Erick Redbeard aims to prove he’s more than just a big man wrestler in his acting career.
During a recent interview with Steve Fall on The Ten Count, Erick Redbeard (aka Erick Rowan) spoke about being able to play a wider range of roles as an actor versus being pigeonholed as a “big man” wrestler. Redbeard is currently featured in Tito, a short film where he was able to show emotion and not just rely on brute strength.
“I’ve been lucky enough to try and break the mold of just playing the stereotypical big guy. I love roles where there’s more to a man than just being this big monster. I played that for nine years. I played that in WWE as the Erick Rowan character. I still do it in wrestling where you’re this big guy and you’re not allowed to show emotion. At the end of the day, I’m a father, I’m a husband,” he said. “I’ve made mistakes in my life. I’ve done good things in my life, you know, I’ve lived just like any other human being. Just because I happen to be a certain size, I think people think a certain thing about you or perceive you a certain way.
“I think on film it’s easy to be put in as a stereotype as this man just because he’s six-eight, three-hundred-plus pounds with a giant beard, and he looks a certain way, or he looks like a biker, looks like a viking. He looks like someone that would kill you. Yeah, I mean, that’s aesthetically because that’s the stereotype and to get offered roles where you can show these different sizes, different emotions of just being human, that’s what’s appealing to me, and that’s what I love to do. So when this role came along,” he explained, “it was specifically not because, ‘Hey, this guy’s big.’ That’s the whole point, he’s big, but look at the way he’s reacting. Yeah, he can go off in a second and probably snap this guy’s neck. But, he doesn’t want to do that. He just wants to have a little respect, have fun, and live the American dream.”
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