WWE Daily

Films in Review has an featured article on TNA star Kurt Angle. Here are a few snippets:

WWE has made films such as SEE NO EVIL, THE MARINE, THE CONDEMNED, and 12 ROUNDS. Did you want to be part of their production company?

I knew I had to make a choice. I knew being in the WWE, the money was there, the movies were there with WWE Films, but I wanted to go outside the circle, the realm of WWE, and spring out on my own. When you are with WWE, you are under the WWE umbrella. John Cena is a big star right now, HHH is a big star, those guys are doing incredibly well and I am very happy for them. But, you are still under that WWE umbrella. I don’t blame Vince for doing that. I think that he is going to make a whole new avenue of stars with WWE Films. But I wanted to go beyond WWE Films. I am not saying that I am doing films that are better than their films, I think that Vince is doing a great job with some of the films he has done already. They have done real well on DVD and fairly well in the movie theaters so my hat is off to him but I just didn’t want to be under that umbrella.

How did you get the role?

I happened to be at the right place at the right time. I was just going down there to be cast in the movie and they wanted to know if I could speak Russian. I said I can’t but I could learn quickly. They said, ‘you are perfect for the part.’ They asked if I had any tattoos, and I said I have one. They said ‘Well, this guy has no tattoos, how big is it?’ I said it’s only about two inches and they said, ‘we can cover that up.” I lost 20 pounds for this film so far and I have been getting picked on. People have been coming up to me and saying that on the Internet it says that you look smaller than the referee. There is a reason for that. I have been trying to get my weight down. I am supposed to be a 185 pounder. So I have to get my weight down to 200. I weigh about 203 right now. This is the thinnest I have been since before the Olympics in college. It has been hard to keep my weight down but I have been able to do it.
Does you foresee this role advancing your career?

The guy you are seeing isn’t Kurt Angle. It’s the greatest fighter in the world who is undefeated. It’s cool that they are doing that. I’d probably be somewhere traveling or walking down the street and someone will say, ‘Hey there’s Koba.’ It’s going to be that type of character. You never know how that is going to turn out. You don’t know if it’s going to help me or if I am forever known as that guy Koba. I think the film is going to do incredibly well and it will help my career. Read the complete interview here.