Randy Orton Talks 12 Rounds 2, Bray Wyatt/Wyatt Family, and More

Former WWE Champion Randy Orton recently sat down with IGN.com for an interview to hype the upcoming release of his movie, 12 Rounds: Reloaded. Along with comments about the film, Orton also talks a little wrestling with the IGN crew, specifically about Bray Wyatt’s upcoming move back to the WWE’s main roster and the repackaging debut of Joe Henning as Curtis Axel. Here are some excerpts from the interview…

IGN: Your character in 12 Rounds 2 is more of an “everyman” type. Not like the cop from the first 12 Rounds movie: “Yeah, definitely. Well, you know, John Cena. He couldn’t play an “everyman.” Look at him. He looks like He-Man. Put Randy Orton into the EMT outfit however and he can be an average joe. [laughs] But yeah, I agree with you. I thought that was kind of cool. Because when I heard that I was going to be in the new 12 Rounds movie I was like “Okay, get ready, Randy. You’re going to be a police officer.” But no, the character is an EMT worker and I thought that was different. In a good way. It also gave them a way to cover my tattoos up for the entire length of the movie almost with the long sleeves. So they were thinking. There was some motivation behind my profession in the movie. But it was cool because there’s a part in the film where I break a guy’s nose down in a sleazy Chinese motel in Chinatown and I tell him to immediately put pressure on it to stop the bleeding. Because I care about these people. My character doesn’t want to hurt anyone, or police officers even, but I know that my wife is in danger so I gotta do what I gotta do.”

IGN: What did you relate to most about the character?: “I’m married and I have a daughter and I naturally love my family so, for me, trying to find motivation behind the character wasn’t that difficult. I just had to think “Okay, what if my wife was kidnapped? Would I be joking around with people and making wise cracks, or would I try to get where I’m going and figure out the bad guy’s plan?” You know what I mean? It’s high stakes. That’s what the acting coach told me. These scenes are all high stakes and so all the actors have to turn it up a notch. The challenging part for me was that, aside from maybe one scene, the whole movie was high stakes. So I had to be careful not to yell too much, or use the same mannerisms too much. And I’m not an actor. I had about 20 hours of acting coaching crammed into the week before I flew up to Vancouver to star in this low-budget action movie. But I’m happy with my performance. Could it be better? Yeah, it could be better. I ain’t gonna win no Oscars. But if you go into it knowing what it is, you’ll be entertained. And if you’re a wrestling fan, you’ll be entertained.”

IGN: Finally, being a second generation wrestling star, what’s your take on the Bray Wyatt video from this past Monday’s RAW and Curt Axel’s debut a few weeks ago?: “Well, I’m used to calling him “Husky,” but Bray’s vignettes are awesome. And the other two guys down there in FCW, who are part of his team, are talented. That little group there looks great. I have no idea what we’re in for but those vignettes have everyone’s heads turning backstage. And wrestling is in Bray’s blood. He’s the son of Mike Rotunda – I.R.S.  But Curtis Axel is third generation too. And so I think there’s been a lot of pressure on Joe [Hennig] just being the son of “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig. I mean, how can there not be a lot of pressure? No disrespect to my father, but Mr. Perfect was around a little more and maybe had more of a following. So people might be more aware of who his father was and because of that I think he has a lot more to live up to. And that whole “Michael McGillicutty” thing? That was just career suicide. But he made it through that. And I think anyone who can make it through having a name like “McGillicutty” for however many years he had it is a survivor. The fact that he made it through shows you that the kid’s got some staying power. And now with Paul Heyman in his back pocket? He’s golden. Give him a couple weeks, a couple months, and he’ll make a big impact.”

You can read the rest of the interview here.

 

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