During a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Paul Heyman commented on his original vision for Roman Reigns’ Tribal Chief character, what he had Reigns study, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On his on-screen role on WWE TV: “Even if the scene is only with me, I’m there to advance the story and explain it to you in sound bites that hopefully go viral so that more people can have access to it.”
On the success of Roman Reigns during the COVID era: “When Roman Reigns and I came up with the character, I had Roman study Apocalypse Now, because the initial launch of the tribal chief to me was Colonel Kurtz. [Marlon] Brando. All things on the island of relevancy flow through the tribal chief Roman Reigns, we all rely on him. We all look to him for the answer, and at the end of the movie, when Martin Sheen has fulfilled the directive of the United States military’s covert operation, to terminate Kurtz’s command with extreme prejudice, he opens up the book written by Kurtz. He sees what Kurtz has written, ‘drop the bomb.’ The burden of leadership, the burden of the worship, the burden of the expectations, the burden of, let’s call it the acknowledgement, is so heavy on Kurtz that he resents everyone around him for relying on him to this extent, though his power and his entire character is designed for that very purpose.”
On the importance of social media and having Easter Eggs in scenes: “I openly invite easter eggs and conspiracy theories in every scene that we do, and we intentionally drop them in there, so that people pick up on it and then develop their own conspiracy theories as to which way the story can go. What’s the difference between a Travis Scott concert and a Frank Sinatra concert. There are certain things that don’t change, right? You’re still performing in front of screaming fans. You’re still performing in front of a rabid live performance-affirming audience. You’re still performing in front of people who paid to see you do what you do better than anybody else on the face of the planet. In that regard, it’s still the same, however, we now have to offer more. We now have to take those performances from the couch and bring that soap opera to play out. Sometimes it’s all physical, so it’s very Shakespeare. And sometimes it’s all words.”
During a recent appearance on the “Gabby AF” podcast, Shawn Spears commented on his excitement over Ricky Saints joining the WWE NXT roster. He said,
“Very excited. Spent a lot of time with Ricky over in AEW and things like that. So we’ve had a lot of our conversations. Just a guy who’s, same thing, grinding it out, looking to get a break, got a big break over there. But then I think it’s just a matter, much like the business, I think it’s a personal evolution that we as performers kind of seek, search out. Sometimes, I know for me, I can’t speak for Ricky, but I know for me, it just felt like I wasn’t in the right place. So I needed to go. I’m a big where, I’ve been pretty smart in life, I’ve set myself up okay to where money isn’t at the forefront. It’s a little different now because I have children now, but money isn’t at the forefront anymore. I put time as the ultimate because I’m much closer to the end of my career than I am the beginning.”
He continued, “Time is the ultimate, for me, currency. So the same thing kind of happened where I felt like I needed to, I have X amount of time left, I want to spend that the way I want to spend it. By that, I mean I just wanted to contribute, or go where I was not necessarily needed, but wanted, too, and ended up taking that big step, and it paid off again. I’ve been lucky enough in my career, I’ve been on myself, and every time I have, it has worked out in the best way possible. I’ve been very lucky, and it could have went wrong, but either way, I made the calls, and I’ve had to live with it. I think, I can’t speak for him, but for Ricky Saints, it was the same kind of thing. I think he just felt he needed to step away and step into something new and kind of re-jumpstart. I think a lot of talent, depending how long you’re in this, I think they hit that at some point in their career. Now, how they go about dealing with it is really up to them, but I’m a big believer that if you feel in your gut that something needs to change or you feel like you don’t belong somewhere or you just feel something, do it. Why not? Because sooner or later, you’ll be 44 and halfway through.”
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