Cung Le Focusing on Film Work

by Kid Nate on Jun 26, 2008 3:15 PM EDT Comment 8 comments

From an interview with MMA Top Gun:

Franz: Are you training full-time?

Cung Le: I train full-time but I just landed a big movie role with Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster. It's been pretty exciting for me. I didn't even get the role for my fighting abilities. I actually auditioned and I got it off straight acting.

Franz: Wow, that's very impressive.

Cung Le: Yeah, and right now we're in talks with John Woo for one of his next projects. I don't know exactly when I will fight again but I make sure I'm staying in shape and just being smart about things. Picking and choosing my projects and also my fights.

Franz: Is there anybody out there that would excite you to fight?

Cung Le: Right now I'm so excited about my role that I really never even thought about it.

Franz: Definitely, I'm surprised to hear about this.

Cung Le: There's a lot of great fighters out there. Of course, there's the great Anderson Silva but that matchup doesn't seem like it's ever going to happen. He's UFC, I'm Strikeforce. In the meantime, my next opponent is this movie. It's an opportunity where I get to carry the action the whole movie and have a lot of acting. Actually, a little pressure for me. It's almost like my first MMA fight. I have a lot of heavy dialogue with Ben Foster even though it's in a different language. It's a lot of facial, a lot of non-verbal communication.

HT FightTicker

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I think the only really compelling fight, would be Silva, and he’s right probably never going to happen.

"They said you was hung!!"

"And they was RIGHT!"

by BJJDenver on Jun 26, 2008 3:44 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I called Bullsh*t

... as soon as I heard about this guy. Using MMA to parlay into a movie career. Not interested in fighting the best. A relatively traditional martial artist doing well in the cage is a very marketable comodity. I don’t need to see him fight Silva. Le is entertaining against any competent fighter. I’d love to see him fight Robbie Lawler.

by Jaydoggydog on Jun 26, 2008 4:15 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Good call, that would be interesting to see him against Lawler.

"They said you was hung!!"

"And they was RIGHT!"

by BJJDenver on Jun 26, 2008 4:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Smart move on his part if true.

by Tha Realness on Jun 26, 2008 4:21 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Everybody had to know that Cung Le wasn’t in this thing for the long haul. How many Sanshou battles has he had? The training and fighting has had to take a toll on his body. It’s going to be easier on him physically if he becomes a successful actor. Sure, his movies will be “B” rated, and go straight to video, a’la Don “The Dragon” Wilson, but there is more longevity in acting than there is in fighting if you can be successful at it.

by Cmad77 on Jun 26, 2008 4:28 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Battles?

My understanding is not very many. Granted I’m not an expert on the history of Cung Le, but what I’ve heard is that most of his San Shou fights were against opponents with little experience in the sport. That’s not to say this isn’t a smart move for him though. Actually, it might make it a smarter move.

by FRANKIE on Jun 26, 2008 8:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Correction

When I said battles, I meant matches…Even if you are fighting cans, you still have to get up and train…anytime you train, you put a certain amount of punishment on your body. I first became aware fo Cung Le while dabbling in kickboxing, and that was back in 1994-1995; a couple of his matches would come on really, really late at night on ESPN. He was never in any danger in any of the fights i’ve seen him in, then or now.

by Cmad77 on Jun 27, 2008 8:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs