< Home / Interview / Critic / Bio / My articles in Japanese >

The Chaperone

Coverage by Nobuhiro Hosoki

Story : Ray Bradstone (Levesque) is the best wheel man in the business, but he is determined to go straight and be the best parent he can be to his daughter, Sally (Winter), and make amends with his ex-wife, Lynne (Gish). As Ray struggles to find honest work, his old bank-robbing crew, led by Phillip Larue (Corrigan), offers him one last job. He agrees at first, but changes his mind at the last second leaving the crew without a driver. Ray decides instead to serve as a chaperone for Sally's school field trip.

Opens February 18, 2011

Runtime:1 hr. 43 min.

Interview with Triple H aka Paul Michael Levesque

 

(Q): Ariel Winter was amazing! She did play your daughter. How was it working with her?

(Triple H) : We met the day before we starting shooting. I left that meeting knowing this was going to be great. Stephen Herek, the director, and I had met a couple of times prior. I go to New Orleans. We were going to start shooting and we a rehearsal with Ariel. The three of us meet. We're sitting at a table with the script and Stephen wanted us just to read through a few scenes.

We could show a little emotion but for the most part he didn't want us to act, just to read through it and get a feel for each other. She was great. She's very charming so it was easy to like her and we clicked right away. We did one read through a scene and then Steven says "OK," Ariel at this point you're beyond mad and now you're kind of sad. Maybe when we shoot it that day if you could work up a tear that would be great." She didn't wait until the shoot.

She got right into it and was crying, the tears were rolling down her face to the point where I was like "Oh my God. This girl is unbelievable. I better bring my A game or she's gonna smoke me!" She can turn it on and off. She's so phenomenal!

(Q): A couple of years ago you were quoted as saying that as far as acting goes you would leave it for The Rock and that you get your energy from being in the ring.

(Triple H): I wasn't 41 years old then. (LOL) You know, let's face it. WWE in the ring is a young man's business. Not only young but healthy. I've been in the ring close to 20 years. I've had two torn quadriceps, a torn biceps, I've had a lot of injuries. It's a different time. At that point in time I was at the peak of my career and no different than anything else. I did have an opportunity to do "BLADE3" which I did and loved it. If somebody came up to me with a project and it intrigued me, I would do it.

After "BLADE3" I did get offers to do a lot of other things. I turned them down. It wasn't what I wanted to do. It wasn't for me. Being in the ring and being a WWE performer, the adrenaline rush of what we did was it for me. One way or the other right now whether it be movies or something else I would be phasing myself out of in ring performance at this point. This came along at that time. It's another aspect of performing. I enjoy it. I had fun doing it.

But again, I don't have to do it. I'm not moving out to Los Angeles soon. I'm not knocking on people's doors asking to be in their movie anytime soon. If the right thing comes along, whether it's WWE Studios or something else, and it is something I read and have a connection with, I like the project and the challenge of doing it, then I'll do it. If not, I got other gigs going on. I like it but I don't need it.

(Q): When WWE Studios bought the script for "THE CHAPERONE", were you immediately brought to mind as a star?

(TRIPLE H): Did they have someone else in mind before me, I don't know. When I was shown that script, I could be wrong but I don't believe WWE Studios owned the script and they asked me if it was something I would be interested in doing because we were thinking of buying it. If I would do it, we'd definitely buy it.

I read it and really enjoy it. When I read scripts, to me I have a simplistic way of looking at it. Even when I watch a movie, the first thing I ask is if it's a good story. Doesn't matter what the CGI was but if the actors are good in it and the story is good then I'll usually have a good time watching the movie and to me that's what this was all about. I read this. I thought it was a good script. I had fun reading it.

I thought it was enjoyable. I looked at it and thought it would be a fun challenge playing that role. It's not just shoot this or blow stuff up. He's a tough guy at times. He's a funny guy at times. He's an emotional guy at times. It was a great challenge it was something I was interested in doing.

(Q): How did you prepare for your role as Ray and what methods did you use?

(Triple H): I didn't really use a method. I've heard interviews with actors and listened to their theory like "This was a dark character and it took me months to get out of this character." I've been on a few sets. There's a lot of down time in between. If you can't get out of that character in between takes and go back into character, then there's something wrong with you I think.

Pretend to be someone else when you hear action. Stop pretending to be someone else when you say cut. It's that simple really. Sometimes I think actors make so much money that they have to justify how difficult it is to other people. It's really not that hard.

(Q): You mentioned wrestling being a young man's game. Who do you think out of the young roster today has a chance for longevity?

(Triple H): The Miz is the current WWE Champion. Is he one of the next guys? Yeah, he has great mic skills. He's worked very hard at it. We have a lot of great young guys. I think we're in a good place even though some would argue that business is down a little because we lost a few main event guys, myself included. You have to take that step back to take steps forward. Until there's a void, you can't put a new star in there, you know what I mean? You go back 25 years ago, you couldn't replace Hulk Hogan until Hogan was gone.

If you put another guy in that role and Hogan was still there, it didn't work. Now it's the same thing. Some people might look at this past year as a negative because we lost a lot of talent after WrestleMania for various reasons. Is that a negative? Sure in the short run. I think it's a positive in the long run because it forces us to now create new stars that fans will accept because there are no other stars clogging up those spots so that have to respond to those stars.

It's a different world. People will have a much higher expectation of what we give them in an in ring product. If you look back in the 1970s and 1980s there were guys wrestling in their 50s and it wasn't really good. It was what it was but the business is different now. The expectations are a lot higher.

While you still have guys without naming names that are still hanging around too long living just off their name value, if you look at what they're doing now, it's not very good. It's like the baseball player that is still playing the game but he can't hit anymore, he can't run but he has a contract because the fans like seeing him. I don't want to do it when I'm not good anymore.

(Q): Is there something that Triple H fans would be surprised to know about Paul Levesque?

(Triple H): Well I got three little girls at home so at some point one of them has painted my toenails or put my hair in a ponytail. I have a house full of estrogen. I have three little girls and a wife. People lose perspective over who we are and who we play and I find it interesting especially from the people that are supposed to be "smart" to our business and they're the ones that get so caught up in these characters of what a guy is.

These guys aren't around what they do and they hear little bits and pieces of what happens behind the scenes. They think they have a perspective but they blend that with the character they see on TV and it becomes what they truly believe. I think a lot of them really truly believe that Vince McMahon is this maniacal, evil guy that just enjoys firing people and has no business sense. If you read that stuff, we're the dumbest guys in the planet. We don't know how to book.

We don't know how to write stories. We don't know how to do anything but somehow we manage to be one of the highest rated cable shows for 18 years, coming up on 1000 episodes of RAW, but we don't know what we're doing. Vince doesn't know what he's doing. He doesn't have a clue. If only they pushed this guy. The conspiracy theories of what goes on behind our business is crazy and it's just not what it is. If Vince doesn't think it's good for business, he won't do it. If it is, he will. Doesn't mean he's always right. Nobody's always right. He just tries to do what's best for business. We all do.

People have this image of me and what I do for the company, I did for the business and all these things. I would have to be the most whacked out guy in the planet to try to keep a position in the wrestling industry that I married the boss' daughter, live with her every day, have three kids with her, you know what I'm saying?

(Q): So you can have a job for life?

(Triple H): Exactly! That's why I did it. I did this solely so I can keep a job. It's ludicrous when you think about it really. Honestly, when Stephanie and I first realized how serious it was, it did come up. I did feel I was playing Russian Roulette with my career but it was what it was. At that point I felt that if it didn't work and I got fired, I'd find another job.

I think people get caught up that they can't separate the reality from the fiction. It's funny. They're so much more into it, the people that are smart and understand our business are so caught up in it that they don't understand it at all.

(Q): You did mention that you have three daughters. What's been the toughest part of being a father?

(Triple H): It hasn't come yet. They're not in their teenage years yet. I've got a two and a half year old that I took to a birthday party and she's dancing with a little boy. I'm thinking to myself "Great, she's starting already." Right now they're very sweet little girls. There's going to be a time where I'll go from being the greatest daddy on the planet to the dumb guy that lives in the house who can't do anything right. That might be coming.

(Q): Maybe you'll be like this character Ray in the film, that you'll watch them grow up from a distance?

(Triple H): You know I might! There's a part of this where I'm emotional with Ariel. It was very easy to put myself in that role because I could see my kids at some point saying those things to me. It crushes you and if that doesn't bring emotion out of you, then what does?

(Q): Wouldn't you say being on the road has made it difficult to have a family life?

(Triple H): It's different now. When I first started in the business, you left home you were gone 12-15 days, you came back for 3 and you were gone for another 15 days. Now the average guy, aside from our European tours, which are 15 day tours, they go on the tour and have a week off. An average week they work 4 days a week and they're off 3. You work Friday, Saturday, Sunday, then RAW for Monday and you fly home Tuesday morning.

We've had fewer live events because we want to take it easier on the talent and allow them to have a life. In the 1980s when it took off with Hogan, they were riding it until the end. The business slowed down a little bit but then it picked back up in the 1990s. We kind of entrenched now in mainstream society. We're trying to make this a more attractive thing where you can have a normal family life and be a normal person and still do this as a living.

(Q): What would you say is WWE's true competition as a company as a whole?

(Triple H): We don't look at WWE as just wrestling. The in ring aspect is one thing we do. We're an entertainment company. WWE Studios is one element of it. If you would ask Vince this question, he would tell you that his competition is the NBA, the NFL, movie studios, Disney, that kind of stuff. That is what we are going to compare ourselves to.

(Q): Where do you see WWE as an in ring product going and in WWE Films as a whole because you seem to have a great relationship with Samuel Goldwyn?

(Triple H): We do and right now, this is all foreign to us. We're looking at the film business with fresh eyes and are trying to do it our way. We look at how other studios do it and in some ways it doesn't make sense to us. What I didn't get was that everything had to be a certain way. Well, why? Where do I see it going? I can tell you with WWE Studios, we're trying to make it the biggest it is. We're trying to put out good movies. Vince McMahon never looks at things small.

His goal is to make WWE Studios the best movie studio there is. We're getting our feet wet in it. Eventually we'll see. Maybe we won't get to make the big blockbuster movies and maybe that's not the best way to make money. It's all about being successful and putting out the best project. We always look at what's the best way we can do something, not just doing it that way because that's the way it's always been done.

In Hollywood, outside of major blockbusters when they do hit, I think the majority of profit comes from DVD sales. We're looking at that and we're saying "Well, we have an automatic DVD pipeline." How can we work that? We keep the cost of the film down and we promote the film for limited theatrical release. In every film, after a couple of weeks in theaters, the box office wanes. Why would you wait 90 days for the DVD to come out when you could put it out now? You just spent the money to advertise the movie, why double your budget in 90 days again for the DVD? If you do that, you have to recoup your budget twice. That's just one example.

(Q): What do you hope audiences take away from "THE CHAPERONE"?

(Triple H): I just hope that people like it and enjoy it. It's a fun family film and I think it's something that the whole family will like and be together to watch.

(Q): Thanks for your time and best of luck with everything.

(Triple H): Thank you.

End.