FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY is the incredible true story of former professional wrestler Saraya-Jade Bevis, better known as Paige, who made the stunning leap from wrestling with her family in the small city of Norwich, England to WWE Diva Champion. With help from Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (who plays himself in the film), Paige practically became an overnight success, which is perfect fodder for the big screen. And, thankfully, writer-director Stephen Merchant gets it just right, balancing the inherent drama of the story with good-natured humor and warmth.
We recently attended the press junket for FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY, where we spoke with most of the main players in the film: Florence Pugh, Lena Headey, Nick Frost, Jack Lowden, director Stephen Merchant and Paige herself!
First up we have the lovely ladies who anchor the film: Florence Pugh and Lena Headey. Pugh plays the role of Paige, while Headey takes on the role of Julia, Paige's mother. We spoke about their portrayals of these real people, shooting one of the film's most intense scenes, forming a family on set and Lena's very interesting wrestling name.
Next we have Nick Frost and Jack Lowden, who play the men in the family, father "Rowdy Ricky" and son "Zak Zodiac," respectively. Far from the intense personalities their characters project, Frost and Lowden are very amiable chaps. We talked about their relationship to the sport of wrestling, the training Lowden had to do to get in shape, meeting the real Knight family and more!
As if the details of Paige's life weren't wild enough, now there's been a movie made about it. It's definitely a case of truth being stranger than fiction, and Paige was on hand to talk about the surreality of seeing her life turned into a film, her relationship with the actress who plays her, working with director Stephen Merchant and more!
Finally, we have the man who brought this whole thing together, Merchant himself. Merchant was enlisted by Dwayne Johnson, who thought the writer-director (who co-starred with Johnson in the 2010 comedy The Tooth Fairy) would be a good fit for this larger than life tale. Turns out The Rock was right! Merchant and I discussed his initial interest in the story, spending time with Paige and her family and how the wrestler's story provided almost too much material to work with.