T. Omar, you of everybody probably had to
do the most training for this film and the most preparation and
everything. Tell me about that.
O.E. Yeah, I only had a month and a half to prepare so you know,
I worked out five hours a day just boxing. Dive head first into
the world of boxing and try to do the best I can.
T. Had you had any experience with boxing
before?
O.E. Probably as much as the average guy out there. I love boxing
as a fan you know, it's one of my favorite sports. But I
had no idea about the science of it all.
T. I've taken boxing classes and I
find it very empowering, you know what I mean? I don't know
if it's like that for a guy, but for a woman, it's
like, "Wow, I know how to do an uppercut and that kind of
stuff."
O.E. It's definitely great for the mind and body. You're
learning a skill that you're not using anything outside
of yourself to do, so it's a wonderful sport.
T. Did you get the opportunity to speak
with any professional boxers?
O.E. A couple of them and they all said the same thing..."kid,
stick to the acting."
T. You looked great, and your posture was
very distinctive. Why did you adopt that posture?
O.E. Well I tried, you know, the character was a composite character
and I tried to take bits and pieces of the boxers I like, that
I liked in the past and that sort of thing, and make my own guy.
But I don't know, the posture just came about on the day.
It was an unconscious thing.
T. How interesting. Did you talk to Jackie
at all ahead of time to see how she was working with boxers and
stuff?
O.E. Yeah, we had a couple of conversations and she just really
encouraged us to go full blast. She came down and saw me training
so she knew that we were really taking it seriously and trying
to make some magic out here.
T. You must be in pretty good shape to begin
with though, if you only had a month and a half to get in shape
for that. You've got to stay on top of it right?
O.E. We're actors man, we're like chameleons,
especially if you pay us enough money - we'll do anything.
Yeah, I just had to go head first. I tried, I didn't know.
I was kind of working out beforehand and so, yeah, I was a little
bit in shape.
T. You are not just an actor. You have your
own production company now. Tell me about that.
O.E. Well, we got the production company off the ground, and we
just want to do quality work: co-writing, co-producing, helping
with screenplays. We're throwing around some television
show ideas and we have a music sort of wing. We're just
trying...the performing arts, this is what I feel I was born
to do, so I just want to surround myself with great people and
make a living out of it.
