Urijah Faber On Reaching Out To Conor McGregor For Movie Role, "Green Rush" Releasing
UFC fighter Urijah Faber has a new movie out today called Green Rush which looks at the marijuana industry. Faber spoke to Wrestling Inc. on today's episode of The Wrestling Inc. Daily about the concept of the movie and what people can expect from it.
"It's kind of a slow-burn. It starts out building the storyline and once the action starts, it ramps up quick and gets very intense," revealed Faber. "It's the kind of movie where once you know the twists and turns, if you watch it a second time then you'll pick up a lot of the things you didn't the first time, which I love about the movie.
"It's a hot topic right now in marijuana and the perception of it is changing in the world with its availability, on the public side and on the business side. It made for a fun ? especially if you're in tune with the industry and being in California everybody's got some friends tied to that industry ? and it's pretty intriguing."
One of the fighters from his MMA team, Andre Fili is part of the movie. Faber discussed Fili's acting, noting that he's been wanting to get into acting.
"This is the first time he's done any acting on a big level like this but he's been aspiring to do this kind of stuff. He told me, probably six years ago, that he wanted to get into acting and I told him I'm gonna start doing movies," said Faber.
"A lot of people don't know him because he's right there on the cusp of being in the title picture but hasn't gotten the big media push that would show the public what an intelligent and talented guy he is on a bunch of different levels. This is an inside look on the talent he has and the diversity he has. Fili excels at anything that you can make money on where you have head tattoos and homemade tattoos on your hand. He excels at everything ? clothing, acting, fighting."
Faber is balancing his UFC career with his film career and was asked if he's leaning one way or the other.
"I think there's room for both especially at how slow these movies are to make. I would love to get back in the cage at some point. I'm not sure if I will as it depends on the kind of offers that come my way and if it sounds like a good time. Fun is important and motivation is important. I have a whole slate of movies we're working on," Faber said before adding that one of those movies has a role that was written with Conor McGregor in mind.
"It was literally written for Conor McGregor. I don't know that he would be the guy for the role or if he wants to be an actor. I've kinda teased him and talked to him about it. But I think the script is gonna attract some really great talent and big-name actors."
Faber was then asked more about his interactions with McGregor about the movie role.
"[Laughs] We communicate through social media like the rest of the world these days. He called me a 'tryer' but I think the term is a 'doer' but maybe that's the Irish translation. I sent him a message, 'Don't be scared homey. The man behind the Art of the KO is coming.' I don't know if he has the chops to be the main guy. He seems like he'd be a good actor, but it would be up to the director and wrestling producers and them figuring out what the best recipe would be. But this character reminded me of him the whole way," stated Faber.
Green Rush, from producer Urijah Faber, was released on Digital today. Check out the trailer here. Faber's full interview with Wrestling Inc aired as part of today's episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it's released Monday – Friday afternoon by clicking here.