During a recent interview with ComingSoon.net, Paul Wight (The Big Show in WWE) commented on having more opportunities for acting gigs by working with AEW, and more. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On if he always wanted to do acting work: “I think for me, I was at a different time when I started wrestling, and I got to do a few things. I was lucky enough to be in The Waterboy, and Jingle All the Way, and some fun stuff, but I had to really dedicate my time to pro wrestling. I mean, for years, it was five days a week, 280 days a year, year-round. So, I did what I needed to do in that career, and now I have time to do more things. Definitely, you want to do more film and TV because wrestling is a form of entertainment. It’s kind of like live theater action. So that desire to perform for an audience and, you know, basically portray a character is definitely in your blood. I mean, once you get hooked on that performing and being in front of that camera, it’s something that you keep chasing. I guess if I was into spelunking, I guess I could compared it to that, like I get to find a cave to jump into. Luckily, they don’t do Operation Dumbo drop spelunking, so I don’t have to worry about developing that crazy habit with a parachute to fit me. So, but yeah, long story short, I think it’s a natural evolution in performance. It’s the same thing when I did my TV show. When I did The Big Show on Netflix, it was the same thing. I’ve never done comedy in front of a live audience, but it was one of those things that I thought I could do, and I jumped in and did it and had fun with it. So, any chance you get to challenge yourself outside of the norm is always a positive.”
On having more opportunities to do acting work in AEW: “Absolutely, absolutely. 110%! There were a lot of projects that I just wasn’t available to do. And WWE had a real strict, especially at the very beginning. They were very strict about what they let their branded talent do. That was one of the conversations I had with Tony Khan when I made the commitment to come to AEW was, ‘Look, I’m going to pursue more television, more film projects.’ And he was extremely excited about it and encouraging about it to the point that when things start rolling around again, we’ll start working with TNT and get some project rolling. So, to know that you have that opportunity is an incredible motivator and also stress relief. Now you can apply all these ideas and all these desires to perform and be a part of all these new projects. Oh, yeah, at seven-foot and 400 pounds, it’s very tough to let people know that, ‘Hey, I am funny!’ Or, ‘Hey, I can carry a part.’ I mean, I can always be bad guy number one or doorman at the bar. Sure, I can do that — and not to say there’s anything wrong with that — but you also want to prove to the audience that you can carry things. So that’s the great thing is to be supported in that endeavor.
“And believe me, I thank my stars every day when I think about actors that have had a successful career elsewhere, so they don’t have to depend on their acting to pay the bills, because what a tough job to go out there and go through audition after audition and get rejected again and again. I don’t have that stress. I’m going to keep the lights turned on. So, it’s a lot more fun for me. But my hat really goes off to the actors that have slept in the cars and made something out of themselves because it’s not an easy transition. It’s a very competitive, very ruthless business. If you get a part in a movie and that movie’s depending on you, as an investment, when that part was cast, it was done with who they felt could create the best investment for their character. So, it is a business, but it’s also a very, very tough one. As rewarding as it is, it’s also very tough. And I appreciate that challenge.”
On what’s next for him: “Just looking at projects. I mean, that’s, that’s the main thing right now is to do projects that motivate me and things that I want to do. I’m in that lucky place in my life where I don’t have to do anything that I don’t want to do. I mean, not that there’s a seven-foot, 400-pound guy that does have to do something he doesn’t want to do, but, you know, I got that luxury now. I really get a chance to explore a little bit and have some fun. And I think that’s what I want to do is challenge myself to bring fans Paul Wight, you know, fans of mine that I’ve created over the years, and continue to bring them unique things and different things and reward them for being a fan.”
