Professional wrestling fans can indulge in two TV series that show the comedic and gritty sides of their favorite sport, Young Rock on NBC and Heels on Starz. Pro wrestling superstar Luke Hawx plays huge roles in front of and behind the camera in both series, cementing his place as a face of the industry.
Hawx plays Stone Cold Steve Austin in Young Rock, and he is the wrestling coordinator as well as an on-camera performer on Heels. Hawx is also the founder and current CEO of Wildkat Sports, and he wrestles for NWA Powerrr, where he teams with his son, Percy Hawx.
Screen Rant had the pleasure of interviewing Hawx about his work behind and in front of the camera on Young Rock and Heels, what it's like to step into the wrestling boots of Stone Cold Steve Austin, and how he and his family have triumphed over his upbringing. Hawx also previewed the upcoming A24 pro wrestling film The Iron Claw, starring Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White.
Luke Hawx Talks Pro Wrestling In Young Rock & Heels
Screen Rant: Besides the shows you've been on, Young Rock & Heels, how do you feel Hollywood has portrayed pro wrestling? And which other shows and movies do you think get it right?
Luke Hawx: I think right now, they're doing a really great transitioning wrestling from a very subjective sport. It's a very tight-knit fan base. And now with it transferring over to Hollywood, you're going into a much more diverse scene, and you're putting more eyes on the product. And you got shows like Heels, right? I feel that Heels does a phenomenal job of that. And that's one of the reasons I'm on the show, to make it as authentic as possible. And so when wrestling fans watch the show, they go, "That's how it really is behind the scenes on independent wrestling, even in mainstream wrestling." Independent and mainstream wrestling. But for the average person who's not a wrestling fan, they can watch the show, and they go, "Wait. That's how wrestling is? I always thought it was this, or I heard this. Wow, they really hit each other. Wow, they really bleed. Oh, wow. That's not choreographed." It puts a different light on this sport. And it makes people think outside the box. So I'm thankful for shows like Heels because they do that.
When you see The Iron Claw that we just finished with A24 Productions. We just finished that project with Zac Efron, Harris Dickinson, Jeremy Allen White, Hope McCallany, and a few others. Man, the passion in the work that these guys put into that project, for this film [is] indescribable, I was just telling somebody earlier... You've got to think about [that] these guys are professional actors, right? They spend their whole life acting, they really don't know anything about wrestling. Some of them are wrestling fans, some of them aren't. But when they take these jobs, they transition. So now, I know how intense wrestling is. I know how difficult it is; I know how hard it is on your body. I know how hard it is mentally.
To take an actor who has to memorize pages and pages and pages of dialogue, learn how to wrestle, which is very, very, very difficult in itself and very hard on your body. Like the bumps and bruises, your body doesn't adjust, because it's just basically like putting your body through a car wreck over and over and over again. So these actors [have] got to go perform. Now they got to learn how to choreography, they've got to learn dialogue, they got to learn how to wrestle, and then they have to keep up their physical appearance on top of that. Can you imagine how much work goes into that for those guys playing those roles?
Me seeing it firsthand is just the ultimate utmost respect, because I know what I do as a profession. I know what I do as an actor. I know what I do as a stuntman. And to watch someone who's never done it before, take all of them, put it together, and then perform at such a high level is absolutely astonishing. So my hat's off to those guys who worked that hard, and they put in a 110% to 150% effort every single time because they just want it to be so true.
I'm glad you mentioned Iron Claw. I can't wait for that. I've only seen that one still of Zac Efron jacked up as Kevin Von Erich, but I cannot wait to see this.
Luke Hawx: It is gonna be good. I'm telling you. It's going to be good. These guys have busted their tails to put out the best product possible. I'm looking forward to it. You know, I was there shooting, and I'm like, "Oh man, I can't wait to see this!"
Let's talk a little bit about Young Rock because you do a fantastic job at Stone Cold Steve Austin, and you're pretty spot on. But you also started out as "The Ringmaster" Steve Austin, his first gimmick. Tell me about playing that part of the character.
Luke Hawx: That was a little weird, because when we first went in, I had this wig. You remember the wig. So we shot that in Australia. And it was during COVID, so they had all these restrictions and time limits on everything, so we had to stay out the extra time. Well, I got fitted for a wig as soon as I got there. They couldn't get the wig short enough. And in order to get the wig that I needed, it was like $14,000 just for the wig. And I think it [took] maybe six to eight weeks before it came in. So it was a very difficult thing. So what they had to do was take this other wig, trim it down as far as they could where it wouldn't show the - I don't know what it's called - maybe line on the wig. I'm not very familiar with wigs. I'm bald.
They took the wig down as far as they could where it wouldn't show any hairlines or anything. And I thought it was gonna get criticized because... I don't really look like the Ringmaster because his hair was never that thick. I didn't want the fans to complain. You know how they are on the internet. They'll complain about anything. So I just said, "Hey, I gotta get in there, and I gotta knock this role out and play it down to a tee." They're gonna look for something, right? So don't give him anything. You got the wig, and they're gonna say something about that, so do not give them anything about your acting. Go there and hammer that nail, knock it out of the park, and then that's what they'll remember. And sure enough, that's what happened. So it was very cool to be able to pull that off and then transition over into the Stone Cold role.
Your Stone Cold is pitch-perfect. And you also played him when he won the King of the Ring in 1996, and he did the famous Austin 3:16 promo that basically turned him into a megastar. I remember that like it was yesterday. One of the greatest promos of all time. Did you get any feedback from him about that?
Luke Hawx: I talked to him before. He called me before we shot, and we talked for a few minutes, about 20 minutes or so. Just chit-chatting, and I didn't talk to him after. Great guy. We know each other [but] we're not friends. Of course, I would love to talk more and pick his brain more because I have such a high level of respect for him. But you know, I respect him taking the time out. He's busy. So I really respect him taking the time out just to call me prior to shooting.
But hey, what it all comes down to is you can't argue it: He's the greatest superstar in wrestling of all time. He's the highest-grossing draw. He's like a Superpower. So for me to play that role, I just want to do it justice, man, I want to do the best I can. And I remember after shooting, after those two episodes came out, a lot of people were like, "Hey, how did they make your voice sound like that?" I'm like, "Bro, that's acting. That's what I do. It's acting. I don't really talk like that. But I can make myself talk like that." So it's funny to see people who've known me my whole life go, "How'd you do that?"
The Austin 3:16 promo is like that line in Gladiator. That's a promo that echoes in eternity.
Luke Hawx: Everybody knows it. We were in Puerto Rico two weeks ago, me and my youngest son, [and] some of my family. And my youngest loves wrestling. So he has an Austin 3:16 shirt on. And I'd just left to go to the store real quick to get something, and me and his mother, and her boyfriend, and my ex-mother in law, who's still basically my mother-in-law (We're all super tight). He was taking my son on this zipline ride. So a guy tells my son, "You're too young for that shirt. I bet you don't even know who that is." My son goes, "Well, actually, my dad plays him on television. So yeah, I know who he is. And my dad's a wrestler." And the guy's like, "Oh, wow. Okay, I put my foot in my mouth."
I'm a huge fan of Heels, which is such a well-written, incredibly performed show. The wrestling feels so authentic. You played The Hole in Heels, and you're also the wrestling coordinator. What does that involve?
Luke Hawx: For me on Heels, it's a different ballgame. When I'm on Heels, it consumes my life because I basically wear like 10 hats on that show. It's so wrestling-heavy. And I'm the wrestling consultant, the wrestling coordinator. I play a role, my son's assistant coordinator. He also plays role; he plays the ref, and I have my whole team there. So anything that is involved in wrestling, which is the whole show basically goes through me, I help with costumes, I help with set [decorations], every single thing. It's a 24-hour a day, seven-day-a-week job. So when I'm on Heels, when we're shooting, my life's consumed with Heels and I really can't do anything else. But it's such a big passion project for me because I love it.
It's the first time I got to work on one thing that involved everything I love in one. I got my professional wrestling, I got my filming, and I got my fitness. We do that we do team workouts every morning, us and the actors, all the wrestlers, all the actors, all the stuntmen. Team workouts, I do it with my kids. Like I said, my oldest son's there. Now, my youngest son just got cast, and he plays a little role in season two. So my whole family's there. How do you put that in words, dude? Where I can work on a project with both of my children who I love, and who also love everything I love, and they do very well at it. We get to do it together. And it's there's no possible way I could probably, honestly describe that, especially if you know anything about me.
Dude, I grew up in a boy's home. I got adopted at 15. I had my son at 16. I had a really, really, really difficult life. Not a big family upbringing. So to change that around... I was the first person in my family to graduate high school. My oldest son, who I tag with, he's Perry Hawx, he just graduated college from the University of New Orleans on Friday. And he's the first person in my family to graduate college, man. We're breaking barriers, and we're just trying to work hard and inspire others to do the same.
That's fantastic, man. Congratulations to you, your family, and your son. How much in Heels do the actors perform in the ring? And who are the standouts?
Luke Hawx: 90-95%. It's the same on Young Rock. Everybody. That's the whole point of these shows, and Iron Claw. They wanted the actors to be authentic in doing the moves, so we didn't want to make all these different cuts and this and that, you know how it is with shooting. We wanted it to be as authentic as possible. So we wanted the actors to do as much as possible. But they have phenomenal stunt doubles who work with these actors. 24/7 to teach them everything from A to Z, how to walk it, how to talk it. They listen, and they put 110% effort in everything they do.
Alexander Ludwig is phenomenal. He just works really hard. James Harrison on Heels season one, not season two because James wasn't there for season two, [but in] season one of Heels, James could just watch something and pick it up in wrestling. I've never seen that before. I've never seen a super athlete who can just watch something one time and immediately pick it up. That's how big of an athlete James Harrison is. Allen Maldonado [is] another one. Super athletic, very, very adamant about pushing himself and doing things. If we said, "Hey Allen, you can safely do this, I have faith that you can do this." He'll go, "Well, I'm doing it. I'm trying it."
I've been in film almost 20 years now. And you work with a lot of actors. Some are very hesitant, some aren't very physical, they don't want to be very physically involved. To each his own, right? There's no disrespect there or anything. Everybody has their own forte. When I come to a project like this, you feed off everybody's energy. You've got a guy over here goes, "Man, I just want to go 100% to the wall with this." And this [other] guy goes, "Oh, this guy is doing it. And I can see him doing it. So I'm going to do that too". And everybody just builds on each other and everybody's trying to just do the best they can to work together. I make you look good. You make me look good. We all work together, and we have a phenomenal project. And that's what it's about at the end of the day. You want to do the best job possible and put out the best project possible. So we come back from war.
Heels season 1 ended over a year ago now. I've been waiting for season 2 with that cliffhanger of Crystal (Kelli Berglund) winning the championship. How does season 2 ramp up everything?
Luke Hawx: Well, this is what I tell everybody. Season 2 is coming out in 2023. We don't have an exact date yet. I just talked to those guys this week about it. We're looking forward to it. I heard everything's looking amazing. Here is the truth: [In] season two, we crammed in double the action in half the time. I think they did everything they possibly could to see if they could kill me. "Hey, let's add something else. Let's see if we can kill Luke. Let's see if we can kill Luke. And I just kept coming back to life and fighting and fighting them. And you know, I had so many guys helping me on this project. It was amazing. I can't wait for season two to come out because I'm telling you the action and the wrestling is super intense this season.
I cannot wait. I just want to commend you and your team for how great a job you do because, as a wrestling fan, we see thousands of matches, and we can sense when somebody's doing it wrong, and when it feels wrong. Heels just feels like it really is happening. And it's how wrestling looks and feels.
Luke Hawx: Well, it's a drama. My favorite thing about Heels is you have a little bit of everything, right? You have a little bit of sexuality, you have a little bit of comedy, you have some drama, you have some family environment. You can literally watch Heels and everybody watching, even if you're not a wrestling fan, there's something on the show you can relate to. So when you get drug into it, you go, "Oh, this character... Oh, this guy has this issue... Or this guy's has these family problems. I have those family problems! Or I have these issues, or my friend has these issues, or my brother has these issues." Every single character has something for someone to relate to. And it's easy to draw you in that way.
About Young Rock & Heels
As Dwayne Johnson runs for president in 2032, he takes a comedic look back at his extraordinary life through the outrageous stories of his family and youth that shaped him into the man he is today.
Two brothers and rivals, one a villain, or "heel" in professional wrestling, the other a hero, or "face", play out scripted matches as they war over their late father's wrestling promotion and vie for national attention in small-town Georgia.
Young Rock season 3 airs Fridays at 8:30pm ET on NBC, while Heels season 2 premieres in 2023 on Starz.