Conor McGregor makes an explosive film debut in Prime’s remake of the classic Patrick Swayze 1980s action film Road House, which stars Jake Gyllenhaal – but the former UFC champion claims there was little acting involved.
McGregor, 35, plays hired henchman Knox in the film, who poses the ultimate challenge to Jake Gyllenhaal’s Dalton, who is working to protect Frankie’s (Jessica Williams) Florida Keys bar from the thugs disrupting her business.
Knox, on the other hand, is in a class of his own, supremely confident and deadly, and is frequently seen strutting around in eye-catchingly vulgar outfits or with his bare behind on display, exuding the McGregor swag.
During the London premiere of Road House, the Irish MMA fighter and boxer stated that learning to stage fights was not a problem for him, as he prefers to fight in person.
‘I just went with it – it was a fight. We were fighting each other, that was it,’ he revealed.
‘There was no acting – there was no pulled punches. We were taking hits and we were giving hits, and you’re going to see it in the movie!’
Billy Magnussen, who plays the villainous Brandt, echoed some of McGregor’s implied chaotic energy when he revealed that their scenes kept him ‘on his toes’.
‘Working with Conor McGregor has been just a treat,’ the No Time To Die actor, 38, shared.
‘To work with an actor so curious and excited and being new and fresh – it’s exciting, but also, I didn’t know what was coming so I had to be on my toes the whole time!
‘It was a sparring match, but a fun one, and I respect the man quite a lot.’
McGregor, who claimed he was the ‘highest-paid first-time actor ever’ in a post on X in November, has said he has been courted for movie roles before.
However, this one became irresistible because of the package and the timing.
‘Road House and what Road House is [attracted me] – I’m a big fan of the original, I’m a huge fan of [Patrick] Swayze – a man that done it all – so that alone was kind of peaking [sic] my ears up.
‘Then it was just timing, I was recovering from an injury – I’d just about recovered – I was big and strong from the recovery. I wasn’t doing much cardiovascular work, I was lifting heavy. Road House called for a person like that.’
The professional fighter also had praise for his leading man Gyllenhaal, 43, because ‘any time Jake’s name is on the bill, you’re in for a good night’.
‘And then the director Doug Liman – loved The Bourne Identity, loved the films with Tom Cruise [Edge of Tomorrow], I was blessed – producer Joel Silver – I landed on my feet so I had to dive at the role,’ he added.
Lukas Gauge also appears in Road House as Billy, one of the bartenders at the roadhouse whom Dalton takes under his wing and mentors on how to be an effective bouncer.
Gauge, who starred in the Netflix series You and The White Lotus, admitted that participating in some of the stunt fights made him feel like a badass.
‘I feel like I’m usually getting my ass beat all the time in shows and now it felt good to be the one doing it back,’ he told Metro.co.uk.
‘After the training that I had, the stunt training, it felt really cool to be like, now I know how to throw a proper punch – not that I want to, I’m not a big fighter, but, you know, for the movie!’
The actor also revealed that he was surprised by how sore he became from all of the stage fighting, revealing a fairly intense preparation schedule – but it did have its advantages.
‘We did like five, six hours of training every day for two weeks, I have never been more sore in my life. Also, I’ve never had the biggest – well, they weren’t that big – muscles that I had [then] in my whole entire life! It’s like one of the best workouts I’ve ever had.
‘I also like it, it’s fun when it’s done in a safe environment, and now I actually go to boxing classes on my free time when I’m not filming. So yeah, it bled into real life.’
Road House releases exclusively on Prime Video on Thursday, March 21.
