Conor McGregor actually punched co-star in risky Road House fight scenes-Tori Brazier-Entertainment – Metro

Conor McGregor makes an explosive movie debut in Prime’s remake of the classic Patrick Swayze 1980s action film Road House, starring Jake Gyllenhaal – but the former UFC champion claims there wasn’t much acting involved.

McGregor, 35, plays henchman for hire Knox in the film, who presents the ultimate challenge to Jake Gyllenhaal’s Dalton, who is working to protect Frankie’s (Jessica Williams) Florida Keys bar from the thugs disrupting her business.

Knox is in another class though, supremely confident and deadly – and often seen strutting around in eye-catchingly vulgar outfits, or with his bare behind on show with the trademark McGregor swagger.

Speaking to Metro.co.uk at the London premiere of Road House, the Irish MMA fighter and boxer insisted it wasn’t an issue for him to learn how to stage fight rather than scrap for real.

‘I just went with it – it was a fight. We were fighting each other, that was it,’ he revealed.

‘There was no acting – there was no pulled punches. We were taking hits and we were giving hits, and you’re going to see it in the movie!’

UFC fighter Conor McGregor makes his feature film debut in Road House (Picture: Samir Hussein/WireImage)

He plays thug Knox, taking part in several major stunt fights (or are they?) (Picture: Laura Radford/Prime Video)

Dalton (Jake Gyllenhaal) is trying to protect a Florida Keys bar from Brandt (Billy Magnussen) and his crew (Picture: Laura Radford/Prime Video)

His co-star Billy Magnussen, who plays the villainous Brandt, echoed some of McGregor’s implied chaotic energy when he revealed he was kept ‘on his toes’ for their scenes.

‘Working with Conor McGregor has been just a treat,’ the No Time to Die actor, 38, shared.

‘To work with an actor so curious and excited and being new and fresh – it’s exciting, but also, I didn’t know what was coming so I had to be on my toes the whole time!

‘It was a sparring match, but a fun one, and I respect the man quite a lot.’

McGregor, who claimed he was the ‘highest-paid first-time actor ever’ in a post on X in November, has said he has been courted for movie roles before.

McGregor claims there were ‘no pulled punches’ on set (Picture: Samir Hussein/WireImage)

However, this one became irresistible due to the package – as well as the practicalities of timing.

‘Road House and what Road House is [attracted me] – I’m a big fan of the original, I’m a huge fan of [Patrick] Swayze – a man that done it all – so that alone was kind of peaking [sic] my ears up.

‘Then it was just timing, I was recovering from an injury – I’d just about recovered – I was big and strong from the recovery. I wasn’t doing much cardiovascular work, I was lifting heavy. Road House called for a person like that.’

Gyllenhaal takes on the part that Patrick Swayze originally played (Picture: Getty)

The professional fighter also had praise for his leading man Gyllenhaal, 43, because ‘any time Jake’s name is on the bill, you’re in for a good night’.

‘And then the director Doug Liman – loved The Bourne Identity, loved the films with Tom Cruise [Edge of Tomorrow], I was blessed – producer Joel Silver – I landed on my feet so I had to dive at the role,’ he added.

Fans have been slightly torn between excitement and trepidation over this $85million (£66.7m) remake of such a cult favourite film.

‘You can’t remake Road House FFS. Is NOTHING SACRED,’ wailed Simon Warren on X, while @NotTroyThomas posted: ‘I sure hope they didn’t ruin the remake of Road House.’

The remake, however, has proven a hit so far with the critics, being certified fresh at 77% on Rotten Tomatoes, with reviews praising it as ‘a rollicking rage fest’ and ‘loud, abrasive, and maddeningly entertaining’.

Swayze’s Road House from 1989 became a cult classic (Picture: United Artists/Getty Images)

(L-R) Road House cast members Jake Gyllenhaal, Conor McGregor, Daniela Melchoir, Lukas Gage and Billy Magnussen at the London special screening on Thursday (Picture: Getty)

Magnussen also insists that the new Road House shouldn’t be compared, although it has a link to the old through Gyllenhaal who starred with Swayze in 2001’s Donnie Darko.

‘I don’t think ours can be compared, I don’t think it should be. It’s from four decades ago so like a different zeitgeist and time. The reality of the script is it’s a guy defending a bar – it’s a silly, fun movie. So let’s just enjoy it.

‘That’s all it needs to be, it doesn’t need to be dissected or anything. But again – Patrick Swayze, I loved him.’

Lukas Gage also features in Road House as Billy, one of the barmen at the roadhouse who Dalton takes under his wing and mentors in how to be an effective bouncer.

Gage, who has starred in Netflix series You and The White Lotus, admitted he ‘felt like a badass’ being able to get stuck in with some of the stunt fights.

Dalton mentors the likes of Billy (Lukas Gage) in teaching him how to be an effective bouncer (Picture: Laura Radford/Prime Video)

‘I feel like I’m usually getting my ass beat all the time in shows and now it felt good to be the one doing it back,’ he told Metro.co.uk.

‘After the training that I had, the stunt training, it felt really cool to be like, now I know how to throw a proper punch – not that I want to, I’m not a big fighter, but, you know, for the movie!’

The actor also shared that he was surprised at how sore he got from all of the stage fighting, revealing a pretty intense schedule of preparation – but it did come with benefits.

‘We did like five, six hours of training every day for two weeks, I have never been more sore in my life. Also, I’ve never had the biggest – well, they weren’t that big – muscles that I had [then] in my whole entire life! It’s like one of the best workouts I’ve ever had.

‘I also like it, it’s fun when it’s done in a safe environment, and now I actually go to boxing classes on my free time when I’m not filming. So yeah, it bled into real life.’

Road House releases exclusively on Prime Video on Thursday, March 21.

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