STACK #142 Aug 2016

DVD & BD FEATURE

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THE CELTIC WARRIOR COMETH

Get ready to Rocksteady

STACK caught up withWWE superstar and TMNT villain Sheamus ahead of theWWE Live 2016 tour of Australia this month. Words: Scott Hocking

A longtime Turtles fan, Sheamus says playing the rampaging

rhino in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows was an experience that still hasn’t properly sunk in. “They were looking for the Rocksteady character and wanted a big wrestler or fighter. I did the audition and didn’t hear anything back – but if you’re not in, you can’t win. “Then out of the blue I got a call for another audition. I flew to New York to meet [producer] Andrew Form and I told him how much I wanted the role because I was a huge fan of the Turtles, and he showed me the sketches of Bebop and Rocksteady and all the storyboards. I thought, ‘this is very nice of him showing me all this’. I thought I’d have to wait a couple of weeks before I heard anything, and then he said, ‘Congratulations, you got the role. You don’t think we would have shown you everything if you hadn’t got the part,’ [laughs]. I was just flabbergasted. And a couple of weeks later, I’m Rocksteady, man! “I’d done mo-cap before with 2K and THQ and the video game stuff, so I was well used to that,” he says of his mutant rhino incarnation. “A lot of the action scenes were left to the stunt guys, but I did all of the transformation stuff and the voiceovers.”

S heamus, aka The Celtic Warrior, arrives for our interview sporting fingernail polish in a bright shade of green. “We just visited the children’s hospital, so I got my nails painted for free by one of the kids,” he explains. He also hasn’t slept for almost two days, and apologises in advance for his rapid-fire responses. “I left New Orleans at 1.30 pm on Tuesday and I got here 8.00 am on Thursday!” Travel, he explains, is one of the toughest parts of the wrestling business – that and the downtime that sometimes comes with the job, especially for someone as active and ambitious as this Dublin-born four-time World Heavyweight Champion. “It can be tough when you’re not involved in a storyline,” he says, “especially if you’re used to doing something and are suddenly in limbo mode. “For someone like me, it’s frustrating if you’re not being challenged, because I always want to keep moving forward. I want to broaden my horizons, whether it’s doing promos or backstage stuff. When you’re not involved in a story that’s progressing your character and progressing you, that’s the hard part for me. “I just want to entertain myself and entertain the people with everything I do, whether it’s in the ring or backstage.”

I watched The Goonies again on the plane – it’s fantastic! “If I can find a great balance between films and WWE, it would be amazing.” Sheamus is Down Under ahead of the WWE Live Australia Tour in August, which he promises will be “the greatest show in entertainment you’ll ever see.” “It’s a mixture of action, high-flying stuff and larger than life athletes,” he adds. “The atmosphere that comes with an arena show is very hard to match.”

In the meantime, fans can get a taste of ringside action on DVD and Blu-ray with Wrestlemania XXXII , which

...it’s frustrating if you’re not being challenged, because I always want to keep moving forward. I want to broaden my horizons...

DVD & BD

Sheamus describes as the biggest and greatest Wrestlemania of all time. “Over 100,000 people packed into AT&T Stadium in Dallas to watch new, current and veteran superstars like The Rock, John Cena, the return of Stone Cold, Shawn Michaels and Mick Foley, who unfortunately we were on the receiving end of. Any excuse to buy one WWE DVD, you gotta buy Wrestlemania!” • WWE Live 2016 hits Melbourne on August 11, followed by Adelaide (Aug 12) and Sydney (Aug 13)

He’s also been entertaining us on the big screen, having recently appeared as Rocksteady in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (see right), and would love to pursue further acting opportunities. “I always wanted to be an actor,” he says. ‘When I was a kid I was a huge fan of the Mad Max movies that came out of here, as well as

• Wrestlemania XXXII is out now on DVD and Blu-ray

Back to the Future , Conan the Barbarian , Indiana Jones, Karate Kid and The Goonies .

AUGUST 2016

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