Georges St-Pierre is opening up about his new role.
The 39-year-old mixed martial arts fighter and former UFC star got candid in an interview with Variety about his upcoming role in Marvel‘s The Falcon & The Winter Soldier, as well as how he sees balancing fighting and acting.
PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Georges St-Pierre
“My sport is a full-contact sport, so there’s a lot of mental work. Trash talking, mind games. Deep down inside, you’re afraid, but you have to act like the win is inevitable. It can be heartbreaking. You have to dig deep and show perseverance,” he said of fighting.
In 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, he played the supervillain Batroc the Leaper, and then appeared in 2016’s Kickboxer: Vengeance with childhood hero Jean-Claude Van Damme.
“I started taking it more seriously, and now I’m having acting class every week. Theater, camera acting, audition coaching and English lessons. It’s a lot of work, and I put in the same amount of work and passion that I used for training. In martial arts, you start at white belt. That’s where I have to start with acting. I have to climb the mountain again,” he explained.
He will be returning to the MCU for Disney+‘s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, reprising his role as Batroc.
“No one is more excited than I am to come back. I feel very blessed and happy. It was a great learning experience,” he said of the upcoming series, adding that he watched co-stars Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan from the monitors between his takes and studied their acting skills.
“When you see Conor McGregor, for example, he’s playing a role. Fighters play a role. That’s the persona that he gives himself: Love me, hate me, but don’t ignore me. I’m more shy and true to the value of martial arts, and that’s how I carried myself in that business. We are all actors — when it’s time to perform.”
