Russell Crowe

And then basically Wednesday would be off physically.

And then I would start the prep gearing up for the next boxing day.

And what was good about it is that it kept me in shape through the whole shoot.

If we'd done 35 days of boxing, then stopped, and then done another 30 shooting days where I didn't have to box, James J. Braddock would have changed shape during the course of the film.

It was because I was cycling back into the boxing that I stayed in shape and kept improving.

Because we had gaps in between, so I'd learn a little bit more from Angela or whatever and we'd be able to adjust something.

So it was a really good choice to make because it made – and it was because of doing that that Ron was able to clearly see we need another gear change between now and –

and the championship and that's when we came up with the idea well the only way we can have a gear change if we just do it for real you know wow um but when i did the real fight i did it with the fellow troy um who was he was a really lovely bloke great boxer great athlete incredible on the ropes you know uh on the skipping rope um just superior i did it with him because i wanted the challenge of doing it you know if we're going to do it for real i want to do it with him and um

Now, you know, we're chasing each other around that ring.

It was an incredible experience, but I wasn't, you know, it's just that thing is like, he's a good, solid guy, and I know he was never going to kill me.

Right, right, right, right.

There was a couple of blokes in that cast.

If he gets the opportunity, he's too feral.

He'll just take my head off.

If I give him half a freaking break, he'll just, you know.

Yeah.

A little bit.

A little bit.

I did martial arts when I was a kid.

So I started off with karate budokan.