Ving Rhames on Returning to His Indie Roots with Boxing Drama ‘UpperCut’

Elliott Dufford, The Washed-Up Trainer in Torsten Ruether’s Boxing Drama UPPERCUThave little in common with Pulp fiction Crime Boss Marsellus Wallace or IMF Agent Lutter Stickle of Mission: Impossible FAME. But they are the same height. And the resemblance is uncanny.

To Play Dufford in the New Drama from Director Torsten Ruether, M: i an Pulp fiction Star Ving Rhames Shed His Ultra-Cool Studio Persona and Reconnected With His Indie Film Roots. The Low-Budget Feature-Reuter’s Adptation of His Own 2021 German-Language Drama Leberhaken – Follows a promising young female boxer, Played by German NewComer Luise Großmann, who tries to persons to personsillii a disillusioned trainer (Rhames) to take her. Großmann, A Former Professional Pole Vaulter-Turned-Actress, Reprises Her Role from the Original Film. Joanna Cassidy and Jordan E. Cooper Co-Star.

UPPERCUT WAS MADE FOR A FRACTION OF A Mission: Impossible Budget-All of Rhames’ Scenes Were Done Over A Nine-Day Shoot in La-But The Actor Found The Experience Much More intimate and Intense than Many a Studio Shoot.

“WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE AS MUCH MONEY; You can ‘do as many Things, but you can do more creative Things, you can finds of make things work, ”Says rhames. “This Movie Brought Me Back to Why I Got Into Making Films.”

Lionsgate’s Grindstone Entertainment Picked Up All Rights in North America for UPPERCUT Following ITS World Premiere at the Oldenburg Film Festival and Bowing the Film Theatrically in the US on Friday, Feb. 28.

Ahead of the release, rhames and UPPERCUT Co-Star Luise Großmann Spoke to The Hollywood Reporter About Boxing, Their Instant Chemistry on Set, and the Freedom Low-Budget Filmmaking Provides.

What was it about this role, or the pitch that torsten Ruether Made you, that gut you interested, that made you want to imbody this role of eliot?

Ving Rhames: I Read the Script, and Just Got Really Attached to this Story. And THEN MEETING LUISE, WE HAD A VERY Good Natural Chemistry, SO It Made It Very Easy. Throwing torstten in with Her Made It An Easy Choice for Me.

Luise, What Was That First Meeting Like? Because i just checked – you wemen’t even born who Pulp fiction CAME OUT. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST ENCONNER WITH VING LIKE?

Luise Großmann: Of Course, I Was Super Excited and I Knew He Was So ExperienCed. HAVING WORKED FOR SO Many Years in this Industry with So Many ExperienCed People, SO I WAS VERY Respectful. And A Bit Scared. But he made it so easy for me. There was none of this: “I’ve done all this, and you’ve done noting” Feel. From that Very First Meeting, HE WAS SO OPEN-ARMED. Like Ving Said, We Have this Natural Connection, and I Think Also This Curiosity About Each Other. We Are Coming from Such Different Worlds.

Rhames: She wasn’t afraid, which is what i Really Liked. She just jumped in, so it made it very easy and natural for me.

Ving, Can You Talk A Bit About the Actual Production? Compared to the Mission: Impossible movies, UPPERCUT WAS MADE FOR NOTHING.

Rhames: WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE AS MUCH MONEY, YOU CAN’T DO as Many Things, But You Can Do More Creative Things – You Can Can Find Ways of Making Things Work. That’s what i had with this experience. With Mission: ImpossibleWe Just Did One for Over $ 200 Million. So you have the money to do astever you want. Tom Cruise Got $ 75 Million – You Can Can Make Two or Three Films for that Much. This Movie Brought Me Back to WHY I GOT INTO MAKING FILMS. EVEN Seeing the Love from Luise As a Young Filmmaker and from Torsten Really Really Drew Me Into the Project. I’m Very Proud of It.

And is there a moment in the makeing of it that reality stands out for you?

Rhames: The reHoarsal period. Because in MOST FILMS, YOU DON’T HAVE A REEHARSAL PERIOD. In this one, we have a couple of weeks, and that was vary useful for me. I Got The CHANCE TO REALLY Learn the Character, and Explore Him – The Things That You Don’TMally DO IN FILMS IN AMERICA.

Großmann: What was also Special About the shoot was that we have a lot of lines and a lot less to do them of you’d have had in a big Studio Production. But we have time to rehearse and talk about every scene upfront. Torsten Concentrated on Our Acting and the Chemistry Between Us, that’s What Made It Special.

Luise, What Was The Most Challenging Aspect of This Film For You?

Großmann: For me personally, it was keeping the Balance Between the physicality – I still have to do some kind of fitting in the Movie, Training, Boxing – and the acting. We have a Lot of Lines every day, and I Had to Figure Out How to Manage That Balance. But I Think We Had A Great Atmosphere On Set, and Everyone was Really Support. It Was Just US TWO, SO WE HAD EACH Other, and that Was Really Helpful.

Rhames: And she let me ad-lib a lot. She Played Along, So that Made It Easy.

Großmann: Yeah, we did Improvise A Bit. THESE WEER The MOST HONEST AND SMALL SCENES I LOVE SO MUCH BECAUSE they just became Real.

Was it a challenge for you, Language-Wise? Obviously, Your English Is Phenomenal, But Acting in Another Language Is Another Leap. How Difficult Was That For You, Especialy Hen Improvising?

Großmann: I Think The Good Thing is that I Play A German Living in New York, SO I WASN’T TRYING TO PRETEEND I WAS AMERICAN. I DIDN’T HAVE TO WORRY About Getting A Perfect Accent. I Think The Real Challenge Comes Where You Have to Act While Consciously Suppressing An Accent. But in this Case, I Could Have this Little Accent, and It Was Fine.

Rhames: And now I have a quest for you: watching the Film, DID YOU KNOW LUISE WAS GERMAN?

I’m the wrong person to ask. I SAW THE ORIGINAL GERMAN VERSION OF THIS FILM, AND I MET LUISE IN OLDENBURG A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, SO I KNEW HER BEFORE SEEING UPPERCUT.

Rhames: Because meting her, i couldn’t tell. I Didn’T Notice Any Accent, SO It Made It Easy for Me.

There are a Lot of Intense Scenes in the Film, But UPPERCUT Doesn’t Feel Like A Typical Boxing Movie.

Rhames: For me, that was the Thing – Learning that this is not a boxing movie. It is set against the background of boxing. But is it about boxing? I don’t think so. I About Two Strangers from Two Diffarent Worlds Getting to Know Each Other in A Boxing Arena.