Wrestler-turned actor CM Punk says his in-ring grappling career helped his performance in horror movie Night Patrol.
CM Punk says his wrestling career helped his acting in new movie Night Patrol because there is a “synergy” between the two art forms.
The 47-year-old professional wrestler – who is the current WWE World Heavyweight Champion and competes on the RAW brand – plays a cop hiding a dark supernatural secret in Ryan Prows’ horror thriller.
Punk – real name Phil Brooks – says his near three-decade grappling career helped him on set because he is used to performing, only with acting he doesn’t get just one chance to get things right like he does in the ring.
In an interview with website Awards Radar, he said: “There’s a synergy there. You’re doing the same thing. The only difference is that one is live. With the other one, if you do mess anything up, (that being) forgetting a line or messing up your tone and inflection, you have the ability to do multiple takes.
“There’s a lot of ‘Hurry up and wait’ in both businesses. If I’ve learned anything from television and movies to apply it to wrestling, it’s working more for a camera. When I’m in a ring, wrestling in front of 20,000 people, I try to be big so the people in the cheap seats can see it. I’m almost wrestling for the people in the 300 level. When you’re doing television or film, the camera is right here (close to the face). You have to tone it down and be a little bit more subtle.”
It is Punk’s fourth foray into horror, after having previously starred in Girl on the Third Floor, Rabid and Jakob’s Wife.
Punk has always been drawn to the genre, both as a fan and an actor, because many horror movies have underlying social messages within the plots.
He said: “I think that horror movies have always been more socially conscious. They speak on a lot of social issues. Even with George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. That was social commentary about segregation. Speaking on gang violence and what I hope people take from this movie, is that the LAPD is also a gang. They have authority, they have a badge. I think it’s important to illustrate that.
“Who are the bad guys? Who are the good guys. Are you a product of your environment or is this who you are? Were you born this way? I think it’s important to ask all these questions and explore all these things because these are real life issues. If you don’t talk about it, you’re just ignoring it.”
Punk drew on his own experiences with law enforcement officials to portray his cop character in Night Patrol – which also stars Jermaine Fowler, Justin Long, Dermot Mulroney and rapper Freddie Gibbs.
He said: “Most experiences I’ve had in my lifetime with law enforcement. They haven’t been great experiences, so I relish playing that bad guy. It was a lot of fun.
“I think you can watch this movie and you can see my character, the deputy. You can think, ‘I’ve been pulled over by that guy before.’ There’s an arrogant malevolence about him. Obviously, there’s a supernatural twist in this movie. At the root of it, I want people questioning what’s scarier: A vampire or a racist with a badge? It’s something to think about.”
How did his WWE wrestling career help CM Punk on his new horror film Night Patrol?
