Notorious Nick is the inspiring real-life tale of MMA fighter Nick Newell. Born with a congenital arm amputation, he overcomes external obstacles and his own self-doubt to become a professional fighter. The film is available in theaters, digital, and On Demand on August 6 and is available on DVD on August 17.
Cody Christian, who plays the athlete in the film, spoke to Screen Rant about getting into character and respecting the art of MMA.
Screen Rant: I'm a big fan of sports movies myself, but I wasn't informed on Nick Newell at all. Talk to me about playing Nick and what it takes to play a real person.
Cody Christian: Yeah, absolutely. That's the most captivating part about this story, right? To the most general public, it's unknown. Even when you hear it, when it's put out in front of you or you see the film and see the trailer, there's a part of you that almost goes, "Nah, I don't believe that." But yeah, man. That's what made the story so badass and inspirational: the fact that it is a true story, and Nick Newell is an actual fighter.
I think the process for me was just meticulous attention to detail. Anything and everything that I could soak up; any and all information, down to the nuances of fighting style, the pre-ritual of the fights, the way he moves the way he takes on his opponent and preps for the opponent. It's the mental aspect of that, and also the arm is a huge thing.
It's just a lot of work, man, and the willingness to dive deep into the story. I know that when I had this opportunity in front of me, I had to do it.
One thing I love about Nick is that he turns his handicap into an advantage. Can you talk to me about meeting Nick in real life and the preparation that he goes through in a fight? What did you pick up on and use in the film?
Cody Christian: Yeah, absolutely. I actually never got the chance to meet Nick. I'm hoping that, at some point, the world clears up and it's safe to do so. I know that he was busy doing some stuff and prepping for fights, so I relied very heavily on information on the internet, all of the footage of his films.
And then the producers - Mark S. Allen spent a lot of time with Nick back in Connecticut. So, any information [I needed], I went to these guys so that I could bring that level of truth and authenticity to everything that [I'm] doing.
I want to talk about Nick and Abi's [Cameron James Matthews] friendship because it starts off very early on when they bond over their love of pro-wrestling. And he almost becomes a protector of Nick, in a way. Can you talk to me about how we see their relationship progress throughout the film?
Cody Christian: Absolutely. I think it just builds and builds. I think the relationship with Abi, from the very beginning, is new to Nick, because it's the first time that he hasn't been judged through someone else's perspective. Abi sees him as Nick, you know what I mean? He doesn't view him as a disability or a handicap. So, I think right away that's what forms their bond, and the shared love for wrestling solidifies it in a way.
Later on in the story, post-high school and post-wrestling, the two reunite. Abi, for the second time around, comes back as a saving grace and gives Nick something that he wants to pursue. He reignites a passion inside of them, so the bond that they have just solidifies itself as time progresses. Which makes the heartache and the reveal of what happens [feel] much, much more.
Somebody else that's a key figure in Nick's life is his mother. There's a great dedication to his mom at the end of the film. Can you talk about their relationship and how much sacrifice went into that?
Cody Christian: It's very, very tight. She's the one that looks out for him, protects him - but also in a way, countless times throughout the film, encourages him to be more; not to settle, and to not let this thing that he was born with get in his way. Outside forces of the world and different perspectives, these people are putting perceived limitations on him.
As much as there is this love and security and a tight bond between Nick and his mother, what's also happening is she's grooming him to be the man that she knows he can be. And I think there's an amazing line that Elisabeth [Röhm] delivers in the film, in front of the panel of judges. She talks about, "I have to see that he's no longer my little boy with a disability, but a man that has overcome it." I think that line in general is a perfect exemplification of their relationship.
Barry Livingston plays your high school coach, Jeremy. What did he bring to the role of your coach that wasn't on the page?
Cody Christian: This dude's a veteran, you know what I mean? He's been in this industry longer than I've been alive, and I say that with the utmost respect. Right away, as soon as I met Barry, one of the very first things we did is sat down and talked about the entire script - that's the amount of passion that he was able to bring into the project.
We were cooped up in a small hotel in a little remote town out of Sacramento, and the very first time I met him, he said, "Anytime you want to like prep this, anytime you want to discuss it, let's sit out here at the pool courtyard in this hotel late at night freezing, and just talk about the script and dive into it." Just his willingness to kind of show up and participate and, again, the passion that he put into it - I think it turned out phenomenally.
Coach Jeremy actually feels like a father figure to Nick in a lot of ways. Can you talk about their relationship a little bit, and the fallout that happens between that high school era and the MMA fight game?
Cody Christian: Yeah. Very similar to the relationship that Nick has with his mother, he kind of develops very quickly with his coach. Seeing the heart and the will and determination that kid is bringing, the coach is adamant about making sure that he also doesn't buy into his own limitations because he sees great potential. And that's something that necessarily can't be bought: determination, will, heart.
He even says this in the bar scene. He said, "That's something that you either have it or you don't." I think he saw that very early on and was encouraging Nick to go in the right direction, hardship after hardship. At that age, he decides to call it quits, and we actually bring it back up in the film. The relationship is strained because Nick knows the coach believes in him, and he doesn't want to let him down. But it gets the best of him.
And he even brings it up later on, like, "I quit on you." And Coach is like, "You didn't quit on me. What I was trying to teach you is you quit on yourself." After the first fight, he loses, and the coach circles back in. I think it's such a great scene when Nick goes to him to prep for the fight. And he's like, "No, I don't do that."
I love that scene. "I don't teach quitters. I don't waste my time on quitters." I love that bond that the two have.
Cody Christian: In a way, it's a catalyst for Nick to go out there and do his thing. Once again show, "Times have changed. No matter what the adversity, I'm going to pursue it and overcome it." I think the coach sees that, and that's what starts their journey of like, "Alright, hey. If you want to do it, let's do it." And his classic line in that scene is like, "I don't know s*** about MMA."
Just a little side note on that - I love telling the story - a week before we even shot it, Barry and I were just walking around the town. We went to the location, we went to the bar, and just discussed the scene, spoke about the characters and where they were out at that certain time. We sat down and had a few beers at the bar, just immersed ourselves in the environment. And that's the type of stuff I'm talking about. Onscreen, he was amazing, but even offscreen, to put that type of time and energy into it, it makes a difference.
This is an MMA movie, and I'm sure there's a lot of training that goes into this. Can you talk about the training, getting everything right, and making it look right? Because you did a really good job of making it seem like you knew a lot of MMA.
Cody Christian: Thank you, I appreciate that. I came into it not being too ignorant of the sport. I dabbled in it; I trained a little bit earlier on. I trained Jiu-Jitsu for like four or five years and absolutely loved it. I watched fights; I'm familiar with it, you know what I mean? And a lot of my friends are actually fighters. One of my really good friends - Dylan Sprayberry, who I worked with on Teen Wolf - was the first person I called, actually. Because at that time, he was training very heavily in Muay Thai.
I called him and said, "Hey, look. I got this film coming up, and I think it's a go." Because at this point, I still hadn't booked it officially. But just to get started, I say, "Hey, man. Can we go through all the basics? Just stance and hip movement, all that kind of stuff with these kicks." He was the first person that I trained with - and then after that, as the film got closer, my stunt double Cory DeMeyers. He's an incredible mixed martial artist. A bunch of the guys that he works with are trained fighters, and we just started immediately, the second we got up there. It was a week and a half every day, eight-plus hours of just rehearsals and going through the motions and talking, the details and the little things. It's a deeply-rooted community, and it's so centralized around a respect for the art form of mixed martial arts.
So to me, not doing it justice and [not] including the authenticity the absolute best I could would have been disrespectful. I didn't want to pro-fighters to look at it and be like, "I don't believe that would ever happen," down to the littlest things. We shot a scene with Yves Edwards, the MMA guy. It was the first fight that Nick had. On the submission, when he gets choked out, Yves and I discussed that when you get choked out, there's little body twitches that happen when you go unconscious and when you go under. Just those little things; those tiny details that I think most people would miss. But if you are well-versed, you'd see it and be like, "Wow, that's cool that they thought of it."
And a lot of this you essentially have to do with one arm. Can you talk about that challenge as well?
Cody Christian: Yeah. As soon as I got word that I was even auditioning for this, the first thing I started doing after my research was eliminating the use of my left arm. Before I even got up to film the movie, I used to put on hoodies - it's weird, but I would bring my elbow all the way here, where the position would be, and then I would tie this off in a knot. I would just go throughout the day and try to do certain things.
A lot of people don't understand how much we utilize both hands. The simplest things - getting a glass of orange juice out of the fridge, brushing your teeth, tying your shoes - all these little things are just done differently. And that was a very interesting mentality to explore, that people that are born with congenital amputations or have similar disabilities - it's just a part of them. They don't know anything else, so a lot of these things to them are just normal. They just have to do things a little different from everybody else, but they're still more than capable of doing everything.
You also work with another film legend in this film, Kevin Pollak as the MMA coach. Can you talk to me about working with him?
Cody Christian: He's amazing. I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little intimidated when he came to set. Because we had already been filming the movie for two to three weeks, and they flew him in because we got to the port where we were going to shoot at the gym with Kevin.
This dude, as soon as he walks in, he's just charismatic. He's been doing this forever. He was in his comfort zone, and working with him was amazing. Because when you work with somebody that refined and at that level with that much experience, you either sink or swim. They're setting the precedent. So, to work with Kevin and to do these scenes with him, I had to step right up. It was a blast, and I hope it's not the last time.
There's a lot of sports movies out there, but one thing I love about certain sports movies is that you can get inspiration from them - and this is definitely one of those films. What are you hoping people take away from the story of Nick Newell?
Cody Christian: Exactly what you just said. You have a guy that made a decision, and I think the power of this right here is something we still can't even fathom. A decision is the most powerful thing that you can make, and when you make that decision of, "I am going to be this." Not, "I would like to be," or "It would be nice to..." When you decide, "This is what I'm going to do," anything becomes possible.
If this is right, and this is right, then you can achieve pretty much anything. And I think Nick's story is exactly that. You have a guy with everything faced against him, but yet his passion brings him to his dreams in a career that everybody said, "You're absolutely crazy. You can't do this." His journey shows you that if you want something, go get it. I hope this film can act as an inspiration to people that have either done it in the past or maybe they are currently in their journey of trying to achieve whatever dream it is that they want. And I hope it acts, as you said, as inspiration.
Listen, I love the movie. It was a blast to film it, and sitting down and having watched it. It's been a while since I was in front of the camera, and now watching it as a true spectator, it's a great film. I love it.
Check out the exclusive clip below from Notorious Nick showing Christian as Nick Newall talking to his mother (Röhm) about the dangers of his MMA fighting career.
Notorious Nick comes to theaters, digital, and On Demand on August 6 and is available on DVD on August 17.