Putting an impressively literal spin on the acting idiom “break a leg”, UFC legend Conor McGregor has used his time recovering from a brutal injury last year to make his first forays into the world of acting. Looking especially swole – even compared to the newly pumped-up Jake Gyllenhaal – here’s everything we know about McGregor’s debut role…
After the star of the long-awaited Amazon Prime Video remake of Road House, Jake Gyllenhaal, made waves this weekend by revealing a killer new physique and filming a surprise fight scene in front of a live audience at UFC 285 last weekend, we thought it was high time to turn to his co-star, Conor McGregor.
Gyllenhaal is set to play Elwood Dalton, a former UFC fighter who accepts a job as a bouncer in the Florida keys, and the flick is set to be directed by Doug Liman, who previously helmed The Bourne Identity and Edge of Tomorrow – but little is known about what McGregor’s role entails.
The remake, which started shooting last August, will mark McGregor’s first Hollywood outing, but given his track record of theatrical outbursts in the octagon and beyond, he seems a pretty natural fit for his newfound industry.
Many expect McGregor to play some kind of antagonist in the movie, either Gyllenhaal’s arch-enemy or a henchman of said villain. Behind-the-scenes images that have recently emerged from shooting in the Dominican Republic show “The Notorious” standing on a boat, towering over Gyllenhaal who hangs off the side.
In these sinister images that seem to support the above theory, a particularly jacked McGregor is seen wearing an unbuttoned shirt with his chest-plate tattoo and a heavy gold chain filling out the frame.
McGregor himself has also released a series of images that seem to have been taken from the same shoot, showing him half submerged in the water, seeming to do his best impression of Daniel Craig’s famous Casino Royale moment, only with a little more clothing and a lot more beard…
Excited as we are for McGregor’s first go as a thespian, no one seems to be more hyped up than the fighter himself, the Irishman taking to Twitter to boast “I’m the highest-paid first-time actor of all time. Add that to the rest of all my accolades.”
Though we can’t confirm whether his boast about salary is true, he’s not wrong about his impressive roster of accolades: the former lightweight and featherweight champion was the first fighter to simultaneously hold two divisional titles, he has a professional record of 22-6, and is responsible for eight of UFC’s top ten most-purchased pay-per-views in its history.
McGregor went on to justify his claim and double down on the self-promotion (or self-aggrandising, as the case may be) in a later Tweet, with characteristic swagger:
“I fancy my chances [of] topping this list in record time. If the top gross off Liam’s film is $113m, as amazing as that is… Road House trebles it. And more. I reckon half a billion in all. And I be chillin’ back with the calculator rockin’ alligator.”
Conor McGregor
Though we’ve all got our fingers crossed for a knockout performance from McGregor (pun intended), UFC fans need not fear his disappearance from the sport that made him famous. After being sidelined from UFC since breaking his leg in a fight with Dustin Poirier, the Irishman claims he’s on track for a return to the ring in 2023 – full recovery and drug tests pending…