Exclusive Interview by CraveOnline
Randy Couture: Yes, Ronda and Victor Ortiz are both in the third movie and both great at what they do. Ronda for all intents and purposes is the queen of mixed martial arts right now, and Victor Ortiz is a very, very accomplished professional boxer, both getting ready for competition so it was fun to be around and get to know both of them on a more personal level. Both very, very good fighters and good people.
How is Ronda making the transition for her first movie?
I was actually very impressed. She showed up every day ready to go, prepared. There was no drama, no issues, no nothing. I know my own experience going into my very first movie was a little overwhelming and it can be kind of nerve wracking when you don’t know what to expect. I thought she handled it with grace and ease. She did a great job.
Will we see her as a very difference character than we know her as in the ring?
You know, I think that Sly had her in mind when he wrote the character of Luna so I don’t think it’s going to be a huge stretch for her on the acting front to portray Luna in a real way. Obviously being an Expendable is a very physical thing and Ronda is a physical athlete so she’ll pull that off with no problem.
CraveOnline: What’s next for you? Will it be Expendables 3?
Randy Couture: We just finished shooting Expendables 3 so I’m free and clear of that. Obviously there’ll be some voiceover work and things to pick up as they get into the editing process. I’m excited to start to see some of the finished product and see what Patrick Hughes has put together.
Were there any new physical challenges on Expendables 3?
Being in a foreign country and grinding out 12-14 hour days for six days a week is always a challenge, both mentally and physically. I enjoyed the process, got to do some things I hadn’t done before that were a lot of fun. Spent a lot of time in a lot of scenes with Dolph Lundgren again and also with Wesley Snipes who was fun to be around and had a really, really good time working together.
As much as the action, one of the great things about the Expendables movies is the dialogue between all the guys. Did you have some fun lines to exchange with Snipes?
Absolutely, some good stuff happens and I don’t think there’s anybody better than Sly at coming up with those one-liners kind of straight from the locker room, straight from guys being guys. He does a great job. Patrick relied on him to fill instances where it felt like he needed to fill something and put something in. It always came out great, we laughed a lot and had a great time. To work with some of these stunt coordinators and the respect that they show me and allow me to have a say in what I’m comfortable doing and what I think should be done has been fun. J.J., with Expendables 3, was remarkable. He is a great coordinator and I think you’re going to like a lot of the stuff that he does in Expendables 3.
That’s J.J. Perry? I met him a couple years ago. He did Safe with Jason Statham. Did he not work on the previous Expendables?
No, he did not. It was the same crew of stunt people but it was Chad Stahelski from 87Eleven was the one for Expendables 2. So I didn’t get a chance to rub elbows with J.J. in 1 or 2. It was great. I think everybody’s going to appreciate a lot of the things we got to do in this movie.
J.J. always puts himself in some of the scenes as some of the background fighters. Did he do that in Expendables 3?
You know, a lot of that stuff gets shot in second unit. I would suspect that. I know he was very hands on everywhere. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him turn up.
Have you ever talked to Stallone about writing something in the MMA world?
No, I haven’t talked to him about that. Conversations we usually end up having are, “Okay, what’s the next installment of The Expendables going to look like? Where does the story go? What are we going to do? Is it going to be someplace warm this time for crying out loud?”
Do you think there’s going to be Expendables 4?
There’s already talk of a 4. I don’t see how 3 isn’t going to be successful and nobody does this better than Sly. He’s got a great group behind him with Avi Lerner and Lionsgate and Millennium so I don’t see how there’s not going to be a 4.
Awesome interview!
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