UFC featherweight Andre Fili made his motion picture debut in the recently-released film Green Rush, which was co-produced by Team Alpha Male founder Uriah Faber.
The film was released on Tuesday, and Fili was looking forward to watching the film in full for the first time. He has already critiqued a few of his parts, however, and he’s aware that people will be skeptical of a movie that involves UFC athletes.
“I haven’t watched the whole thing yet but I’ve seen a couple of my own scenes,” Fili told UFC.com. “Some I was happy with, some I felt I could have done better, but I’m always going to be my own hardest critic. I just want to see it and I want people around me to see it because I know they’re excited and I’m excited for the people who were talking s–t about it when we said we were making a movie to see it because it’s really, really well-made.
“People saw me and they saw Faber and they were talking s–t, like people do. Everybody who was on the project worked really hard and I’m excited for it to finally be seen by people.”
RELATED LINKS SPONSORED BY H&R BLOCK:
The U.S. Government is providing tax relief on your upcoming tax returns due to the financial impact of Coronavirus. Find out what additional savings you qualify for your 2019 federal tax return by clicking here.
Fili understands why people might be critical of athletes in crossover roles, but he said he held himself to a high standard during filming.
“You see athletes do things and it’s gimmicky,” he said. “Oh, here’s an athlete doing ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ here’s an athlete in a movie, here’s an athlete making music. Whenever I do music or do a movie or do any kind of other art outside of martial arts, I want it to stand on its own. I don’t want my acting to be good for a fighter. I want it to be good acting for a legitimate actor. I want it to be good acting. That’s how I approached this. I took it very seriously.”
The plot, according to IMDb, is as follows: “A cannabis farmer and his pregnant lover fight for their lives when ruthless criminals invade their property.”
Fili has been a film buff for quite some time, and he hopes that appearing in the movie will open doors down the road. For now, though, Fili is still a full-time mixed martial artist. He last appeared at UFC 246, where a unanimous decision loss to Sodiq Yusuff snapped a two-fight winning streak.
“It (acting) was a fun experience and I want to do a lot more of it,” Fili said. “It’s something I’m going to transition to after fighting. Win a world title, be the man for a while as a fighter and then try to take over a different aspect of the world.”
Help Prevent the Spread of the Coronavirus
Sherdog recommends all readers comply with CDC guidelines and remain as isolated as possible during this urgent time. Visit the Centers for Disease Control at CDC.gov or the World Health Organization at Who.int for the latest information on the coronavirus and learn what you can do to stop the spread.
The U.S. Government is providing tax relief for you due to the economic effects of the coronavirus. H&R Block helps you find out what tax savings you qualify for by clicking here.