SUMMARY
- Conor McGregor was an extra in the late 2000s in an Ireland based movie called "The Escapist".
- McGregor will play the role of 'Knox' in the movie "Road House" alongside Jake Gyllenhaal next.
Conor McGregor is set to star in an upcoming American action film called Road House along with Jake Gyllenhaal. The Notorious has been promoting his movie relentlessly with multiple posts and interviews. Although this is being billed as McGregor’s debut in Hollywood, this is not his first appearance in a motion picture. He has previously featured as an extra in a movie called ‘The Escapist’.
Set in Ireland and England, ‘The Escapist’ was released in 2008. The movie revolved around a few prisoners’ ideas and the execution of an escape from the prison. Award-winning actor Brian Cox was in the lead role in the movie.
McGregor was an extra in the movie and barely had screen time. However, since his global fame due to his UFC career, many fans learned about McGregor’s mini role and went back to watch the movie.
Another fun fact about the movie is that WWE star Sheamus also had a role to play in ‘The Escapist’. Sheamus, or Stephen Farrelly, was the prison’s reigning bare-knuckle boxing champion. He was named ‘Two Ton’ in the movie. The Irish roots of the movie helped bring together two of Ireland’s most famous combat sports athletes.
Conor McGregor will be seen alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in the movie “Road House” next
McGregor was last seen inside the UFC Octagon in July 2021. He fought Dustin Poirier in their trilogy fight at UFC 264 and horrendously broke his leg.
More than two years have passed since the incident but McGregor still does not have a confirmed fight in sight. However, what he does have coming up is a Hollywood movie. One of the best promoters of the fight game has taken his moves to Hollywood. He has been promoting the movie constantly via his social media posts and millions of his fans are sure to watch his movie.
I hate to have to mess up that pretty face for you all. https://t.co/505Zgp3gf8
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) January 24, 2024
Road House, which originally starred Patrick Swayze, is a remake of the 1989 cult classic film. In January, McGregor reposted the poster of the movie starring Gyllenhaal and captioned it: “I hate to have to mess up that pretty face for you all.”
The 2024 version of the movie, according to IMDb, sees “ex-UFC fighter Dalton (Jake Gyllenhaal) take a job as a bouncer at a Florida Keys roadhouse, only to discover that this paradise is not all it seems.” Reports suggest that the Irish MMA star serves as Dalton’s nemesis ‘Knox’ in the movie.
According to TalkSPORT, in an interview in March 2023, McGregor claimed, “15-hour days on set, memorizing lines. You’re memorizing the lines and practicing before you even go on set, so it’s a lot of hard work.”
Jake Gyllenhaal wins by TKO 🤯
Filming a scene for a new movie during UFC 285
(via @Chisanga_Malata)pic.twitter.com/cXWXUeNYUV
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 5, 2023
Also in March 2023, Gyllenhaal stepped inside the Octagon at UFC 285 to film scenes for the film. He inflicted a flying knee KO in his fictional middleweight title bout.
McGregor explains why he let go of multiple movie roles and opted for “Road House”
McGregor is a UFC fighter but has also created a celebrity aura around himself. He has millions of fans who would follow him in all his adventures. However, the Irish star was skeptical of acting in movies. He claimed he turned down several roles and might even have enemies.
“I had turned down a good few roles in my time on the climb,” he said in an interview with Total Film. “I’ve had directors show up at fight camp, really beautiful directors doing really top-end movies… And over and over, they’d come to me, and I always turned them down… I’d leave people a little high and dry. I probably have a few enemies out there that I don’t really know of because I had said, ‘I might do it.'”
McGregor Vs Gylenhaal!
“Roadhouse” out March 21st @mgmstudios @PrimeVideo pic.twitter.com/gRzgbcpklG— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) February 27, 2024
McGregor felt something different about Road House. He was impressed by the director Doug Liman. The Notorious said, “I’m not an actor, but I’m show business. That was my vibe to it. I felt that. I enjoyed every second of it.”
Road House, which is embroiled in a lawsuit involving the original scriptwriter R. Lance Hill and Amazon, is set to release on Amazon on March 21, 2024.