If your dad was the Million Dollar Man, you’d think that you’d be out living the life of a Brody Jenner or something. Not Ted DiBiase Jr – despite his father’s (potentially imaginary) riches, he’s knuckled up and made something of himself, first in the squared circle with WWE and now on the silver screen with The Marine 2. I sat down with Ted for a brief chat about the flick, the differences between Hollywood fake fighting and wrestling fake fighting, and what the future holds. Unfortunately, Virgil Jr. was not in attendance.
Heavy.com: So why don’t you give me a little background on The Marine 2? How did you get the part?
Ted DiBiase Jr: Well, it was really thrown in my lap – six months after I debuted on TV, they called me in. I read for the script, they called me a week later and offered me the lead role. My jaw hit the floor, and before I knew it I was in Phuket, Thailand filming an action movie.
Heavy.com: So what’s it about?
Ted DiBiase Jr: I play Marine sniper Joe Linwood. I come back on leave and find myself off duty on vacation with my wife in a beautiful secluded island resort. A group of terrorists put the island under siege and take my wife hostage and the millionaire owner of the resort hostage. The local authorities try but they can’t do anything, so I have to go into action. There’s some really amazing fight scenes, really great action from there.
Heavy.com: So there’s no connection with the first Marine movie, then. Aside from both characters being Marines.
Ted DiBiase Jr: Nope. No connection.
Heavy.com: How would you describe the difference in fighting from what you do in the ring with WWE to doing it for the movies?
Ted DiBiase Jr: Well, you know, in the WWE we have storylines and outcomes, but as for what we do in the ring as far as rehearse or practice, you never do that. With the movies, it’s like a dance, you go from A, B, C, D, E, F, G – it’s easy. That’s the thing with this movie – some actors take weeks to really work out a fight, but we did 2 fights and each one we finished in a day. But they’ve got some really cool shots, and the director Roel Reine did an amazing job making it look a lot bigger than the money we had. I’ll definitely say that movie punches are different than wrestling punches!
Heavy.com: So what’s next for you after this movie? Do you see yourself pursuing acting more in the future?
Ted DiBiase Jr: Absolutely. I think I was bitten by the acting bug. I would love to do both acting and wrestling in the future.
