July 17, 2024 • 33 mins
Welcome to Unbreakable! A mental wealth podcast hosted by Fox NFL Insider Jay Glazer. On today’s episode, Jay welcomes in ‘Deadpool and Wolverine’ and ‘Mortal Kombat’ actor Lewis Tan. Lewis, one of the hottest talents in the action film industry today, shares his incredible journey, what it is like working on set with Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, why he almost turned down Mortal Kombat, his Unbreakable Moment and so much more.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is Unbreakable with Jay Glacier, a mental Wealth podcast
Build You from the inside out.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Now here's Jay Glacier.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Welcome into Unbreakable a mental Wealth podcast with Jay Glazer.
I'm Jay Glazer and my next guest here is somebody
he trains with us that I'm breakable.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Man.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
This guy is unbelievable and his career is really taken
off of the last four or five years or so,
but it comes from a martial art arts background. But
now it's just thriving in the movie industry, in the
television industry. He's got a little movie coming out here.
You may have heard of it, Deadpool Wolverine. Welcome into
one and on Lewis Tan who plays Shadow Star.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
And in this, uh this version. How you doing, Bud.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
I'm doing well, brother, doing real well. It's good chat
with you.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
You too, man, you too?
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Hey. Look, so I obviously do live TV and even
when I did Ballers, I played my normal dick yet self.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
There's no prosthetics, there's no outfits.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
When you're doing a film like you know, like like Deadpool,
how long does it take for you to get ready
just to be able to film?
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Well, that one is a little tricky because you know,
I played this character, Shadow Starr. He's an alien from
the planet Mojo World, and it's a really unique character.
And I got the craziest hair that in all of
the Marvel universe. And so he's got this like crazy
long red like locks and braids, so that takes a
long time to put on. But other than that, it's
(01:26):
pretty pretty easy.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Guy, Like, how long how long does that take? So
that's a daily thing? How long?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Yeah, I know, maybe about an hour hour and a half,
all right.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Not too bad.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
How much fun is it on the set with these
two guys?
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Oh? Man, it's unreal. Yeah, they're they're incredible guys to
work with. And Ryan Is he's a genius.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Man.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
He's like consistently writing even even in between takes as
much work as he's doing. He's writing lines for other
characters in between takes like improvisation and just like the
guy's so smart and he'll just give you a line here,
tried this one, here, tried this one. Man. It's great
to work with, good energy, and so it was huge, yeah,
really really positive guys and hilarious. It was just like
(02:06):
everybody's just cracking up all day on set, so it
was a good fun environment.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
You know, when you film a movie like that, when
do you get to see the final product?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Is like with the rest of us.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Sometimes I'll get to see some things early, depending if
i'm doing you know, adr if there's like, you know,
post production things that I get to see clips of.
Sometimes I'll get to see a sneak peek of the film.
This one I haven't seen yet. I've been traveling around
and I'm actually excited just to watch it on the
big screen. So I'll be going to New York for
the world premiere on the twenty second, and that'll be
(02:37):
the thick time that I see it.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
That'll be the first time you see it.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Yeah, I think they just finished the cut last week,
so it's it's still you know, they were cutting this
thing into well shit really last week. Yeah, Wow, I.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Don't watch I don't watch myself over on Fox what
you're supposed to, which I did earlier in my career
to help oversite improve right, you gotta deal with it,
But now I don't because it's, Man, it's uncomfortable for
me and I'm kind of formed what my style is
going to be.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
But when I would do ballers.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
I would ship my pets because like live TV, I
know if I screw up there on the spot or not,
how it went.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Bam, and then you move on to the next live segment.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
When I was doing that, man, I was so nervous
because you just don't know how they're going.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
To cut it and what's going to come out.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Right when you go in a movie, what kind of nerves.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Do you have?
Speaker 3 (03:19):
It's tricky, man, you know, and not type a situation
like in Dead Pull Woverine. You just got to trust
these guys know what they're doing. Sean Levy, the director's incredible.
Ryan's incredible. Like you're working with great people and you're
just hoping that they're going to do the best. But
it's not always that way. You know. I've done TV series,
I've done films that you know, you really have to
(03:39):
guard your performance carefully. You know, you don't want to
give them too many things that they could use in
the edit room and make your performance, you know, come
out a completely different way. But having said that, your
job as an actor is just to act, So you know,
if the director wants different takes and different things and
different perspectives of the character, different aim of it or
(04:00):
different performances. Then you got to give it to them,
you know, and just hope that they do their best
with the cut. But yeah, it can be hard to
control those things, you know. So I just got to
do my best and then leave it up to the
universe to decide after that.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Have you ever had.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
A situation about a lot actors who said they've filmed
something for a while and they show up to the
premiere and they're not in it or they're totally cut.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Down, then, I mean, I've had that situation on the
highest levels, you know. I mean, like, for instance, when
I was doing morel Kombat. That's a big film for me.
It was my first like leading role in a big
studio picture. A lot of work, so much stress, not sleeping,
performing all my own fight scenes, you know, and just
(04:43):
like I'm the first person on set, last person to leave.
I'm getting no sleep at all, and put my heart
and soul into it. And then you know, I watched
the cut of that movie when we were finished. It
was a rough cut, and it was great. It was awesome,
and there was some really you know, amazing fights, some
amazing choreography. Then some of those scenes that I loved
(05:04):
got cut in the final film, and man, it is
gut wrenching. I can't explain it to you. It's and
it's not even coming from like an ego perspective. It's
just like, you know, you put so much hard work
into something and then for whatever reason, you know it
could be time, a time constrained thing, and who knows
what the reason is, but they you know, some of
those scenes that you love, then they get cut. It's
(05:26):
like losing your part of your soul. You know, it's crazy.
But yeah, like I said, man, it's a wild game,
it's a wild business, and you've got to you got
to be able to roll with it.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Also, you kind of took a different road than a lot, right,
You were doing more stumps and then kind of extra
if you will, and then all of a sudden, you
know you're putting your time, putting in your time. I
have done a lot of TV shows, You've got Netflix
shows now, but getting Mortal Kombat and I think back
in what like three years ago, and you do that right,
playing Cole Young obviously the starring role in that, taking
(05:57):
through some of that journey, just to what it was
like on the path to that and do you always
have to do you have to like always believe, hey,
I'm gonna get to that level, or do you just say,
you know, I'm just gonna enjoy the ride whatever comes.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Well, obviously, I think you have to have a strong
mentality when it comes to belief in yourself, you know,
I mean, I don't think anyone can get anywhere without
a strong belief in yourself, you know, at least a
belief in that you can accomplish things. My intention isn't
it was never to be you know, famous or a celebrity.
My intention is to make great movies. And that is it.
(06:32):
If it paid me one hundred dollars a day to
make great movies, I would be making I would be
doing the same thing. You know, I would figure out
another way to make money, but I'd still be making films.
The films is what's important to me. So you know, yeah,
like you said, there's been actors that they jump and
skip levels somehow and are next thing, you know, they're famous.
You know, within a year. For me, it took me
(06:53):
fifteen years of doing every single thing on a film
like you were just saying. So, you know, I was
going to acting school, I was training, but I was
doing stunts. I was doing martial arts. I had a
role here and there where I just had a line
or two. And then next thing, you know, I got
a you know, a guest starring role where I'm there
for one episode and I have some scenes. Then after that,
I got you know, a reoccurring guest star role where
(07:15):
I'm onnth with three episodes. Then five years later, I'm
doing you know, I get my first leading role where
I'm but I'm still a co star. And so now
it's ten episodes and literally just climbing the ladder bit
by bit by bit and enjoying myself, learning, working with
great talented people that are inspiring me, and slowly, slowly
building to the point where now fifteen years later, I'm
(07:38):
getting close to these bigger films, these bigger pictures. So
when Mortal Komat came around, it was like they sent
me the script. You know, my agents said, you know,
what do you think about this? And to be honest
with you, at first, I was I was hesitant to
do it. I actually said no at first because because
that's such a beloved IP. I mean, everyone's that video games.
(08:01):
I was like obsessed with that game when I was
a kid, you know, I mean, I got three younger brothers.
We'd sit there, we'd play for hours. And also it's
like it's martial arts, you know, so you need to
be careful when you take something that's so beloved and
you commit to being part of that. You want to
make sure that it's in the right hands, that they're
going to do it correctly. They're gonna, you know, they're
going to honor the the game, the choreography is going
(08:22):
to be badass, you know, the directors are going to
be great and all that.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
So, yeah, that's that's a lot of pressure to keep
up in those fans'.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Eyes, right exactly, And it's a lot of Yeah. So
I originally wasn't you know, was hesitant, but after a while,
I you know, they got my friend Joe Taslim, who
was in the Raid. He's an incredible actor. He was
playing sub zero and he's like an Olympic judo guy
and he's also a phenomenal actor. He's also starring in
the show Warrior on HBO Max. But anyway, so like
(08:51):
when they started to put together that talent, Hiroyuki Sanada,
one of the greatest Legends of Japan. Incredible actor. It
was in all these you know, he's I've done eighty
different movies. He's a legend. Now he's the lead, and
showed them and everyone's like, oh my god. You know,
his performance is incredible. He might even get an Emmy.
So they're putting together this type of talent and I
was like, Okay, now I see the vision. I see
(09:13):
where they're going with this. And so yeah, the took
the opportunity and ended up getting the role. So that's
where the work starts. You know, it takes you all
this and now you get this opportunity and now that's
the Now that's the start. It's crazy, but it's interesting.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
That wasn't like you got the part and you're like,
come in. You're like, I don't know, because you hadn't
been a leading man at that point.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
That takes balls, dude, Yeah, thank you man. I want
to do it right. I want to do it justice,
and not only that, Yeah, I want to know that
I'm in good hands and I'm working with the right people.
And you know, my father has been in this business
for a long time. You know, he's he's been a
martial artist. He's He's done fight choreography stunts for like
Indiana Jones, The Batman with Tim Burton and Jack Nicholson,
(09:57):
Pirates of the Caribbean, Leith Weapon, Rush Hour, all these movies,
and you know, I want to honor not only that
but his legacy as well, you know. So, yeah, it
had a lot of pressure.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Has a lot of pressure. I had a thing when
I was on my journey.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Again, you have fifteen years where it was like pound
your head, I guess the all right, And I my
first eleven years, I was making nine four hundred and
fifty bucks a year living in New York City, like man,
I know.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Being broken in the apartment.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
I had the refrigerator blocked the bathroom door, so you
can never go to the bathroom with the door.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
And then I would have my bills turned off.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
The only bill I couldn't get turned off with my phone, Milt,
because I had to get scoops.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
So I would kind of.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Play bill roulette, like all right, well I'm gonna shot
off my guest this month, or my electricity this month
or whatever. It was fucking brutal, but I would also
play a mind game with myself.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
If you will, I.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Would say you know what. I read something the prayer book.
I said, appreciate the toil of the climb. So I said,
I really, really truly convince myself. Man, all this like
I'm at a press conference or I'm gonna practice, or
I'm just in the room with these other people. I
grew up watching on TV the journey itself like this,
the pot of Gold to the end of the Rainbow. I
(11:12):
didn't know if I was gonna become Jay Glaizer foxing
for Sunday.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
I didn't know if I was. I knew none of it.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
I just wanted to appreciate every second. And there's work
fooling yourself for trying to convince yourself into doing that.
What are some of the things that you kind of
did to yourself to be able to go on this
journey and not get down as you're look.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
The key to what both you and I do.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Is being the last motherfucker standing when everybody else is
quitting because they can't deal with rejection and get turned
down over and over and over.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
We're standing there with their hands raised.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
That's that's crazy, man. I didn't know that. So you
had you were living in a little tetris box Oh my.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
God, dude, it is brutal. It was brutal.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
That's amazing. You know, Like, look, I know you talked
to a lot of inspirational people, you know a lot
of you know, these guys that are doing great things
out there in many different worlds, not just sports. You know,
but I think that you can probably agree with me.
Like the mentality that you just said is the key
that every single person that you talk to that's really
had some sort of success will probably tell you some
(12:11):
a similar story or in a similar way. And it's like,
you know, like Whinston Churchill said, like success is going
from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm. That's that's the key.
And the thing is, it's like you can hear that
quote and you could be like, you know, yeah, like
I'm gonna write down on the wall, and but you're
a human. You have emotions and feelings. You're for sure
(12:33):
going to feel down. You're for sure going to feel
the loss of enthusiasm. You know when you when you
put your heart and soul into something and you know
it doesn't turn out the way that it's meant to
be or the way that you see it's meant to be.
But that's the key. It's like like what you said,
enjoying that process and putting yourself in the mentality of
this is what's gonna make me great, this this journey.
(12:53):
I wouldn't change a single thing like how I came
up in the in the film industry. I wouldn't change
a single thing as much as it was driven crazy,
as much as I like would lose role after role.
At the role three months of auditioning, flying here and there,
doing all these meetings, and then boom, I lost the role.
It's like the world crashes down on you. How do
I wake up the next day and just start again,
(13:14):
you know, and and still have that passion. But like
you said, those those are beautiful moments. Those are like
I look back on those now and I'm like, man,
that was that gave me like this fire inside, Like
that's that That's what helped me get to where I'm
at now. And now it's just like like I was saying, now,
it's just you climb a mountain and then you realize
there's another mountain. You climb that mountain, you realize there's
(13:36):
another mountain. But it's like enjoy the climb, enjoy the
climb and just look at the view and be like, Wow,
I'm grateful for this, Like this is incredible. You know
I've I've had times too, man, when I was living
off a freaking a cup of needles from that, you know,
but like years straight, like I didn't. You know, everything
that I have I earned like bit by bit by bit.
(13:56):
That to me is is the best. I wouldn't trade
that for anything. That's so valuable, you know what I mean. Yeah,
that's how I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Also, but for you to get Mortal Combat and things say,
I'm not sure, and that takes balls, right because it's it's.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
We work so hard for that break. That's a different
level of I would say courage.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Yeah, well, I think it's also just the feeling. Like
I said, you know, like I know, these things are
not going to be handed to you. Nothing, nothing like
that is given to you on a platter. If you've
worked hard enough and you are meticulous in the way
that you're designing your life and your mentality, then nothing
can ever mess with that. If I don't get that job,
(14:35):
guess what, I'm still here. I'm still going to be
doing movies, and there'll be another one coming you know
what I mean. So that's the mentality that it happens now, like,
oh my god, there's my chance. I got to you know,
that anxious over anxious kind of you know, needy energy
that doesn't attract the right things.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
You and I met because obviously a love of martial
arts and you're training with me out Unbreakable. Where has
what we learn from Marshall Arts and give our listeners
here just a little background on you in your martial
arts experience, but where as also you're training in martial.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Arts helped you in pursuing your dream and acting.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Oh man, it's been invaluable. Yeah, like you know, I mean,
you see, I'm in I'm in Unbreakable. If I'm in
LA I'm there three four days a week at least,
and that's that's a lot considering you know, I have
a lot going on.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Fucking up all my bags and equipment.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
Yeah, I did. I think I broke I think I
think one of the first times I ever came, I
broke one of the bags off the wall. I think
you were there that.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Yeah I was, And I'm like, what the fuck.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
Louis, Well now you've got the real story.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Yeah, you just made us improve the place. Yeah, and
we'll go with that.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
But no, it's it's it's been invaluable. And I'm sure
you you know this. It's like in martial arts, you're
forcing yourself to do the hard things, and you're forcing
yourself to be put your putting yourself in situations that
are not comfortable, and that is the like you're choosing
to do this day after day and and you're you know,
you're suffering injuries and you're getting up again and you're
(16:04):
doing it again. And it's like that's the same mentality
that we're just discussing. It's like nothing is harder than
getting kicked in the face or elbowed in the face.
You know, if I lose, if I lose a role,
I guarantee you getting kicked in the face hurts more
than you know what I mean. So it puts yeah,
it puts you in a different mentality of not just
(16:24):
physical toughness, but mental mental toughness. And I love it
because also as much as it's violent and as much
as there's a lot of physical exertion and energy going
out to me, it clears my mind. It clears my mind,
and it makes me feel more peaceful, you know, And
I love that about that. It's like you can handle that,
(16:45):
then you can handle anything. And then obviously it coincides
with my work and what I do, and yeah, I
like to be able to actually do the martial arts
in the films, actually do the fights, and so it's
that visceral experience that you see on the screen comes
across much greener, you know.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Tell her a listeners, what your background is a martial
arts your dads.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
So, my father was a national champion in taekwondo. He's
been doing and fighting and competing in martial arts for
many years. He trained with like Benny the jet Yukidez.
He's like og martial art from back in the day,
and he's been training me since I was a kid.
So I started doing kickboxing. Then I was doing amateur
kickboxing tournaments. So they're called like Smoker fights with fighting
(17:27):
Jim's like three minutes, three rounds, three minutes. I was
doing that for a while and then since then I've
just been training Muay Thai a little bit of everything,
you know. And now that I've done all these different movies,
I get the chance to work with these great guys
like you know, Arnold Chun and unbreakaball. Like, these guys
are training the best of the best, you know, UFC fighters,
(17:48):
professional boxers. He's out going to start a camp now
for the Jake Paul card and this and that. So like,
these are the guys that are actually out there doing
these things, you know what I mean? And I get
I'm fortunate enough that I get to train them. So yeah,
a little bit of everything. I would say, swords, weapons,
kung fu, karate. But my my, my bread and butter,
(18:10):
my favorite is is more time. So yeah, yeah, it's cool.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
We'll send the gym.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Sometimes it will be I'll be there with like Randy
Gator and Chuck Lddell, He'll be uh Lewis will be
in there with Michael Chai White and Ortal John And
I'm like, man, if.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
The rest of the world could walk in here right now,
we could probably sell this as a pretty damn cool
experience for martial arts.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
That's a really unique gym. I swear, you know, I'm
not you know, I'm not just saying that because we're chatting,
but it is. It's a very unique experience because, yeah,
at any given time, you could walk in there could
be NFL players, rappers, actors, UFC, fighters, boxers all in
one spot. And you know, the gym is quite small,
so you can see and everyone's doing everything at the
(18:50):
same time. So yeah, it's but I love that energy there.
I love it.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Yeah, we're a team and that's what I you know,
I did as much for my own mental health. I
need the team, right like I need these fight teams.
I've got to have it around me. So when I
come in there, no matter how crappy my day is,
I got my team.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
I'm way better off.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Listen, man, you know I've never I've never told you,
uh maybe I haven't told you this before, but I
really appreciate what you've done, and like I appreciate you
letting me be a part of that family too, because
it helped me a lot. And it's a it's a
very unique place. You know. I was just in London
for a few months and I don't have a place
like that there, you know what I mean. It's and
and it makes me miss it, man, and I see
on the Instagram and I'm like, damn, I want to
(19:26):
I want to be there.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
It's great the connections we get and fight gym or man,
they're just or gym, like that was just it's lifelong brotherhoods.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Yeah, and we get to cheer.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Each other on.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
And what I love about it is, you know, I
like I was saying, like my dad grew up fighting
in the Jets Center is the old martial art gym
in LA, Like those are the real deal gyms. And
when you go to those type of gyms, people you know,
they're they're they're grinding, they're training hard, you know. And
I love that about a breakball because I know when
I go there, we're gonna I'm gonna get it in.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
We're there to look pretty your last years only gym.
A lot of the three people I specifically.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Did not put one mirror in the gym.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Do you ever realize that, Yeah, that's a single mirror.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
And you know why.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
It's because I view us as a team and I
didn't want any of us to have our back turn
to the rest of the team looking at ourselves.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
That's smart, man.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
It was an intentional thing, yep, to be a better team.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
Yeah, that's fine.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
I want to get back to again your journey here.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
When did you really give me the moment you realize like,
holy shit, my life has changed like man, I made
it and life has changed, like that cool last moment,
like how the fuck did.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
I get here?
Speaker 3 (20:36):
I mean, I have that moment. I feel like I
have that moment quite often, Like you know, I was,
I was, like we were just talking about earlier, but
I was at I was at the cann Film Festival
a month ago, I think, and I was walking up
the red carpet, and you know, that's an iconic place,
like that's like an iconic red cart That's the place,
the red carpet of all of them, You'll never get
(20:58):
another experience like that. It's it's absolutely absurd. And you know,
every single director, every single actor is there, every single
producer is there. And I'm standing at the top of
this of this red carpet, and you know, there's paparazzi everywhere.
There's like literally three hundred, four hundred photographers on both
sides of the red carpet shooting. But I had already
walked past all that, So I'm going to the top
(21:19):
of the red carpet and I turned and I turned
around just to look and just take it in and
just see, you know, and visualize like one day I
will have I'll you know, I'll have a movie here
that's up for you know, the Best Best Film Award,
or a movie that I directed will be here. I can't,
you know, like and just visualizing it. And there's this
(21:40):
funny paparazzi picture of me looking like a doork because
you know, everybody to everyone's posing and I'm up there
just like staring at it, just trying to like visualize.
But that's one of, you know, one of those moments.
It's just like you always have these little little moments,
but you're talking about what is the one?
Speaker 2 (21:58):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Well, I mean obviously getting Mortal Kombat was a big
one for me. At that point in time, I was
reading for a few other leads in different movies and
I didn't get those movies, and so it was like
I was very upset. I went to Japan. I was
in Japan doing some just meditation, and I was up
in this place called Hakone where they have like all
the hot springs. So I'm just like chilling up there
(22:22):
clearing my head because I just went through like a
six month process and lost lost the role. So I
was like, damn. At the same time, I was reading
from Mortal Kombat, but I hadn't heard about I haven't
heard back from that yet. So I'm in Japan and
hanging out and just meditating, and then I get a
call when I was at the airport and I'm flying
back from from Japan to LA and my agents were like,
(22:45):
you got you got the role, you know. So it
was just like this crazy, crazy high and this huge low.
And then I was literally in Japan to get myself
back on track mentally because I was I was bad. Man.
I was like, that was a moment that I was like, damn,
you know, but I know that if I take a
(23:07):
few days off, if I disconnect from my phone and
social media, if I'm around people that love me, if
I sit there and I and I and I really
clear my head, I'll be able to come back and
start again, you know, and continue. And yeah, sure enough,
I didn't even need to. I didn't even land in
LA before I got the news. So he over to yeah, yeah,
(23:33):
on the plane, on the plane there. So on the
on the plane going to Japan, I lost. I had
lost the role. I heard at the airport. I heard
at the airport, flew to Japan, dropped to Japan just
like chilled out and on the way back, heard that
I got I got the other movie. No, yeah, wow,
(23:54):
I mean just but but but that's just like got
to keep the faith. You got to keep the faith
and your emotions, like like, you can't attach yourself to
these things so much because it'll just drive you crazy
about you know, the clear the clear mind is the
clear mind is the state where you can manifest everything.
You have to have that. You have to have that
grounded clear mind, and then from that point on you
(24:16):
can manifest anything, you know what I mean. So yeah, man,
it's it's I hope that I never had the feeling
that I've made it. I hope I never have the
feeling that, oh my god, I've made it. I'm here.
I don't want that feeling. I want to continue, you know,
having goals and trying to accomplish them. You know, but
you could do you could do both.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
I think that's where people like us get in trouble
is we always.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Think that by feeling that it keeps our itch.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
We still have a rutch.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Our edge is going to be in us no matter what.
We're never going to be like, hey I've eaten and
I'm not hungry anymore. It doesn't happen, but we put
that in our minds. So I've started to go the
other way. And funny we were, so we were. There's
two things I've had the same conversation with How We
Long on our show both tops. One time we're hosting
the fucking pre Emmys show. So it's me How We Long,
(25:09):
Jimmy Johnson, Kurt Menafee at the desk and the Emmys
in LA and Terry Brawnshaw and Michael Strahan doing interviews
with the slubs and the last desk on the red
carpet is us and we finish up.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
We go from we go from posting. It's basically a
postgame show.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
Eagles are playing the Cowboys, and it goes right to
us to host the Emmys pre show and when the
last thing that everyone comes to and then we throw.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
It inside to start the Emmys.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
And I turned to How We Long and I said
this another time, same exact thing to Howie before where
we all got inducked in the TV Hall of Fame
the first ever sports show, and that's how I'm holding
a trophy and I'm like, Wow, it's the first trophy
I ever got.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Without having to beat the hell out of somebody for it.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Right, But I turned to how we both times say man,
I know we're supposed to act like we've been there before,
but fuck that I have this ship is cool, like, man,
we got it's cool, Like, yeah, I made it.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
This is great.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Doesn't mean it takes away in my hunger.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
That's true. Yeah, No, that's a good point. That's a
good point. Maybe I will. I will use that well.
And I do, though I do. I have moments where
I'm like, oh my god, this is insane, Like even
when I'm you know, even though I'm standing in the
room with freaking Wolverine, like I'm like, you know, I
take a love like that's Wolverine, you know, and that's
(26:27):
it's crazy, you know what I mean. But those are
just for me, little little sparks. I'll take that in
a little bit. You know, I'm not gonna sit and
soaking it, but I'll.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
I still enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
But you you'll never lose your hunger. But I wake
up every day thanking God. And then I say, man,
I still feel like I'm wait waiting to wake up
in fifth grade and none of this happened. Yeah, right,
so that's the thing.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
But you definitely.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
But I think a lot of us put our we
say no, we got to stay down here, We've got
to stay humble. And I think we have to start
training ourselves to be proud of these things. It doesn't
mean it loses our humility. Like, man, I've done this,
this is great. I worked my ass off and now
I've done this. This is awesome. And and think about it,
you could operate. If you operate from a position of joy,
(27:11):
you'll bring in a lot more joy.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
One hundred. I agree with you, and I think you know,
I talk about it a lot with my close circle.
But being grateful and staying in that place of gratefulness
also brings you joy. But like that place of gratefulness
is where you need to be at all times as
soon as you get out. I mean I've had moments
where I, you know, I just wasn't I wasn't there mentally,
(27:33):
I wasn't thinking about that. I was just so soaked
in what I was doing. And and sometimes you know,
as an actor, especially, you know, you get a lot
of things given to you, You get you know, these
all these nice perks, but you and then if if
you start to buy into that, that's right, you know,
you start to buy into your own hype. Yes, that's
the problem.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
That's a problem.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Yeah, right, And that's the thing I think a lot
of people think, well, if you enjoy it, it's showing
that you're not humble any more. No, we can separate them.
You can enjoy the ship out of it and still
stay really home.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
Life is beautiful, my friend.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Last two questions for you. Give me something from the set.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Of Dead Bull Wolverine that was just hilarious. Great, something
funnier son about the movie.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
We don't know, dude. They have this dog. It's a
dead it's called dog Pull and it's in the trailer.
If you look, if you look up the trailer and
you pull up a picture, you can see this dog.
This dog was voted the ugliest dog in the world.
And it's very unique looking out.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
Politically correct with the dog's feelings.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
Yeah, it's like, so this it's got its tongue and
it's like hanging out down past its chin. It doesn't
really have fur. It's kind of like, you know, like
the rat skin and rat skin, but it's patchy and
it's a very very very frightening looking dog. And Ryan
has this with this dog I don't even know if
(29:01):
I'm allowed to say this, but you'll you'll you'll see
when you watch the movie. But let's just say that
that that Ryan and the dog get very very close
and friendly and bro, that was hard. That was hard
to watch. Really, that was hard to watch, relious, How
long are you on set watching that? For? I just
(29:21):
saw a glimpse of it and then I couldn't. I couldn't.
I couldn't.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
So dog Pool and Deadpool get it on a fantastic
My last thing I got for you, the very last question.
I asked every one of my guests that this has
been awesome, litist, I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
Yeah, it's fun.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Give me your unbreakable moment, the moment in your life
that should.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
Have broken you, could have broken you, but didn't, and
as a result, you came through the other side of
that's a little stronger forever.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
Well, first off, let me just say this, those moments
could happen daily, and then they could be also small,
and you know, those are things that you need to
just like have a mindset that you're not gonna let
any any of these things a movie or affective. You
have to start with that mindset. You know, but in
order to prepare for like big moments like for instance,
(30:08):
one thing I can think of that really affected me
mentally was, after all this thing that things that we've
talked about, right, I've done leaves and Netflix shows, movies,
worked my way up to this, got this movie Mortal Kombat,
finally did it, put myself through seven months of filming,
(30:28):
performed everything myself. The film's done, Okay, it's in the
can you watch the movie? Great, Then there's a pandemic.
The pandemic happens, and no movie theaters are open.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
My first you win your whole life.
Speaker 3 (30:45):
This is the one that I've been working for and
I put everything into and there's no movie theaters open none.
So my film premiered at the weirdest time, like ever
in history, where there's no freaking movie theater is open.
And it just went like at the time I think
they were doing the studio did a deal where they
(31:07):
were dropping it online at the same time that it
came out in theaters, because there was some some theaters
open in some sort of certain places, but no one's
going to the movie theater, no one, And so yeah,
so it came out and then it got dropped online
at the same time. And man, let me tell you
that I was in Thailand filming another movie when when
(31:30):
this happened. In Thailand, we were allowed to go to
the movie theaters. We had to wear masks and stuff,
but we were allowed to go to the movie theaters.
So I saw my movie for the first time by
my damn self in a movie theater with a mask
on in Thailand. Whereas you know, in my head, I'm like,
I'm getting the world premiere. We're gonna do this big thing.
(31:52):
We're going to London, We're gonna do a red carpet.
And then that it messed me up mentally for while,
because it was just like every single other thing is
out of my control and I have no you know,
I did all the right things and then doesn't it
doesn't need to get it premiere. So it was tricky, man.
(32:13):
But I will say this, after getting over that mentally,
it was actually a really beautiful thing because it kind
of reset me in a way that was like, all right,
keep going, keep going, because you're you're you know, it's
it just gave me that passion again to like just
keep going, man, keep going. This is those things are
out of my control. All I can do is do
the best work possible, and that is that's the mentality
(32:36):
I need to have, and I'll never again think, Okay,
I need this, I need to have the premiere I
need to have. You know, of course we want those things.
We want the successful box office. You know, two of
my movies already have made a billion dollars to the
box office. There's only a few movies that have ever
done that. And Dead and Dead for Wolverines coming out
soon and I guarantee it's going to happen again. But
so the box office thing, of course I want that.
(32:57):
Of course, what actor doesn't want to achieve those types
of things. But at the end of the day, man,
it's all about the work. It's all about am I
being the best I can be? And after that you
just be grateful and give it up to God, and
that's it.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
Louis. I appreciate you, man, I love you dude for
coming on.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
I'm excited to see Deadpool and Wolverine and us chatter
Star with your big all red flowy hair.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
Man.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
I really appreciate you. Man, Hey, I appreciate your brother.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
It was a pleasure. Thank you, Louis Dan, Thank you
for joining us here. Unbreakable pleasure, brother, thank you.
This is Unbreakable with Jay Glacier, a mental Wealth podcast
Build You from the inside out.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Now here's Jay Glacier.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Welcome into Unbreakable a mental Wealth podcast with Jay Glazer.
I'm Jay Glazer and my next guest here is somebody
he trains with us that I'm breakable.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Man.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
This guy is unbelievable and his career is really taken
off of the last four or five years or so,
but it comes from a martial art arts background. But
now it's just thriving in the movie industry, in the
television industry. He's got a little movie coming out here.
You may have heard of it, Deadpool Wolverine. Welcome into
one and on Lewis Tan who plays Shadow Star.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
And in this, uh this version. How you doing, Bud.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
I'm doing well, brother, doing real well. It's good chat
with you.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
You too, man, you too?
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Hey. Look, so I obviously do live TV and even
when I did Ballers, I played my normal dick yet self.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
There's no prosthetics, there's no outfits.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
When you're doing a film like you know, like like Deadpool,
how long does it take for you to get ready
just to be able to film?
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Well, that one is a little tricky because you know,
I played this character, Shadow Starr. He's an alien from
the planet Mojo World, and it's a really unique character.
And I got the craziest hair that in all of
the Marvel universe. And so he's got this like crazy
long red like locks and braids, so that takes a
long time to put on. But other than that, it's
(01:26):
pretty pretty easy.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Guy, Like, how long how long does that take? So
that's a daily thing? How long?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Yeah, I know, maybe about an hour hour and a half,
all right.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Not too bad.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
How much fun is it on the set with these
two guys?
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Oh? Man, it's unreal. Yeah, they're they're incredible guys to
work with. And Ryan Is he's a genius.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Man.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
He's like consistently writing even even in between takes as
much work as he's doing. He's writing lines for other
characters in between takes like improvisation and just like the
guy's so smart and he'll just give you a line here,
tried this one, here, tried this one. Man. It's great
to work with, good energy, and so it was huge, yeah,
really really positive guys and hilarious. It was just like
(02:06):
everybody's just cracking up all day on set, so it
was a good fun environment.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
You know, when you film a movie like that, when
do you get to see the final product?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Is like with the rest of us.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Sometimes I'll get to see some things early, depending if
i'm doing you know, adr if there's like, you know,
post production things that I get to see clips of.
Sometimes I'll get to see a sneak peek of the film.
This one I haven't seen yet. I've been traveling around
and I'm actually excited just to watch it on the
big screen. So I'll be going to New York for
the world premiere on the twenty second, and that'll be
(02:37):
the thick time that I see it.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
That'll be the first time you see it.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Yeah, I think they just finished the cut last week,
so it's it's still you know, they were cutting this
thing into well shit really last week. Yeah, Wow, I.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Don't watch I don't watch myself over on Fox what
you're supposed to, which I did earlier in my career
to help oversite improve right, you gotta deal with it,
But now I don't because it's, Man, it's uncomfortable for
me and I'm kind of formed what my style is
going to be.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
But when I would do ballers.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
I would ship my pets because like live TV, I
know if I screw up there on the spot or not,
how it went.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Bam, and then you move on to the next live segment.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
When I was doing that, man, I was so nervous
because you just don't know how they're going.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
To cut it and what's going to come out.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Right when you go in a movie, what kind of nerves.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Do you have?
Speaker 3 (03:19):
It's tricky, man, you know, and not type a situation
like in Dead Pull Woverine. You just got to trust
these guys know what they're doing. Sean Levy, the director's incredible.
Ryan's incredible. Like you're working with great people and you're
just hoping that they're going to do the best. But
it's not always that way. You know. I've done TV series,
I've done films that you know, you really have to
(03:39):
guard your performance carefully. You know, you don't want to
give them too many things that they could use in
the edit room and make your performance, you know, come
out a completely different way. But having said that, your
job as an actor is just to act, So you know,
if the director wants different takes and different things and
different perspectives of the character, different aim of it or
(04:00):
different performances. Then you got to give it to them,
you know, and just hope that they do their best
with the cut. But yeah, it can be hard to
control those things, you know. So I just got to
do my best and then leave it up to the
universe to decide after that.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Have you ever had.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
A situation about a lot actors who said they've filmed
something for a while and they show up to the
premiere and they're not in it or they're totally cut.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Down, then, I mean, I've had that situation on the
highest levels, you know. I mean, like, for instance, when
I was doing morel Kombat. That's a big film for me.
It was my first like leading role in a big
studio picture. A lot of work, so much stress, not sleeping,
performing all my own fight scenes, you know, and just
(04:43):
like I'm the first person on set, last person to leave.
I'm getting no sleep at all, and put my heart
and soul into it. And then you know, I watched
the cut of that movie when we were finished. It
was a rough cut, and it was great. It was awesome,
and there was some really you know, amazing fights, some
amazing choreography. Then some of those scenes that I loved
(05:04):
got cut in the final film, and man, it is
gut wrenching. I can't explain it to you. It's and
it's not even coming from like an ego perspective. It's
just like, you know, you put so much hard work
into something and then for whatever reason, you know it
could be time, a time constrained thing, and who knows
what the reason is, but they you know, some of
those scenes that you love, then they get cut. It's
(05:26):
like losing your part of your soul. You know, it's crazy.
But yeah, like I said, man, it's a wild game,
it's a wild business, and you've got to you got
to be able to roll with it.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Also, you kind of took a different road than a lot, right,
You were doing more stumps and then kind of extra
if you will, and then all of a sudden, you
know you're putting your time, putting in your time. I
have done a lot of TV shows, You've got Netflix
shows now, but getting Mortal Kombat and I think back
in what like three years ago, and you do that right,
playing Cole Young obviously the starring role in that, taking
(05:57):
through some of that journey, just to what it was
like on the path to that and do you always
have to do you have to like always believe, hey,
I'm gonna get to that level, or do you just say,
you know, I'm just gonna enjoy the ride whatever comes.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Well, obviously, I think you have to have a strong
mentality when it comes to belief in yourself, you know,
I mean, I don't think anyone can get anywhere without
a strong belief in yourself, you know, at least a
belief in that you can accomplish things. My intention isn't
it was never to be you know, famous or a celebrity.
My intention is to make great movies. And that is it.
(06:32):
If it paid me one hundred dollars a day to
make great movies, I would be making I would be
doing the same thing. You know, I would figure out
another way to make money, but I'd still be making films.
The films is what's important to me. So you know, yeah,
like you said, there's been actors that they jump and
skip levels somehow and are next thing, you know, they're famous.
You know, within a year. For me, it took me
(06:53):
fifteen years of doing every single thing on a film
like you were just saying. So, you know, I was
going to acting school, I was training, but I was
doing stunts. I was doing martial arts. I had a
role here and there where I just had a line
or two. And then next thing, you know, I got
a you know, a guest starring role where I'm there
for one episode and I have some scenes. Then after that,
I got you know, a reoccurring guest star role where
(07:15):
I'm onnth with three episodes. Then five years later, I'm
doing you know, I get my first leading role where
I'm but I'm still a co star. And so now
it's ten episodes and literally just climbing the ladder bit
by bit by bit and enjoying myself, learning, working with
great talented people that are inspiring me, and slowly, slowly
building to the point where now fifteen years later, I'm
(07:38):
getting close to these bigger films, these bigger pictures. So
when Mortal Komat came around, it was like they sent
me the script. You know, my agents said, you know,
what do you think about this? And to be honest
with you, at first, I was I was hesitant to
do it. I actually said no at first because because
that's such a beloved IP. I mean, everyone's that video games.
(08:01):
I was like obsessed with that game when I was
a kid, you know, I mean, I got three younger brothers.
We'd sit there, we'd play for hours. And also it's
like it's martial arts, you know, so you need to
be careful when you take something that's so beloved and
you commit to being part of that. You want to
make sure that it's in the right hands, that they're
going to do it correctly. They're gonna, you know, they're
going to honor the the game, the choreography is going
(08:22):
to be badass, you know, the directors are going to
be great and all that.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
So, yeah, that's that's a lot of pressure to keep
up in those fans'.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Eyes, right exactly, And it's a lot of Yeah. So
I originally wasn't you know, was hesitant, but after a while,
I you know, they got my friend Joe Taslim, who
was in the Raid. He's an incredible actor. He was
playing sub zero and he's like an Olympic judo guy
and he's also a phenomenal actor. He's also starring in
the show Warrior on HBO Max. But anyway, so like
(08:51):
when they started to put together that talent, Hiroyuki Sanada,
one of the greatest Legends of Japan. Incredible actor. It
was in all these you know, he's I've done eighty
different movies. He's a legend. Now he's the lead, and
showed them and everyone's like, oh my god. You know,
his performance is incredible. He might even get an Emmy.
So they're putting together this type of talent and I
was like, Okay, now I see the vision. I see
(09:13):
where they're going with this. And so yeah, the took
the opportunity and ended up getting the role. So that's
where the work starts. You know, it takes you all
this and now you get this opportunity and now that's
the Now that's the start. It's crazy, but it's interesting.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
That wasn't like you got the part and you're like,
come in. You're like, I don't know, because you hadn't
been a leading man at that point.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
That takes balls, dude, Yeah, thank you man. I want
to do it right. I want to do it justice,
and not only that, Yeah, I want to know that
I'm in good hands and I'm working with the right people.
And you know, my father has been in this business
for a long time. You know, he's he's been a
martial artist. He's He's done fight choreography stunts for like
Indiana Jones, The Batman with Tim Burton and Jack Nicholson,
(09:57):
Pirates of the Caribbean, Leith Weapon, Rush Hour, all these movies,
and you know, I want to honor not only that
but his legacy as well, you know. So, yeah, it
had a lot of pressure.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Has a lot of pressure. I had a thing when
I was on my journey.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Again, you have fifteen years where it was like pound
your head, I guess the all right, And I my
first eleven years, I was making nine four hundred and
fifty bucks a year living in New York City, like man,
I know.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Being broken in the apartment.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
I had the refrigerator blocked the bathroom door, so you
can never go to the bathroom with the door.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
And then I would have my bills turned off.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
The only bill I couldn't get turned off with my phone, Milt,
because I had to get scoops.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
So I would kind of.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Play bill roulette, like all right, well I'm gonna shot
off my guest this month, or my electricity this month
or whatever. It was fucking brutal, but I would also
play a mind game with myself.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
If you will, I.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Would say you know what. I read something the prayer book.
I said, appreciate the toil of the climb. So I said,
I really, really truly convince myself. Man, all this like
I'm at a press conference or I'm gonna practice, or
I'm just in the room with these other people. I
grew up watching on TV the journey itself like this,
the pot of Gold to the end of the Rainbow. I
(11:12):
didn't know if I was gonna become Jay Glaizer foxing
for Sunday.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
I didn't know if I was. I knew none of it.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
I just wanted to appreciate every second. And there's work
fooling yourself for trying to convince yourself into doing that.
What are some of the things that you kind of
did to yourself to be able to go on this
journey and not get down as you're look.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
The key to what both you and I do.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Is being the last motherfucker standing when everybody else is
quitting because they can't deal with rejection and get turned
down over and over and over.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
We're standing there with their hands raised.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
That's that's crazy, man. I didn't know that. So you
had you were living in a little tetris box Oh my.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
God, dude, it is brutal. It was brutal.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
That's amazing. You know, Like, look, I know you talked
to a lot of inspirational people, you know a lot
of you know, these guys that are doing great things
out there in many different worlds, not just sports. You know,
but I think that you can probably agree with me.
Like the mentality that you just said is the key
that every single person that you talk to that's really
had some sort of success will probably tell you some
(12:11):
a similar story or in a similar way. And it's like,
you know, like Whinston Churchill said, like success is going
from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm. That's that's the key.
And the thing is, it's like you can hear that
quote and you could be like, you know, yeah, like
I'm gonna write down on the wall, and but you're
a human. You have emotions and feelings. You're for sure
(12:33):
going to feel down. You're for sure going to feel
the loss of enthusiasm. You know when you when you
put your heart and soul into something and you know
it doesn't turn out the way that it's meant to
be or the way that you see it's meant to be.
But that's the key. It's like like what you said,
enjoying that process and putting yourself in the mentality of
this is what's gonna make me great, this this journey.
(12:53):
I wouldn't change a single thing like how I came
up in the in the film industry. I wouldn't change
a single thing as much as it was driven crazy,
as much as I like would lose role after role.
At the role three months of auditioning, flying here and there,
doing all these meetings, and then boom, I lost the role.
It's like the world crashes down on you. How do
I wake up the next day and just start again,
(13:14):
you know, and and still have that passion. But like
you said, those those are beautiful moments. Those are like
I look back on those now and I'm like, man,
that was that gave me like this fire inside, Like
that's that That's what helped me get to where I'm
at now. And now it's just like like I was saying, now,
it's just you climb a mountain and then you realize
there's another mountain. You climb that mountain, you realize there's
(13:36):
another mountain. But it's like enjoy the climb, enjoy the
climb and just look at the view and be like, Wow,
I'm grateful for this, Like this is incredible. You know
I've I've had times too, man, when I was living
off a freaking a cup of needles from that, you know,
but like years straight, like I didn't. You know, everything
that I have I earned like bit by bit by bit.
(13:56):
That to me is is the best. I wouldn't trade
that for anything. That's so valuable, you know what I mean. Yeah,
that's how I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Also, but for you to get Mortal Combat and things say,
I'm not sure, and that takes balls, right because it's it's.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
We work so hard for that break. That's a different
level of I would say courage.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Yeah, well, I think it's also just the feeling. Like
I said, you know, like I know, these things are
not going to be handed to you. Nothing, nothing like
that is given to you on a platter. If you've
worked hard enough and you are meticulous in the way
that you're designing your life and your mentality, then nothing
can ever mess with that. If I don't get that job,
(14:35):
guess what, I'm still here. I'm still going to be
doing movies, and there'll be another one coming you know
what I mean. So that's the mentality that it happens now, like,
oh my god, there's my chance. I got to you know,
that anxious over anxious kind of you know, needy energy
that doesn't attract the right things.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
You and I met because obviously a love of martial
arts and you're training with me out Unbreakable. Where has
what we learn from Marshall Arts and give our listeners
here just a little background on you in your martial
arts experience, but where as also you're training in martial.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Arts helped you in pursuing your dream and acting.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Oh man, it's been invaluable. Yeah, like you know, I mean,
you see, I'm in I'm in Unbreakable. If I'm in
LA I'm there three four days a week at least,
and that's that's a lot considering you know, I have
a lot going on.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Fucking up all my bags and equipment.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
Yeah, I did. I think I broke I think I
think one of the first times I ever came, I
broke one of the bags off the wall. I think
you were there that.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Yeah I was, And I'm like, what the fuck.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
Louis, Well now you've got the real story.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Yeah, you just made us improve the place. Yeah, and
we'll go with that.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
But no, it's it's it's been invaluable. And I'm sure
you you know this. It's like in martial arts, you're
forcing yourself to do the hard things, and you're forcing
yourself to be put your putting yourself in situations that
are not comfortable, and that is the like you're choosing
to do this day after day and and you're you know,
you're suffering injuries and you're getting up again and you're
(16:04):
doing it again. And it's like that's the same mentality
that we're just discussing. It's like nothing is harder than
getting kicked in the face or elbowed in the face.
You know, if I lose, if I lose a role,
I guarantee you getting kicked in the face hurts more
than you know what I mean. So it puts yeah,
it puts you in a different mentality of not just
(16:24):
physical toughness, but mental mental toughness. And I love it
because also as much as it's violent and as much
as there's a lot of physical exertion and energy going
out to me, it clears my mind. It clears my mind,
and it makes me feel more peaceful, you know, And
I love that about that. It's like you can handle that,
(16:45):
then you can handle anything. And then obviously it coincides
with my work and what I do, and yeah, I
like to be able to actually do the martial arts
in the films, actually do the fights, and so it's
that visceral experience that you see on the screen comes
across much greener, you know.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Tell her a listeners, what your background is a martial
arts your dads.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
So, my father was a national champion in taekwondo. He's
been doing and fighting and competing in martial arts for
many years. He trained with like Benny the jet Yukidez.
He's like og martial art from back in the day,
and he's been training me since I was a kid.
So I started doing kickboxing. Then I was doing amateur
kickboxing tournaments. So they're called like Smoker fights with fighting
(17:27):
Jim's like three minutes, three rounds, three minutes. I was
doing that for a while and then since then I've
just been training Muay Thai a little bit of everything,
you know. And now that I've done all these different movies,
I get the chance to work with these great guys
like you know, Arnold Chun and unbreakaball. Like, these guys
are training the best of the best, you know, UFC fighters,
(17:48):
professional boxers. He's out going to start a camp now
for the Jake Paul card and this and that. So like,
these are the guys that are actually out there doing
these things, you know what I mean? And I get
I'm fortunate enough that I get to train them. So yeah,
a little bit of everything. I would say, swords, weapons,
kung fu, karate. But my my, my bread and butter,
(18:10):
my favorite is is more time. So yeah, yeah, it's cool.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
We'll send the gym.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Sometimes it will be I'll be there with like Randy
Gator and Chuck Lddell, He'll be uh Lewis will be
in there with Michael Chai White and Ortal John And
I'm like, man, if.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
The rest of the world could walk in here right now,
we could probably sell this as a pretty damn cool
experience for martial arts.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
That's a really unique gym. I swear, you know, I'm
not you know, I'm not just saying that because we're chatting,
but it is. It's a very unique experience because, yeah,
at any given time, you could walk in there could
be NFL players, rappers, actors, UFC, fighters, boxers all in
one spot. And you know, the gym is quite small,
so you can see and everyone's doing everything at the
(18:50):
same time. So yeah, it's but I love that energy there.
I love it.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Yeah, we're a team and that's what I you know,
I did as much for my own mental health. I
need the team, right like I need these fight teams.
I've got to have it around me. So when I
come in there, no matter how crappy my day is,
I got my team.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
I'm way better off.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Listen, man, you know I've never I've never told you,
uh maybe I haven't told you this before, but I
really appreciate what you've done, and like I appreciate you
letting me be a part of that family too, because
it helped me a lot. And it's a it's a
very unique place. You know. I was just in London
for a few months and I don't have a place
like that there, you know what I mean. It's and
and it makes me miss it, man, and I see
on the Instagram and I'm like, damn, I want to
(19:26):
I want to be there.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
It's great the connections we get and fight gym or man,
they're just or gym, like that was just it's lifelong brotherhoods.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
Yeah, and we get to cheer.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Each other on.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
And what I love about it is, you know, I
like I was saying, like my dad grew up fighting
in the Jets Center is the old martial art gym
in LA, Like those are the real deal gyms. And
when you go to those type of gyms, people you know,
they're they're they're grinding, they're training hard, you know. And
I love that about a breakball because I know when
I go there, we're gonna I'm gonna get it in.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
We're there to look pretty your last years only gym.
A lot of the three people I specifically.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Did not put one mirror in the gym.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Do you ever realize that, Yeah, that's a single mirror.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
And you know why.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
It's because I view us as a team and I
didn't want any of us to have our back turn
to the rest of the team looking at ourselves.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
That's smart, man.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
It was an intentional thing, yep, to be a better team.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
Yeah, that's fine.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
I want to get back to again your journey here.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
When did you really give me the moment you realize like,
holy shit, my life has changed like man, I made
it and life has changed, like that cool last moment,
like how the fuck did.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
I get here?
Speaker 3 (20:36):
I mean, I have that moment. I feel like I
have that moment quite often, Like you know, I was,
I was, like we were just talking about earlier, but
I was at I was at the cann Film Festival
a month ago, I think, and I was walking up
the red carpet, and you know, that's an iconic place,
like that's like an iconic red cart That's the place,
the red carpet of all of them, You'll never get
(20:58):
another experience like that. It's it's absolutely absurd. And you know,
every single director, every single actor is there, every single
producer is there. And I'm standing at the top of
this of this red carpet, and you know, there's paparazzi everywhere.
There's like literally three hundred, four hundred photographers on both
sides of the red carpet shooting. But I had already
walked past all that, So I'm going to the top
(21:19):
of the red carpet and I turned and I turned
around just to look and just take it in and
just see, you know, and visualize like one day I
will have I'll you know, I'll have a movie here
that's up for you know, the Best Best Film Award,
or a movie that I directed will be here. I can't,
you know, like and just visualizing it. And there's this
(21:40):
funny paparazzi picture of me looking like a doork because
you know, everybody to everyone's posing and I'm up there
just like staring at it, just trying to like visualize.
But that's one of, you know, one of those moments.
It's just like you always have these little little moments,
but you're talking about what is the one?
Speaker 2 (21:58):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Well, I mean obviously getting Mortal Kombat was a big
one for me. At that point in time, I was
reading for a few other leads in different movies and
I didn't get those movies, and so it was like
I was very upset. I went to Japan. I was
in Japan doing some just meditation, and I was up
in this place called Hakone where they have like all
the hot springs. So I'm just like chilling up there
(22:22):
clearing my head because I just went through like a
six month process and lost lost the role. So I
was like, damn. At the same time, I was reading
from Mortal Kombat, but I hadn't heard about I haven't
heard back from that yet. So I'm in Japan and
hanging out and just meditating, and then I get a
call when I was at the airport and I'm flying
back from from Japan to LA and my agents were like,
(22:45):
you got you got the role, you know. So it
was just like this crazy, crazy high and this huge low.
And then I was literally in Japan to get myself
back on track mentally because I was I was bad. Man.
I was like, that was a moment that I was like, damn,
you know, but I know that if I take a
(23:07):
few days off, if I disconnect from my phone and
social media, if I'm around people that love me, if
I sit there and I and I and I really
clear my head, I'll be able to come back and
start again, you know, and continue. And yeah, sure enough,
I didn't even need to. I didn't even land in
LA before I got the news. So he over to yeah, yeah,
(23:33):
on the plane, on the plane there. So on the
on the plane going to Japan, I lost. I had
lost the role. I heard at the airport. I heard
at the airport, flew to Japan, dropped to Japan just
like chilled out and on the way back, heard that
I got I got the other movie. No, yeah, wow,
(23:54):
I mean just but but but that's just like got
to keep the faith. You got to keep the faith
and your emotions, like like, you can't attach yourself to
these things so much because it'll just drive you crazy
about you know, the clear the clear mind is the
clear mind is the state where you can manifest everything.
You have to have that. You have to have that
grounded clear mind, and then from that point on you
(24:16):
can manifest anything, you know what I mean. So yeah, man,
it's it's I hope that I never had the feeling
that I've made it. I hope I never have the
feeling that, oh my god, I've made it. I'm here.
I don't want that feeling. I want to continue, you know,
having goals and trying to accomplish them. You know, but
you could do you could do both.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
I think that's where people like us get in trouble
is we always.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Think that by feeling that it keeps our itch.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
We still have a rutch.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Our edge is going to be in us no matter what.
We're never going to be like, hey I've eaten and
I'm not hungry anymore. It doesn't happen, but we put
that in our minds. So I've started to go the
other way. And funny we were, so we were. There's
two things I've had the same conversation with How We
Long on our show both tops. One time we're hosting
the fucking pre Emmys show. So it's me How We Long,
(25:09):
Jimmy Johnson, Kurt Menafee at the desk and the Emmys
in LA and Terry Brawnshaw and Michael Strahan doing interviews
with the slubs and the last desk on the red
carpet is us and we finish up.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
We go from we go from posting. It's basically a
postgame show.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
Eagles are playing the Cowboys, and it goes right to
us to host the Emmys pre show and when the
last thing that everyone comes to and then we throw.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
It inside to start the Emmys.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
And I turned to How We Long and I said
this another time, same exact thing to Howie before where
we all got inducked in the TV Hall of Fame
the first ever sports show, and that's how I'm holding
a trophy and I'm like, Wow, it's the first trophy
I ever got.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Without having to beat the hell out of somebody for it.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Right, But I turned to how we both times say man,
I know we're supposed to act like we've been there before,
but fuck that I have this ship is cool, like, man,
we got it's cool, Like, yeah, I made it.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
This is great.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Doesn't mean it takes away in my hunger.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
That's true. Yeah, No, that's a good point. That's a
good point. Maybe I will. I will use that well.
And I do, though I do. I have moments where
I'm like, oh my god, this is insane, Like even
when I'm you know, even though I'm standing in the
room with freaking Wolverine, like I'm like, you know, I
take a love like that's Wolverine, you know, and that's
(26:27):
it's crazy, you know what I mean. But those are
just for me, little little sparks. I'll take that in
a little bit. You know, I'm not gonna sit and
soaking it, but I'll.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
I still enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
But you you'll never lose your hunger. But I wake
up every day thanking God. And then I say, man,
I still feel like I'm wait waiting to wake up
in fifth grade and none of this happened. Yeah, right,
so that's the thing.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
But you definitely.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
But I think a lot of us put our we
say no, we got to stay down here, We've got
to stay humble. And I think we have to start
training ourselves to be proud of these things. It doesn't
mean it loses our humility. Like, man, I've done this,
this is great. I worked my ass off and now
I've done this. This is awesome. And and think about it,
you could operate. If you operate from a position of joy,
(27:11):
you'll bring in a lot more joy.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
One hundred. I agree with you, and I think you know,
I talk about it a lot with my close circle.
But being grateful and staying in that place of gratefulness
also brings you joy. But like that place of gratefulness
is where you need to be at all times as
soon as you get out. I mean I've had moments
where I, you know, I just wasn't I wasn't there mentally,
(27:33):
I wasn't thinking about that. I was just so soaked
in what I was doing. And and sometimes you know,
as an actor, especially, you know, you get a lot
of things given to you, You get you know, these
all these nice perks, but you and then if if
you start to buy into that, that's right, you know,
you start to buy into your own hype. Yes, that's
the problem.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
That's a problem.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Yeah, right, And that's the thing I think a lot
of people think, well, if you enjoy it, it's showing
that you're not humble any more. No, we can separate them.
You can enjoy the ship out of it and still
stay really home.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
Life is beautiful, my friend.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Last two questions for you. Give me something from the set.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Of Dead Bull Wolverine that was just hilarious. Great, something
funnier son about the movie.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
We don't know, dude. They have this dog. It's a
dead it's called dog Pull and it's in the trailer.
If you look, if you look up the trailer and
you pull up a picture, you can see this dog.
This dog was voted the ugliest dog in the world.
And it's very unique looking out.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
Politically correct with the dog's feelings.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
Yeah, it's like, so this it's got its tongue and
it's like hanging out down past its chin. It doesn't
really have fur. It's kind of like, you know, like
the rat skin and rat skin, but it's patchy and
it's a very very very frightening looking dog. And Ryan
has this with this dog I don't even know if
(29:01):
I'm allowed to say this, but you'll you'll you'll see
when you watch the movie. But let's just say that
that that Ryan and the dog get very very close
and friendly and bro, that was hard. That was hard
to watch. Really, that was hard to watch, relious, How
long are you on set watching that? For? I just
(29:21):
saw a glimpse of it and then I couldn't. I couldn't.
I couldn't.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
So dog Pool and Deadpool get it on a fantastic
My last thing I got for you, the very last question.
I asked every one of my guests that this has
been awesome, litist, I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
Yeah, it's fun.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Give me your unbreakable moment, the moment in your life
that should.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
Have broken you, could have broken you, but didn't, and
as a result, you came through the other side of
that's a little stronger forever.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
Well, first off, let me just say this, those moments
could happen daily, and then they could be also small,
and you know, those are things that you need to
just like have a mindset that you're not gonna let
any any of these things a movie or affective. You
have to start with that mindset. You know, but in
order to prepare for like big moments like for instance,
(30:08):
one thing I can think of that really affected me
mentally was, after all this thing that things that we've
talked about, right, I've done leaves and Netflix shows, movies,
worked my way up to this, got this movie Mortal Kombat,
finally did it, put myself through seven months of filming,
(30:28):
performed everything myself. The film's done, Okay, it's in the
can you watch the movie? Great, Then there's a pandemic.
The pandemic happens, and no movie theaters are open.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
My first you win your whole life.
Speaker 3 (30:45):
This is the one that I've been working for and
I put everything into and there's no movie theaters open none.
So my film premiered at the weirdest time, like ever
in history, where there's no freaking movie theater is open.
And it just went like at the time I think
they were doing the studio did a deal where they
(31:07):
were dropping it online at the same time that it
came out in theaters, because there was some some theaters
open in some sort of certain places, but no one's
going to the movie theater, no one, And so yeah,
so it came out and then it got dropped online
at the same time. And man, let me tell you
that I was in Thailand filming another movie when when
(31:30):
this happened. In Thailand, we were allowed to go to
the movie theaters. We had to wear masks and stuff,
but we were allowed to go to the movie theaters.
So I saw my movie for the first time by
my damn self in a movie theater with a mask
on in Thailand. Whereas you know, in my head, I'm like,
I'm getting the world premiere. We're gonna do this big thing.
(31:52):
We're going to London, We're gonna do a red carpet.
And then that it messed me up mentally for while,
because it was just like every single other thing is
out of my control and I have no you know,
I did all the right things and then doesn't it
doesn't need to get it premiere. So it was tricky, man.
(32:13):
But I will say this, after getting over that mentally,
it was actually a really beautiful thing because it kind
of reset me in a way that was like, all right,
keep going, keep going, because you're you're you know, it's
it just gave me that passion again to like just
keep going, man, keep going. This is those things are
out of my control. All I can do is do
the best work possible, and that is that's the mentality
(32:36):
I need to have, and I'll never again think, Okay,
I need this, I need to have the premiere I
need to have. You know, of course we want those things.
We want the successful box office. You know, two of
my movies already have made a billion dollars to the
box office. There's only a few movies that have ever
done that. And Dead and Dead for Wolverines coming out
soon and I guarantee it's going to happen again. But
so the box office thing, of course I want that.
(32:57):
Of course, what actor doesn't want to achieve those types
of things. But at the end of the day, man,
it's all about the work. It's all about am I
being the best I can be? And after that you
just be grateful and give it up to God, and
that's it.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
Louis. I appreciate you, man, I love you dude for
coming on.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
I'm excited to see Deadpool and Wolverine and us chatter
Star with your big all red flowy hair.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
Man.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
I really appreciate you. Man, Hey, I appreciate your brother.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
It was a pleasure. Thank you, Louis Dan, Thank you
for joining us here. Unbreakable pleasure, brother, thank you.
Fox Sports Radio News
Host
Jonas Knox
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