WrestleZone Radio is proud to present this exclusive interview with Evan Ginzburg, one of the associate producers for the Oscar nominated film The Wrestler.
Ginzburg also serves as an associate producer for the upcoming pro wrestling documentary 350 Days which will get a nationwide theatrical release on July 12th.
More information about 350 Days can be found HERE or on the next page of this post.
Some of Ginzburg’s comments from his interview can be found transcribed below. The full interview can be listened to via WrestleZone Radio on iTunes or in the embedded player at the top of this post.
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On if the main character in The Wrestler, Randy The Ram, was indeed based on the life of WWE Hall of Famer Jake “The Snake” Roberts:
EG: That is kind of a myth that the movie is based on Jake Roberts. What happened was I took Darren Aronofsky and the executive producer, the money guy, and the screen writer to a convention. At the convention there were probably 20 wrestlers: Albano, Moolah, Mae Young, Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff and so on and… there was nobody there. It was sad. There was like, literally, a dozen or two dozen people there. There was probably more wrestlers than fans. Iron Sheik’s head was down on the table sleeping, literally sleeping in the middle of all of it. We just saw some very sad things along the way.
I took Aronofsky and his crew to some indie wrestling every weekend and the crowds varied from in the dozens to something sizable but for the most part the crowds were anemic and the gates were anemic. It was not glamorous for the most part.
Along the way Darren would pick the brain of Johnny Valiant, who is now gone, Nikolai Volkoff, Greg Valentine, King Kong Bundy or even a hardcore wrestler like Louie Ramos. Ramos gave us ideas for the hardcore scenes with Necro Butcher.
Darren got a feel for, “Wow, these guys generated a lot of money but they didn’t all make a lot of money.” They didn’t all save a lot of money. It varied because you have a guy like Bret Hart who did do well but some of them didn’t. After the glory some of these guys… it wasn’t so glamorous. They become security guards or they are pushing a broom, whatever the case may be.
It was a composite. That’s the long winded way to say that Randy The Ram was a composite of many people that we met on our travels. Darren respected them as performers, artists and athletes but he wanted to tell the true story about how these guys generated millions but they don’t have millions for the most part. It’s the same thing in 350 Days. The promoter gets the lion’s share..
WZ will be releasing more transcribed quotes from Ginzburg’s interview throughout this week.
Next Page: Full Info About 350 Days & Where You Can Watch It
