ORDER SHIRTLESS IN HOLLYWOOD HERE
Physically speaking, MATTHIAS HUES is an unmistakable cinematic presence. After making his screen debut in NO RETREAT NO SURRENDER 2 in 1987, Hues overcame a series of obstacles en route to becoming one of the most prolific and sought after action stars at a time when the genre was at its height. Hues would go on to do battle with Dolph Lundgren in I COME IN PEACE, star in KICKBOXER 2: THE ROAD BACK, beat up Lorenzo Lamas in BOUNTRY TRACKER, trade blows with Bolo Yueng in TC 2000, and face many more epic onscreen skirmishes along the way.
As Hues celebrates three decades in the industry, he has written a comprehensive memoir named SHIRTLESS IN HOLLYWOOD (MY REVIEW HERE) that is due on the shelf today, Tuesday, September 3rd. We sat down with Hues to talk about the book, what inspired him to write it, and address several topics inside the memoir that caught our imagination. Sit back and enjoy the lifework of one kickass Mr. Matthias Hues!
I just finished your book and found it highly compelling. Congrats! What prompted you to want to write your memoirs?
Well I never thought about writing one, really. But my friends urged me to do so as I had so many stories I have told over the years at our gatherings. And eventually I went to Bali 10 years ago for 6 months and wrote it all down. 700 some pages of adventures, thoughts and memories. My girlfriend Leslie read it and shrieked. “There is no way you can publish that.” It is too much for the fans to take in as it was really a step by step outline of pretty much every thought and decision I made since childhood, and it was also a little too personal as I was basically rambling on to myself.
I actually deleted the book with one push of the delete and decided ten years later to write it again but more like a script, a three-act piece in a way. Sometimes it is good to step away from something and take another try as many years later you gain more wisdom and experience. Maybe in ten years I am ready to write part two as my life is far from over, and as you can see it in the book I am never shy of doing something new and always eager feel the excitement of conquering.
You describe in your memoirs miraculously surviving a shootout early in your time in L.A. What do you think really happened? Blanks in the gun? Was it a dream?
Sounds crazy, and it’s true, I was in the middle of shootout in an area where drug dealing and pimping was a daily thing. It was definitely not a dream. I was in the wrong place and at the wrong time. The only way I can answer that question now is for the readers to discover what happened in the book.
You worked security for the Marley family. What is the craziest story you remember while working for them?
Yes, I actually had to break up a massive fistfight between the band members. Something I wasn’t happy with as they were all my friends but they were seriously fighting. A precarious position where you do not want to overstep your boundaries. I remembered taking one of the band members and lifting him up, like you see it in the movies and then tossing him into the wall. I mean he flew like someone over the cuckoo’s nest high in the air. In an instant all went quiet and I could see how everyone suddenly looked scared. I too was shocked. I had no idea how much strength was in me and my adrenaline was high. I knew from that day on that I had to learn to control my mind and body so no one will get hurt. This was something that would later help me in the movies, as you could easily hurt someone filming.
Was there ever a role you missed out on that you really wished you’d gotten?
Yes for sure. “Highway to Hell,” which I turned down. I also turned down “The Nanny with Hulk Hogan,” and “Cyborg two” with Angelina Jolie, as well as “Nemesis” with Olivier Gruner. Then I was asked to pay the Villain in one of the James Bond films and I flunked the meeting because I was too excited or nervous and the director suddenly changed his mind after he flew all the way from England to have a personal meeting with me. “Ransom” with Mel Gibson is another regret as I was again too nervous talking with Ron Howard and gave the wrong impression instead of being cool. I am sure there were more, as I was up for some major roles and each time when it reminded me of a school test or teachers grading me I somehow failed. However, once I’m on the set I am in my element and cool and calm as no one else. But to be judges as to whether I am good enough for a role has always made me insecure.
What is your proudest screen achievement, other than your DARK ANGEL and NO RETREAT NO SURRENDER 2?
I have to say a small film that was called “Alone in the Woods.” A charming kids comedy where I could let loose and be someone else for a day. Not the hard-core villain, but rather a bumbling idiot. I also loved the TV series/pilot “Age of Treason,” which was a great storyline — and again a new character as I was to play a detective’s assistant in ancient Rome who was formerly a Gladiator and surely not cut out to do undercover detective work. This pilot series was way ahead of its time in the 90’s, which was unfortunately shelved due to some mysterious circumstances that I briefly touch on in the book as well.
I love the flubbed lines story in your book on DIGITAL MAN. How did it help you become a better actor? What did it teach you in terms of preparation?
Wow, what a nightmare to be trapped in. And yes, all my fault and a warning to all aspiring action actors; learn your lines instead of pumping up your muscles on the set. I was just not there yet in those days, I was too hung up on the surface of things. Now I’m at the opposite end of the spectrum. I am super into details and trust me, I never ever flunked a line in my life after that event. I am usually the one who does it right in the first take. First time Charley they call me. So yes, but that embarrassing experience caused me so much more good than bad. Now I am so deep into the nuts and bolts of film making that I can easily write screenplays and understand the fabrics of story telling, which film is all about.
When working with Dolph on DARK ANGEL, did he give you any advice or converse with you at all regarding your performance?
We never had more than one or two words on the set as far I remember, like two different worlds. It either clicks with two big guys or not. I realized early on he was very concentrated in his work and somewhat imprisoned by it and so was I. We both were out to prove something to the world and I think he wasn’t even aware of me very much, as I was not a movie star or anything. Just that guy who runs around killing everyone and if you see the movie you realize we never share much screen time and if we do it is all about destroying each other. Maybe this translated into real life at that time.
When you moved to Hawaii to be like Magnum PI, did you grow a moustache?
Very funny question! And so smart of you to ask. I was too young to have a moustache. Maybe that in part prevented me from having any luck to be like him in the end. I was so naïve at that time but it gave me the best times in my life. I was a dreamer and life was with no borders and just being in Hawaii and living with someone who was his stand in and who knew him in person was already a gift to me. I was so easily pleased. As we all are so easily pleased with things till we get used to them and want something bigger or better, something far less reachable and more shiny or exciting. Back then just to hold a script from a TV show was like holding gold. Now, well, I don’t know what I need to hold to excite me. Maybe a James Bond movie script, with my name next to the role of the villain. Yes, all in life is subject to the next level if you are in Hollywood and fighting to conquer it.
What else do you remember about your fight with Bolo? How many takes did the scene take? Who choreographed it? Were any real blows landed?
I remember it to be long and drawn out for some reason. It was winter and we shot in a sewer factory that stunk like hell and we rolled around shit really! But the fight was quick. We could have done more but there is never enough time. Bolo is clam, knows his distance and how to sell it. No one ever gets hit for real and if we did I don’t remember it as you are so into it, what are some blows to your body or arms or face really when you fight a legend like that? You feel nothing, hence I simply cannot recall. As who coordinated it, it was Tj Scott, mainly our director who had a stunt background. But as it is with film fighters we figure each other out while filming and then see where our strength and weaknesses are and then we come up with sequences on the spot giving each other the opportunity to shine with our best moves. It turns out like a battle where two warriors want a good fair fight and are gracious enough to give the other one a heads up to shine so we can then shine with our skills defeating the attacks that are so well done as they are the best the other fighter has in his arsenal. So a smart movie fighter will make sure to not be the better guy all the time or the victory is less sweet.
With your weighty filmography behind you – is there a type of role that you’d love to play and have yet to do?
Great question. I have developed some very interesting scripts and roles over the years, which summoned up all I learned from the business and film making. I think we can all agree if you survive 30 years in this genre you will end up getting a keen sense of action heroes that ring true to the audience and the right stories to showcase that kind of a hero. So I have some real powerful scripts and attempting to make them my future star vehicles.
Think in a nutshell down the line of Taken meets the Professional, with a touch of Raid. The first one out in my movie starring plan, “The Widower,” a low budget action film, so it might actually have a shot on getting produced and if so, a great vehicle to showcase abilities and skills without too much smoke and mirrors. The story is about a retired rugby player, and family man who is in the wrong place at the wrong time and has to witness the brutal execution and rape of his wife while getting beaten nearly to death himself. Consumed with revenge, he leaves his grief stricken daughter and returns to the down-and-out neighborhood where his wife was killed.
It is the breeding grounds of all-evil, birthed by the ongoing drug epidemic in London’s suburbs. A world our hero has never entered before and is totally lost in. If it weren’t for a young girl the same age of his daughter who is forced to work the streets for survival after losing her mother to the same criminal elements, our hero would never stand a chance to execute his plans of revenge towards the Jamaican drug ring who rule the streets leaving nothing but violence, destruction and death in their wake.
You’re still in very good shape today – what would be today’s Matthias Hues training regime?
It is always about the same in the sense that I try to keep it all going on a regular basis but today my weights are less heavy and I am smarter about how I work out, meaning I look more for correct form to prevent injury. I also stretch more and take my time with everything. When you’re young you seem to just want to break through walls to see how strong you are. When you are older you just want to make it through the workout to see how fit you still are. I talk a lot about my routine in the book so when the reader comes to that chapter it might be very interesting to read up on it.
Your solid book aside; what other projects (film or otherwise) do you have in the pipeline?
When it comes to films I am more careful to talk about it until it is actually shot and about to be released as you never know if films really materialize these days as it is more difficult to get films off the ground than it was, let’s say 10 years ago. All is more corporate and Hedge fund wise, and sadly the emotional part of filmmaking has taken a back seat to the numbers game. So now you have a harder time to excite executives with a let’s just say “Taken” or “Rocky” ideas because for one, it has all been done by now and there is no more real movies stars who can secure huge box office hits, maybe five left and there is no guarantee either, unless you talk Spiderman type franchises.
So it is harder to get good solid films done for less money as they sometimes just sink in a sea of products out there with no names and endless new faces. Hence the price sticker of each film came down a little so it is harder to get films made with people like us action guys who are so genre depending. But there is always something that breaks through and I am usually blessed to be part of it so I will love to share all of that with you while it is unfolding… !!!
Thank you Matthias!
Absolutely! I would also like to thank you for taking the time to read “Shirtless in Hollywood,” and for kindly taking an interest by asking me these great questions. I love to entertain, and you obviously love the movies as well, which is a slam-dunk. Cheers, Matthias Hues