ORLANDO --
Next week, the WWE Performance Center opens up in Orlando.
So to get fired up, we caught up with the youngest person to ever win
the WWE World Heavyweight title.
Randy Orton is a 3rd generation Superstar. Although he wasn't aware of the WWE facility that's opening on Forsyth Commerce Road, he had lots to share about learning how to act like a paramedic and the one time he didn't do his own stunt.
ALLISON WALKER: Usually, you are the one making people see a paramedic. You play one in "12 Rounds 2: Reloaded." Did you shadow an EMT to prep for this role?
RANDY ORTON: Yes, yes. I was curious going into it on whether they'd send me -- well, I know The Miz had to go to hand-to-hand combat school for like a week, or something like that. I was curious if I was going to have to take EMT classes. [I spent a] couple of hours one morning with a paramedic in Vancouver a week before we started shooting. They just wanted me to get comfortable with the back side of an ambulance, basically, and knowing how to start an IV and find the defibrillator and operate it. Without him, you know, it would've been very apparent I had no idea what I was doing.
AW: I'm wondering if there was even one scene where you, of all people, needed a stunt double?
RO: Yes, there was. Funny story, actually. Stunt men are great. They're there to make it a little easier on the actors. I wanted to be a stunt man as a kid, so I did all my stunts. There were two times, however, where my stunt double talked me into letting him do it. I got tossed or kicked down a flight of stairs. But he wore body armor under his EMT outfit that I was wearing, of course. He's made up to look just like me. But he literally - head to toe - was covered in like this hard plastic and I'm like, 'Are you serious, bro?' I would've just done it just like this. I've got my thermal underwear on underneath my thing. I don't need my chest plate [pounding chest]! But those guys get paid when they take the bumps like that, so he was great and he was actually Jason in Friday the 13th. I had to give the guy a payday. I couldn't steal his thunder. He's gotta have his name in the credits.
AW: But you do bust out the RKO or you punt the villain's head in the movie, right?
RO: I wish. I wish I could give that away. I did have a little input in one scene with two police officers. I'm fighting 2 police officers and because I'm an EMT, I'm not really in the business of hurting anybody. So although I'm fending off these two police officers, I'm also trying not to hurt them. So it was an interesting approach to the fight scenes because it wasn't just all-out fist fight. I apologized after I handcuffed one guy's wrist to another guy's ankle and left them on the side of the street and stole their car. Sorry, guys! It was fun to play that character. I genuinely cared about people.
AW: In movies, they use the best take. Since WWE is live stuff, were you were the king of no re-takes?
RO: Yea, one-take king right here. Only one take [laughing]. No. Lot of takes. That's the magic of it. You just keep doing it until you get it right.
AW: Has making this movie made you consider leaving the business that you love?
RO: I do love performing in that ring. It's a high you can't get anywhere else - that buzz when your music hits and those people, whether they're booing you out of the building or they love you - it's an adrenaline rush. I believe I'm an adrenaline rush junkie and that's where I get my fix. To stop wrestling all together - I don't know that that will happen to me in the immediate future. But to know that movies could maybe be my future one day - not any time soon - but one day, I can accept that. I think that would be very cool.
AW: Randy, what do you know about this WWE Performance Center opening soon. Have they drilled you on that yet?
RO: No no. I have done a little bit of stuff down there with Full Sail, but I'm not too sure on what they've got going on down there. I haven't been down there for that.
AW: Well, we look forward to that opening and seeing more of you down here in Orlando. Randy, good luck with this flick. We'll all check it out. Thanks for your time, my friend. We appreciate it.
RO: Thank you, Allison.
Here's Randy's bio:
Randy Orton was destined for a career in sports entertainment. After all, not every WWE Superstar can claim the title of “Youngest World Heavyweight Champion in WWE History”. Then again, Randy Orton is also one of the only third-generation Superstars in WWE history. The son of WWE Hall of Famer “Cowboy” Bob Orton, nephew of Barry “Barry O” Orton and grandson of “The Big O” Bob Orton, Randy comes from a distinctive bloodline.
Randy’s childhood memories include sitting in the kitchen of his family’s St. Louis home with “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, and repairing a broken banister leaned on by Andre the Giant. He wasn’t even five years old when he watched his father knock out “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff in the main event at the inaugural WrestleMania.
Randy’s star rose when he won the World Heavyweight Championship at the unprecedented age of 24. Today the WWE’s “Apex Predator” is know as one of the very best inside the ring and he is appreciated for his work by fans and peers alike.
In 2013, he stars in 12 Rounds: Reloaded from WWE Studios and Twentieth Century Fox. Orton portrays Nick, an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) who finds himself caught in a dangerous 12-round game of cat and mouse devised by a vengeful man that Nick has never met. In 2011, Randy co-starred alongside Academy Award Nominee Ed Harris, Chace Ellison, Mia Rose Frampton and Amy Madigan in the coming of age drama That’s What I Am from WWE Studios. Orton’s performance as a vindictive father of a bully was noted as “Pitch Perfect” by Variety Magazine.
This third generation Superstar continues to make his mark outside of the ring with ratings grabbing appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live and Lopez Tonight.
He also is very active with the Make – A – Wish Foundation; which grants wishes to sick and terminally ill children.
You can catch Randy Orton every week on Syfy’s most watched program, Friday Night SmackDown at 8/7c.
Randy Orton is a 3rd generation Superstar. Although he wasn't aware of the WWE facility that's opening on Forsyth Commerce Road, he had lots to share about learning how to act like a paramedic and the one time he didn't do his own stunt.
ALLISON WALKER: Usually, you are the one making people see a paramedic. You play one in "12 Rounds 2: Reloaded." Did you shadow an EMT to prep for this role?
RANDY ORTON: Yes, yes. I was curious going into it on whether they'd send me -- well, I know The Miz had to go to hand-to-hand combat school for like a week, or something like that. I was curious if I was going to have to take EMT classes. [I spent a] couple of hours one morning with a paramedic in Vancouver a week before we started shooting. They just wanted me to get comfortable with the back side of an ambulance, basically, and knowing how to start an IV and find the defibrillator and operate it. Without him, you know, it would've been very apparent I had no idea what I was doing.
AW: I'm wondering if there was even one scene where you, of all people, needed a stunt double?
RO: Yes, there was. Funny story, actually. Stunt men are great. They're there to make it a little easier on the actors. I wanted to be a stunt man as a kid, so I did all my stunts. There were two times, however, where my stunt double talked me into letting him do it. I got tossed or kicked down a flight of stairs. But he wore body armor under his EMT outfit that I was wearing, of course. He's made up to look just like me. But he literally - head to toe - was covered in like this hard plastic and I'm like, 'Are you serious, bro?' I would've just done it just like this. I've got my thermal underwear on underneath my thing. I don't need my chest plate [pounding chest]! But those guys get paid when they take the bumps like that, so he was great and he was actually Jason in Friday the 13th. I had to give the guy a payday. I couldn't steal his thunder. He's gotta have his name in the credits.
AW: But you do bust out the RKO or you punt the villain's head in the movie, right?
RO: I wish. I wish I could give that away. I did have a little input in one scene with two police officers. I'm fighting 2 police officers and because I'm an EMT, I'm not really in the business of hurting anybody. So although I'm fending off these two police officers, I'm also trying not to hurt them. So it was an interesting approach to the fight scenes because it wasn't just all-out fist fight. I apologized after I handcuffed one guy's wrist to another guy's ankle and left them on the side of the street and stole their car. Sorry, guys! It was fun to play that character. I genuinely cared about people.
AW: In movies, they use the best take. Since WWE is live stuff, were you were the king of no re-takes?
RO: Yea, one-take king right here. Only one take [laughing]. No. Lot of takes. That's the magic of it. You just keep doing it until you get it right.
AW: Has making this movie made you consider leaving the business that you love?
RO: I do love performing in that ring. It's a high you can't get anywhere else - that buzz when your music hits and those people, whether they're booing you out of the building or they love you - it's an adrenaline rush. I believe I'm an adrenaline rush junkie and that's where I get my fix. To stop wrestling all together - I don't know that that will happen to me in the immediate future. But to know that movies could maybe be my future one day - not any time soon - but one day, I can accept that. I think that would be very cool.
AW: Randy, what do you know about this WWE Performance Center opening soon. Have they drilled you on that yet?
RO: No no. I have done a little bit of stuff down there with Full Sail, but I'm not too sure on what they've got going on down there. I haven't been down there for that.
AW: Well, we look forward to that opening and seeing more of you down here in Orlando. Randy, good luck with this flick. We'll all check it out. Thanks for your time, my friend. We appreciate it.
RO: Thank you, Allison.
Here's Randy's bio:
Randy Orton was destined for a career in sports entertainment. After all, not every WWE Superstar can claim the title of “Youngest World Heavyweight Champion in WWE History”. Then again, Randy Orton is also one of the only third-generation Superstars in WWE history. The son of WWE Hall of Famer “Cowboy” Bob Orton, nephew of Barry “Barry O” Orton and grandson of “The Big O” Bob Orton, Randy comes from a distinctive bloodline.
Randy’s childhood memories include sitting in the kitchen of his family’s St. Louis home with “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, and repairing a broken banister leaned on by Andre the Giant. He wasn’t even five years old when he watched his father knock out “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff in the main event at the inaugural WrestleMania.
Randy’s star rose when he won the World Heavyweight Championship at the unprecedented age of 24. Today the WWE’s “Apex Predator” is know as one of the very best inside the ring and he is appreciated for his work by fans and peers alike.
In 2013, he stars in 12 Rounds: Reloaded from WWE Studios and Twentieth Century Fox. Orton portrays Nick, an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) who finds himself caught in a dangerous 12-round game of cat and mouse devised by a vengeful man that Nick has never met. In 2011, Randy co-starred alongside Academy Award Nominee Ed Harris, Chace Ellison, Mia Rose Frampton and Amy Madigan in the coming of age drama That’s What I Am from WWE Studios. Orton’s performance as a vindictive father of a bully was noted as “Pitch Perfect” by Variety Magazine.
This third generation Superstar continues to make his mark outside of the ring with ratings grabbing appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live and Lopez Tonight.
He also is very active with the Make – A – Wish Foundation; which grants wishes to sick and terminally ill children.
You can catch Randy Orton every week on Syfy’s most watched program, Friday Night SmackDown at 8/7c.
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