"I've been dodging them" - Conor McGregor discusses hesitations to enter Hollywood and why he changed his mind
Conor McGregor recently revealed he wasn't originally planning to step into Hollywood this early in his career.
The Irishman is on the press tour for his upcoming movie 'Road House', where he stars alongside acting greats such as Jake Gyllenhaal. The film, a remake of the 1989 classic of the same name, had its world premiere on March 8 and is set for its major release on March 21 on Amazon Prime Video.
'The Notorious', who hasn't fought in the octagon since suffering a leg break against Dustin Poirier in 2021, was recently interviewed by talkSPORT MMA's Adam Catterall.
The pair discussed McGregor's MMA return and how his Hollywood acting debut came about.
According to McGregor, he had been actively avoiding stepping into acting for a while but due to the injury he suffered and his recovery time, the stars had aligned when this opportunity came about. He explained:
"I don't think I have at all [seeking Hollywood opportunities]. Infact I've been dodging them like the left and rights. I wasn't trying to do this, I was not trying to do this. It just presented itself and with the injury and everything just alligned with it."
Conor McGregor continued:
"Then when I read the story, understood what the movie was gonna be, who was in it, who was a part of it, then it all fell into place. I was turning this game down before I done this one. Many a time."
Catch Conor McGregor's comments here (1:20):
Jake Gyllenhaal reveals how Conor McGregor nearly punched him in the face during 'Road House' filming
Jake Gyllenhaal recently recalled shooting fight scenes with Conor McGregor, which regularly almost saw him take a real punch to the face by the Irishman.
'Road House' marks McGregor's acting debut in Hollywood, and his character is a major antagonist in the film. Due to his role, McGregor and Gyllenhaal share several fighting scenes in the movie.
During a recent media exchange, the Hollywood A-lister discussed what it was like shooting with McGregor, and he jokingly recalled that before most of their scenes together, he had to remind the UFC star that the fighting was fake. He said:
"He knows how to fight, obviously. But he doesn't know how to fake fight. So he had to sort of unlearn tons of things. And I had to remind him pretty constantly, like, remember before takes, I just remember, you don't need to actually punch me in the face. He'll be like 'Oh, right, right.' Like as if in his mind he was ready to really do it."
Check out Jake Gyllenhaal's comments, courtesy of @calfkickercom, here: