 | Thursday, March 11, 2004, 4:46 PM EST.
Lord of the Rings Briefs on His Career in Hollywood
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Omar Epps likes boxers.
"They just give more room to breathe," said the 30-year-old actor from Brooklyn in a recent interview.
Besides being an advocate for the traditional cotton underwear, Epps is also an avid fan of the sport of boxing and plays a boxer in the upcoming film, Against the Ropes.
The film, which is released in theaters this Friday, is based on the life of Jackie Kallen (played by Meg Ryan), a former sports writer from Detroit, Mich., who became one of the world's first female boxing managers. A few of Kallen's real-life clients include boxing legends James "Lights Out" Toney and Thomas "Hit Man" Hearns. Deemed by many as the "First Lady of Boxing," Kallen was also the commissioner of the International Female Boxers Association.
"[Jackie] wasn't one of those women who tried to be one of the guys," Epps said about Kallen. "She was in touch with her femininity, she wanted to stay beautiful, but at the same time, she knew how to work it to get where she needed to go, without sacrificing too much of herself."
In the film Against the Ropes, Epps plays Luther Shaw, a rough-and-tough boxer-wannabe looking to escape his life in the ghettos. He is soon discovered by Kallen, who decides to transform him into the next heavyweight champion.
"These characters are basically from different sides of the earth," Epps said about Jackie and Luther. "But I think they were both on the same plane in that they were both the underdog of their respective worlds. They needed each other to overcome the whole thing."
A story about hope and perseverance, Against the Ropes illustrates the struggle the two characters had to go through in order to survive in the boxing world, without dwelling too much on any of the obvious stereotypes which surrounded them. According to Epps, this aspect of the film was what really drew him to the script.
"The first time I read this script," he said, "the first thing that jumped off the page to me was that you have this young black kid, who's from Any Ghetto, U.S.A., and it's sort of that same cliché story line, but the guy didn't have a chip on his shoulder. He didn't blame the world for his circumstances and that was refreshing to me as an actor."
Another thing which Epps said really attracted him to the film was the opportunity for him to play the role of a boxer.
"I'm an avid fan of boxing," Epps said. "So the eagerness was there, the desire was there but I dunno ... physically, this was just the most I ever put my body through."
Epps had to endure a month-and-a- half of rigorous conditioning in order to train for this role, and spent nearly five hours in the gym every day.
"I wanted to be physically prepared because I knew [co-star and director] Charles [Dutton], who is a big-time boxing fan ... wanted to set a new standard in particular with boxing," Epps said.
In order to achieve this new level, Epps said he and Dutton incorporated distinct characteristics from several different boxing legends into the character of Luther.
"I tried to take nuances from boxers," Epps said. "Not so much their style of fighting, but everything else around that: How a guy looks after he punches a certain guy."
For instance, in one part of the film, Luther knocks out one of his opponents and then grabs onto the ropes behind him. Epps said that this action was a trademark move he and Dutton took from heavyweight champion Jack Johnson. Epps and Dutton also took distinct characteristics from other famous boxing champions such as Toney and Hearns.
Known for his roles in films he labeled as having a "heavy urban undertone," most people remember Epps for his performances in movies such as Juice, In Too Deep and Love and Basketball. Epps said that this transition from so-called urban movies to what many would consider more mainstream films was purely evolutional.
"It's all about trying to break the mold when the opportunity is there …" Epps said. "I think the film world is evolving and it's not just one color anymore."
Breaking the mold also seems to be the underlying theme for Against the Ropes, as a majority of the film centers around the characters' struggle to break free of their prescribed roles in life in order to fulfill their dreams. According to Epps, this is the idea he hopes people will bring home with them after watching the movie.
"Hopefully, people will just feel good at the end of the film," Epps said, "and just feel like whatever problems they have [are] not so big. Or that they'll have a fresh breath and wanna take them on and you know, kick some ass in life."
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