CM Punk Sets His Sights on Hollywood: “I Want to Do Fun Stuff with Cool People”
San Diego, CA – At the latest San Diego Comic-Con, former WWE Champion CM Punk discovered his formidable plans to transition from the wrestling ring to the big screen, aiming to make his mark within the film and television industry. In an exceptional interview with Denise Salcedo, Punk special his vision for his destiny in entertainment, following his recent signing with the Paradigm Talent Agency.
Known for his charismatic presence and dynamic performances in the wrestling world, CM Punk, whose real name is Phil Brooks, expressed his desire to engage in projects that he finds personally exciting and collaborative. “Movies and TV, I want to do fun stuff with cool people,” Punk declared with enthusiasm. “That’s basically the pitch I gave them, and that’s the pitch I’ve been telling everybody all over Hollywood when I have meetings. I’m not Dave Bautista, I’m not Cena, I’m not The Rock, but obviously there’s value.”
Punk’s aspirations are grounded in his extensive experience in live television, a skill he believes translates seamlessly to acting. “What we do every week is live television, and there’s no better training for reading a script or reading lines or acting,” he explained. “Acting is almost infinitely easier because if I screw something up, we can just do it again.”
The transition from wrestling to acting is a path well-trodden by other WWE alumni, but Punk’s approach is uniquely his own. He acknowledges the potential for professional wrestlers to cross over into acting, emphasizing the importance of ambition and passion. “There’s a lot of interesting individuals that can cross the bridge and transition over to do other stuff. It’s just how ambitious the individual is, and I’m ambitious to a fault. I want to experience everything.”
Punk’s schedule is already filling up, with August poised to be a particularly busy month. He credits his current WWE schedule for granting him the “freedom and flexibility to do other things to satisfy that creative itch.” This flexibility is a significant factor in his ability to explore new opportunities in film and television.
At the same Comic-Con event, former UFC champion and WWE star Ronda Rousey shared her admiration for Dave Bautista, some other wrestling veteran who has correctly transitioned to Hollywood. Promoting her new photo novel, “Expecting The Unexpected,” Rousey praised Bautista’s perseverance and range as an actor.
Rousey, who also appeared at Comic-Con to promote her graphic novel, recounted her experience of having Bautista moderate her panel. “That’s the stuff that people don’t see — the work that you do that is behind the scenes,” Rousey said. She highlighted the numerous auditions and rejections that are part of the journey to success in Hollywood. “Then he shows up as Drax and is getting all these opportunities. It seems like it’s out of nowhere, but I know that he’d been working at that all already for years.”
Bautista’s dedication and progress have made a significant impression on Rousey. “Take away anything else that he’s ever done, just as an actor, I am so impressed with his range and everything that he’s done,” she noted. Rousey expressed her amazement at Bautista’s performance in “The Boy and the Heron,” where he voices the Parakeet King. “I really feel like that’s the kind of mastery that I can only aspire to reach someday.”
As CM Punk embarks on his new journey in the enjoyment industry, he does so with a clear vision and a passionate power. His dedication to paintings on exciting initiatives with gifted human beings is a testament to his enduring ambition. Fans can count on to peer more of Punk in diverse roles on display, as he keeps pushing the bounds of his profession past the wrestling ring.
