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Ryan Bader recently opened up about his experience working on Dwayne Johnson's upcoming film 'The Smashing Machine'. The film is a biopic based on the career and life of MMA legend Mark Kerr, played by Johnson.
Bader was cast for the role of UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman, who is also a close friend of Kerr. Based on his role in the film, the former two-division Bellator champion spent plenty of time with Johnson during filming.
During his latest appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Bader admitted that pursuing an acting career wasn't something he was aiming for and that 'The Smashing Machine' role was a surprise for him. He mentioned having a great experience working with 'The Rock' and praised him for his commitment to respecting the sport:
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"It was a whole new process for me to learn. We're in there 13 hour days a lot of the times... [Johnson's] A hard worker obviously. He's outside on set, he's in the gym. He was super good to me. We'd talk a lot coming on set and then having to set up, so we were around each other a lot. And he was really interested in the sport of MMA, asking questions. Interested in my thoughts and everybody else's there... It was awesome and I think he's gonna do it justice."
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Check out the full episode featuring Ryan Bader's comments below (44:16):
Ryan Bader on playing Mark Coleman in 'The Smashing Machine'
During the aforementioned appearance, Ryan Bader also opened up about playing Mark Coleman in 'The Smashing Machine' and said he spoke with him about the role. Coleman had a close relationship with Mark Kerr as the two trained together for quite some time during their respective MMA careers.
Bader mentioned that he spent time with Coleman, seeking his input, and even helped organize his visit to the film's set:
"[Coleman and I] spoke on the phone. And then, I actually got producers to fly Mark Coleman up for about a day-and-a-half, so he can come on set, watch some scenes and see how it all plays out... Yeah, it was kinda weird cause we were doing a scene kind of at weigh-ins and stuff and he was kind of right there watching." [45:06]
Check out Ryan Bader as Mark Coleman on the set of 'The Smashing Machine' below:
