi-million dollar deal to air his show exclusively on their platform.

In addition to his success with the podcast, Rogan also became a household name as a member of the UFC’s broadcasting team. His epic reactions and insights during fights made him an important figure in Dana White‘s promotion. Besides, in 2023, he became the first comedian ever to own a comedy club.

It is safe to say that Joe Rogan did pretty well for himself. However, it remains to be known what trajectory his career would have taken if he entered the movie industry. What do you think about Rogan turning down the chance to act beside Michael Jai White? Drop your comments below.

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