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Recently, there have been a few AEW stars, like Samoa Joe and Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF), who have jumped into acting, and the Twisted Metal star thinks some of his co-stars could crossover into wrestling.
Speaking to ClutchPoints about Twisted Metal Season 2, Joe had praise for his co-stars. Not everyone is cut out for professional wrestling, but Anthony Mackie and Stephanie Beatriz could be.
“That's a tough one,” Joe said in response to which of his Twisted Metal co-stars would fare well in AEW. “Anthony's an easy choice for me, but don't sleep on Stephanie. She's ready to scrap. She's always down to throw down. So, it'd be a pretty close toss-up between those two.”
He also threw Mike Mitchell into the conversation. Joe warned people not to sleep on him as a dark horse pick. “I think he'd be out there Hulking it up and going crazy,” he reasoned.
Praise for Anthony Mackie
Joe seems to love his cast. While playing Sweet Tooth in Twisted Metal is one of his first major TV roles, he is eager to keep learning. He is not too proud to admit that. The ensemble cast is led by Mackie, who plays Sam Wilson/Captain America in the MCU.
The biggest thing Joe has observed watching Mackie work is his familiarity with the camera. His camera presence is something some of the top wrestlers also have. “They just know how to put themselves in position to get the best shots after the match is said,” he explained.
Mackie is a master of this. He always knows how to work the camera. “This is a guy who just understands where the camera's at; he understands how to work the frame to its maximum,” he praised. “Seeing him and how he understands to work—you put any camera angle on him, he's killing it—to see a guy understand that, those small nuances and watch him work, it's really, really cool.”
The whole ensemble has been great to Joe. One key is that Peacock brought in some comedic actors, including Johnno Wilson and Patty Guggenheim, who can all “riff.” AEW's Samoa Joe has had no choice but to learn from the seasoned veterans in the Twisted Metal cast.
“Legitimately, I would say the majority of the cast, from Anthony [Mackie] to Stephanie [Beatriz] to Anthony Carrigan this season to Mike Mitchell, everybody's pretty accomplished actors, and the ensemble cast we put together this year between Patty Guggenheim, Lisa Gilroy, Johnno Wilson, these are all incredible comedic actors, let alone actors,” said Joe. “And to be able to sit there and watch them riff and see them work, it's a very cool environment to be in. You can't help but pick up a lot of great stuff off of everybody.”
AEW star Samoa Joe's biggest challenge playing Sweet Tooth in Twisted Metal
Sweet Tooth is a killer clown who drives an ice cream truck. Joe's intimidating physical presence, mixed with Will Arnett's voice (he does the voiceover for the character), makes for a perfect iteration of the character.
However, part of the gig is wearing leather-bound overalls. Comparing wrestling vs. acting, Joe said people may not properly judge how taxing the wear and tear of traveling can be. Joe said you “never really have a chance to settle in and heal up as well as you'd like.”
Filming Twisted Metal means being out in the “muggy” summer weather in leather. That is a challenge for Joe, who is billed at over 280 pounds in AEW. He joked that tactical harnesses are “definitely the hot look for next summer.”
“I don't know if everybody's heard yet, but if you wanna talk about a way to both feel stylish and badass at the same time, get yourself a tactical harness,” he quipped. “Nice leather straps. Throw 'em on, you'll feel great all summer long.”
On a serious note, the production is sweaty and “long.” Joe had fun, but it's clear it wasn't always a smooth ride. “You're out there in the muggy heat of summer in a rusty, beat-up 10 box [truck] screaming down the highway,” Joe explained with a chuckle. “Though that is very fun, it can be a long afternoon of hot cars and sweating your ass off out there.”
Now, does filming Twisted Metal require greater stamina than wrestling a match in AEW? “Oh, no. No, 'cause you're sitting down [in between takes] and somebody's doing most of the driving for you,” he responded. “But it comes close at times, I'll say that much.”
Being the muscle
Joe serves as the muscle behind Sweet Tooth. As noted, Arnett provides the voice of the character. Some actors would take offense to the notion of merely being a body, but Joe has no issues. It helped that he and Arnett worked together when developing the character. Even if it did bother him, “I can walk into any arena in America and get people chanting my name.”
“Not at all,” he said when asked if it's weird seeing his body matched with someone else's voice. “A big reason why is [that] it was about building the character together with Will. After the first season, we realized people really enjoyed the character, and if they like the pizza, you don't change the recipe. It's very much the same thing here.”
Arnett is an acclaimed actor, especially for his voiceover work. He has lent his voice to Danny Phantom, Ice Age: The Meltdown, Ratatouille, Despicable Me, the Lego Movie franchise, and the Nut Job series.
Samoa Joe called him an “amazing” voice and live-action actor. “He adds just the right amount of comedic undertones to that grittiness of Sweet Tooth,” he complimented.
He still has to deliver lines while filming scenes, since Sweet Tooth's mask moves with his mouth. Even if you're not hearing his voice in the final product, he “acts the part as authentic to the performances I can.”
“I don't know why I wouldn't—I have this amazing opportunity to work with all these amazing actors and work across from them. I think any actor worth their salt would be insulted if I had done anything but my very best,” Joe reasoned. “I'm very fortunate because they are very forgiving and giving—they definitely do their best to bring the best performance out of me, and I just try to reciprocate [that].”
How AEW's Samoa Joe looks at movies differently after making Twisted Metal
Getting hands-on experience in filmmaking has broadened Joe's horizons. He now can't help but look at movies and TV shows differently after making a high-budget, action-filled series.
“I look at Mad Max: Fury Road now with a whole new set of appreciation and understanding of the incredible risks and insane things that they did to make that movie,” said Joe. “Though Twisted Metal is on a bit of a smaller scale, our stunt team is absolutely amazing this season. Some of the things they're able to pull off are just incredible.
“It was a real wonder to watch them work and put together these car combat scenes and blowing up runways in the middle of the Canadian wilderness just to get these shots. It was a blast,” he concluded.
New episodes of Twisted Metal Season 2 premiere every Friday through August 28 on Peacock.
