Daniel MacPherson says he overhauled his body and lifestyle to convincingly portray a retired MMA fighter in the upcoming film “Beast,” which is scheduled to hit theaters on April 10.
MacPherson stars as Patton James, a retired fighter who returns to competition to help his brother in a matchup for ONE Championship. Russell Crowe plays his coach, while Kelly Gale and former UFC fighter Josh Culibao also appear in the movie.
“This was a whole different challenge,” MacPherson said. “This was not only starting from scratch to play a believable MMA fighter, but not even that, a retired MMA fighter. So this guy had had the sport in his bones for the entirety of his life.”
He explained the pressure he felt to make the action authentic in an era where MMA is widely accessible: “At a time when MMA is one of the most popular and visible sports on the planet, the challenge was then going, well it needs to be completely technically proficient, it needs to be incredibly entertaining, above the way that anybody can access the sport 24/7 in the palm of their hand, or on pay-per-view on the weekend.”
MacPherson said he spent three years preparing physically and mentally, taking up boxing, jiu-jitsu, and Muay Thai, training at a fight camp in Thailand, and adding 20 pounds of muscle. “I went up to Thailand, trained at fight camp up there on a bunch of times, put on 20 pounds of muscle, and learned what it meant to be a warrior and be a fighter.”
A longtime MMA fan, he cited Israel Adesanya, Alexander Volkanovski, Robert Whittaker, Jack Della Maddalena, Jack Jenkins, Josh Culibao, Georges St-Pierre, and Jiri Prochazka among the fighters who influenced his approach to the role.
