Last week, the SAG recognized him with a Best Supporting Actor nomination.
In some ways, its all led you here, to Paddy Conlon.
Thats partly on purpose.
Credit: Chuck Zlotnick
Thats got to be flattering.
We have a very close relationship.
In some ways thats really great.
In some ways, thats really terrifying.
I read you werent exactly a fan of MMA fighting, though.
You know, violence isnt really my thing.
I did a few action pictures, but not much, and I didnt know much about MMA.
Yes, we do, he says.
Your character takes an emotional beating in this film, and Paddy spends a lot of time apologizing.
Does that take its toll on an actor?
In a way, yeah.
Its an embarrassing thing.
Its humiliating, you know?
Its not a comfortable thing to do.
You know youre playing a role, but youre still feeling it.
You kind of have to check out.
The casino scene, in particular, is heartbreaking.
Tell me about that and tell me about the scene that immediately follows it.
They were shot very close together.
We shot the one where Tom [Hardy] throws the coins at me in the casino first.
I can tell you how the crew reacted: They got very nervous about it.
I could feel them around me not wanting to watch that scene.
We only needed a few takes because Tommy just really went at it.
And it made people uncomfortable.
Its hard to watch that scene.
I couldnt watch it, you know.
And then the drunk scene upstairs, we didnt say specifically what Tommy was going to do.
He was just going to find me ranting and raving overMoby Dick.
So we ad-libbed a lot of it.
It was written, but we took off.
It was Tommys decision to pull me up on top of the bed and hold me like that.
Was one of those scenes more difficult for you?
I think the casino scene was harder.
When its left in the other actors hands, youre reacting.
Youve just got to get wide open and stay there.
And thats always hard for actors to do.
Was this a cathartic role for you in some way or was it a dance with the devil?
Its not any role Ive done before.
And its not likethat mug shot.
That was an entirely different substance and an entirely different situation.
But people might say, Oh, thats easy for him to do.
None of it is easy.
Actors are really working with bodies, with their minds, and with their emotions.
Thats what movies are about, going from feeling to another.
The greatest movie would be the movie that gave the audience a cathartic feeling of transcendence.
You must recognize whats coming their way, both good and bad.
Yeah, it is tempting.
And they did ask.
But it was questions about practical situations: Is my agent thought of as a big agent?
Who really makes the films?
And working with older guys, like Robert Shaw and stuff, that was always very informative to me.
I mean, I was a real d onThe Deep.
I didnt want to do that film.
I had turned it down.
I just couldnt find anything afterRich Man, Poor Man.
I tried for Billy FriedkinsSorcerer.
I tried for George Roy HillsSlapshot.
It made me very hot.
Still true for you?
Well, I think Im just too old now.
Theyre not going to make a big run with me at the box office.
I think Ive kind of worked through that.
Success is that thing that really stops you in your tracks.
You really stop learning.
you better lose once in awhile.
Im surprised Im still working.
Is that a conscious decision on your part or is that just the way the winds blow sometimes?
Its the way the wind blows.
They feel that have discovered me!
Luck,which previewed on HBO last Sunday, looks extremely promising.
The racetrack is such fertile ground for storytelling.
Are you familiar with this world and what doesLuckget right about it?
Ive been around horses all my life.
But David came out and pitched me this.
He didnt have to say much.
Thats great on so many levels.
I mean, going to the track with him is just crazy.
He said, No, look, Ill show you.
Heres what you bet here, this is your $2 bet.
You won that and I put it on this.
This first season, the first show doesnt really say much, but its really going to open up.
By episode 3 or 4, we really get cooking.
Youre going to see every element of the track.
Youre going to love these deviants.
We got some really good writers.
Is there a parallel with acting, or can you always get better?
The thing thats so great about age is that youve just been there so much.
You know where to go inside yourself for a lot of material or emotions.
You know where it resides.
So it comes off more seamless.
Im finding it as comfortable as Ive always found acting and just easier to do.
I dont fret as much about that first day of shooting.
I dont get as crazy as I used to get.
give a shot to degrade that presence out there before we even started.
I had a tendency to do that to the camera when I first started, too.
For a lot of people my age, you and Eddie Murphy will forever be linked because of48 HRS.
What did you make of Eddie popping up to host the Oscars, before withdrawing?
I just thought it was great.
You already received a SAG nomination for Best Supporting Actor, and the awards season is just beginning.
Do awards stress you out at all?
Theres just no question about it.
Theres a lot riding on it.
Its about a lot more than me winning.
Its about the integrity of Lionsgate to makeWarrior.
If there is a nomination, it justifies that.
And then it loses that good-film category.
If it gets a nomination, though, then it will hold on to being a good film.
Read more:
Warrior DVD trailer
EW review: Warrior
Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton talk MMA
