This new film starring Jake Gyllenhaal is getting fans talking, and it’s not because of his own performance.
Now, we all know actors put their everything into new roles, and for Gyllenhaal, this meant stepping into the ring to become his ex-UFC fighter character, Dalton.
The 43-year-old actor had his work cut out for him, but thankfully, he had a little help from the real OG.
That’s right, Conor McGregor, the Irish champ of MMA was right on hand to help with the behind-the-scenes fighting, because he also stars alongside the actor.
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The pair worked together during the remake of the 1989 classic, Road House, a film about an ex-UFC fighter (Gyllenhaal) who takes a job as a bouncer at a Florida Keys roadhouse, only to discover that it’s not the life he expected it to be.
Now, if you’ve never considered the skillset it requires to be a professional fighter, I’ve got some news for you.
After some footage of the fight-scene choreography was released on Instagram by Amazon Prime Video, fans couldn’t help but notice McGregor pulling his punches, which takes considerable skill.
After all, professional fighters are trained by nature to land punches, not pull them back before they can make contact.
But with McGregor, it seemed to be something he’d been doing for years, even though this is his big screen debut.
Maybe he has a future in stunts?
Anyway, of course fans were eager to point this out and hailed the reigning champion as being highly professional and a one-of-a-kind MMA artist.
One person praised: “The hardest thing for Conor must have been NOT to connect.”
Another wrote: “Finally some proper fight scenes where we can see what’s happening.”
Someone else chimed in: “Yall know how hard it was for a professional fighter to pull his punches like this? 10/10 Connor could very well accidentally hurt someone BAD if he wasn’t SUCH A FOOKING PROPER PROFESSIONAL.”
Another said: “I just watched it, the fight scenes are amazing, great!!!”
It seems like everyone who watched the flick was impressed by the fight sequence, and even I’ve got to admit it looks pretty awesome.
Painful, but awesome nonetheless.
But, did you know that there was a scene in the movie completely cut of McGregor?
The Irish fighter took to his Instagram to share a funny story about the moment a pesky air bag ruined his shot: "I actually jacked this truck and drove off with the passenger inside but they didn’t air.
"The truck was on a big rope that would stop it with a break but accidents can happen. I was nervous. You see me jump slightly in this edit they chose. It was coming full speed at me.
"One of the takes it was going so fast and slammed so abrupt that the air bag went off. The stunt man driving it was like he got shot with a shotgun, the way he reacted to it, a bad smack he got of it.
"I walked over and opened the door and said 'come on mate come on out', in a friendly manner, almost because of the wallop he took ahaha they just used me stopping the car not any of the carjack hahaha."
Topics: Film, TV and Film, Conor McGregor, Jake Gyllenhaal
Britt Jones