Written by | Ray Cornelius
Tony Gonzalez is ready for his close up! No, not as a sports star (he’s already enjoyed 17 seasons as an All-American football player). But now as film star. The 40-year-old athlete is trading in his grid iron action for a chance at becoming one of Hollywood’s leading men.
The former Atlanta Falcons player has landed the role of a lifetime opposite Vin Diesel in “xXx: Return of Xander Cage.” The film opens in theaters this weekend and is the third installment to the popular movie franchise. Gonzalez is starring as one of the film’s villains, Paul Donovan and is in cahoots with Toni Collette‘s character, Jane Marke. For Gonzalez, it was an opportunity he claims he almost missed had it not been for his feisty manager, Constance Schwartz-Morini.
“Are you outta your f**cking mind,” said Gonzalez imitating Schwartz-Morini’s Yonkers, New York accent. “Get your butt down there and go audition for this movie. What have you got to lose? They asked for you!”
This isn’t Gonzalez’s first time in front of the camera as he has appeared as himself on a few television shows and has enjoyed a post football career as a studio analyst for “The NFL Today.” But it was something about being around such seasoned actors as Vin Diesel and Samuel L. Jackson that has Gonzalez seriously thinking about acting as the second half to an already dynamic career.
“I’m at a different point in my life where the older you get the more you stop feeling embarrassed. You stop worrying about what other people think. That’s kinda been my thing now lately. I’m in my classes grinding it out and trying to be the best actor I can be. I’m trying to take the same approach I did in football. It takes a couple of years to get really comfortable at it. I’m in my rookie year of acting and we’ll see how it works,” said Gonzalez during my press interview with him at Atlanta’s swanky St. Regis Hotel.
Check out a few more excerpts from my interview with Gonzalez below:
On doing his own stunts…
I did all of my own stunts. Come on now. I’m a football player (LOL). No I did it all and you get extra for doing your own stunts. I didn’t know that and that was all they had to say. I’m in! You’re hanging from wires and you’re being yanked from out of a plane or in zero gravity. You have to be in shape to do that. You have to have good core strength. Thank God I’ve kept working out because you’re spinning for a while. They took great care of me and it was a lot of fun.
On the parallels between football and acting…
You have to stay in the moment which is a lot like football and it’s essential. You have to get out of your head and take it one play at a time which is extremely hard to do. That’s why players take a while. It has nothing to do with talent or how fast or strong you are. It’s about staying in the moment. And it’s the same thing with acting. If you start thinking about what you’re going to say and stop listening or stop reacting, it’s not going to come off as natural. That’s what I’ve kinda been really vibing on and liking about this process. It actually carries over to my broadcasting. It forces you to listen to everybody when they’re talking instead of worrying about what your going to do next.
“xXx: Return of Xander Cage” opens nationwide in theaters this weekend!
Photo Credit: DigitalTrends.com
