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Chiwetel Ejiofor on Redbelt
By Fred Topel | Images property of Sony Pictures Classics
Redbelt is a movie about mixed martial arts, but writer/director David Mamet is not known for his action sequences. Indeed, the film focuses on the philosophy and business of the fight scene, but star Chiwetel Ejiofor did have to learn Jujitsu.
Chiwetel Ejiofor Fights for His Redbelt
"You sort of read a script and you’re sort of like, ‘How do I find a way into this character? How do I feel at one with this person?’" said Ejiofor. "I was worried about it, in the sense that I was concerned that there wouldn’t be enough time and I wouldn’t be able to put the fight sequences together. I wouldn’t be able to convince in this role in a way that was kind of meaningful. But I had a great experience doing Kinky Boots basically, and knowing that with the right amount of effort and work on any kind of character, in any sort of production, you can get to a point whereby there’s a certain sense of connection. That experience informed my decision to just throw myself into it, really, and see what can out the other side."
As surprising as playing a drag queen might have been, so was learning to be a fighter. "I never imagined that I’d be learning how to do this. I was very excited to take on the project for that reason. It was great to be able to work with some of the best practitioners that there are of Jujitsu, and to learn about it as a philosophy, to learn about it physically. It was very exciting, very detailed. I felt that I had, because of the connection to the Gracie family and the fact that were so many Gracie family members involved in my training to a greater or lesser degree, I felt that I had a sense of the panoramic view of its inception, its creation, its philosophy, right up to the present day."
In a room full of ultimate fighters, it's actually the actor that had everyone worried. "In a sense, even though this seems like I’m blowing my own trumpet, I was the most dangerous person because I knew such a small amount of it, yet everything I knew was quite dangerous. What I didn’t know was if you’re practicing something like an arm bar on somebody, you can actually be much smaller than them and inflict a lot of pain. Then if you carry on using the same position or whatever, you can break their arm. You can really hurt them. So the whole thing was about people saying, ‘You’ve got to take it down a bit.’ Because in the fog of war, if you’re trying to shoot the scene and it’s this whole crazy fight, some of the stuff that you’re doing is actually pretty dangerous. They were very aware of that, so I was very protected. Suddenly I became the one that everybody was very worried about, being the loose cannon. But there’s a responsibility that goes with that and luckily I didn’t injure anybody."
Redbelt
Redbelt
Redbelt
In the film, Ejiofor's character comes up with a system where two out of three marbles are chosen. A fighter who draws the black marble has a handicap, like his arm tied behind him. Either of the white marbles is a pass. A handicap may be tough, but to be the guy who beat a handicapped fighter is not much of a victory.
"That’s a great challenge to be the other guy, the guy who has some sort of situation. It’s a training concept, really, in its formation. In the training contest it’s very useful, as Mike Terry says, because you don’t know when you’re going to not be able to fight with something. You don’t know what the situation is going to entail. I definitely think that some of the great guys, some of the great practitioners, can use any number of disabilities and be able to fight and be able to inflict serious damage. When I started learning Jujitsu, there’s just different forms because some people’s floor work, their groundwork, is incredibly good. So actually they don’t use their hands that much and it’s all about locks using the legs. They twist people over, get them into headlocks, all with their legs so if you’re against an opponent like who just sweeps your legs away and then is on top of you and puts you in a headlock, then the fight’s over. It’s a way of really accentuating other aspects of your fighting capabilities."
Redbelt opens to theaters May 2nd.
For the trailers, poster and more movie info, go to the Redbelt Movie Page.
Fred Topel
Sources: Images property of Sony Pictures Classics
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