“The Secret Cross” premiered yesterday and it was awesome to have so many friends and family come out to the Royal Theatre in Toronto, Ontario to check it out.

Scary thing for me was that I almost didn’t make it to the premiere because of an injury that happened just over a week ago. An irritated nerve in my neck put me totally out of commission for the entire week. I couldn’t stand up for more than a minute at a time and it was impossible for me to sleep more than an hour or two each night because of the pain that was constantly shooting through my neck, upper back and left arm.

By Friday–the day before the premiere– the pain was so bad that I was forced to head to the Urgent Care Center.  After a few hours spent sitting hunched over in the waiting room. a doctor gave me some strong medication that took away all the pain that I was feeling. He also prescribed some pain killers and anti-inflammatory meds that would allow me to feel well enough to attend the film premiere.

It worked!

and here’s how the day of the event played out:

First I drove to the Holiday Inn in Oakville to catch a limo bus that was taking the cast and crew to the premiere. After getting caught in some heavy traffic along the way I barely made it there in time. We hit the road and after a few stops, the vehicle was filled with fifteen of us. Even though I couldn’t have any champagne –due to the medication I was taking– I was simply happy to be there considering how bad I had been feeling just twenty-four hours earlier.

After a very long drive into Toronto– due to heavy traffic and road closures– we arrived at the Royal Theatre at around 4:30 p.m. Waiting for us was a large crowd of family, friends and supporters with whom we stopped to greet and take pictures with before the action began.

As everyone headed into the theatre, it didn’t take very long for the place to fill up. As the three hundred or so people were getting seated I spent some time talking to my students, family and  friends –some of which I hadn’t seen in a long time. It really meant a lot to have each of them there for the premiere.

Having not seen any of the film I had no idea when my character “Willy Basin” would make his appearance. As the opening credits ran each actor received a loud cheer, as their name was shown, from all those who had come out to support them. I got a bunch of cheers myself which was pretty cool.

It was a little weird for me when I first saw my character “Willy Basin” emerge from the brush and engage in an ultra-tense confrontation with the main character.

The entire time I was on screen I was wondering and hoping that my character was truly believable.  I knew that I wasn’t really a psycho and that I normally don’t have a southern accent but would others who didn’t know me believe it to be real?

As the scene ended and the tension dissipated, a loud cheer erupted from the crowd. They liked it! That made me smile.

As the film progressed I really enjoyed watching all of the other actors –Anthony Tullo, Cassie Nadeau, Peter Frangella, Wilson West, Andrew Ramming, Dave Lafame– act during their scenes. There were some funny moments during the film which was nice and I was amazed at the overall picture quality on the giant theatre screen.

Once the film finished we headed down the street to an afterparty at a restaurant/bar called Public. Once there, I had the chance to talk with many of those who watched the film as well as the other actors and crew. One guy who was there asked me if I had been checked for a knife at the door, referencing the psychotic nature of the character I had played in the film.

It probably didn’t help that I’m still rockin the “Willy Basin” style hair and beard for the additional “Secret Cross” scenes that are being filmed this coming weekend. These new scenes will be added to the film in an extension that will result in the film becoming 1 hour and 30 minutes in length. I’m definitely looking forward to having “Willy” do some more disturbing things in those scenes as well.

At roughly eleven o’clock at night the limo took a few of us back to Oakville where I jumped in my vehicle and headed home.

That was the end of an awesome night!

I’d like to thank writer, co-director and lead actor Anthony Tullo for giving me the opportunity to be part of his film. It felt great to be once again under the intense pressure to perform on the spot and I’ve been lucky to meet some great people throughout the entire filming process.

I can’t wait till the next one! Hopefully I get to have my teeth in for that one .

Next weekend, the film “The Secret Cross” premieres in Toronto, Ontario at the Royal Theatre. I’m looking forward to a fun night with friends and family.

Aside from the trailer below, I haven’t seen any of the film yet so I’m very excited to see the final version.

I also know that my friend, writer, co-director and lead-actor Anthony Tullo, has worked non-stop for months after it was shot, to get it ready for the big-screen. With his extreme attention to detail, I know it’ll turn out to be an awesome night on October 22nd.

I had a ultra-fun time acting in the film and feel very lucky to have been given the opportunity to be part of such a great story alongside the many talented actors in the film.

The event starts at 4:30 p.m and there are still some tickets available. If you want to come check it out with us  —>Click here

Trialer for “The Secret Cross”

Visit www.thesecretcross.com for more info on the film

“The Secret Cross” World Premier

Place: The Royal Theatre (608 College St. Toronto, Ontario)
Date: Saturday, October 22nd, 2011
Start Time: 4:30 p.m (Doors open at 4pm)
Tickets – $5 each

A few hours ago I received a call from Scott Thompson at Chml Radio.

It turns out that earlier today he came across a mixed martial arts video showing some kids fighting inside a cage.. After mentioning the video on his radio show, the station received many emails and comments about the issue. I’ll bet most of them were against seeing our children battling it out inside the cage. I fully agree with them!

I would much rather see our kids learning and competing in the various martial arts that make up MMA; developing their skills, confidence and respect for the arts. I also believe it’s very important that the youngsters don’t get sustain hard hits to the head while they’re learning,growing and developing both their bodies and martial skill sets.

I was out with the wife when I received his call but fortunately had enough free time to go on the air to discuss the topic with him.

Click here to listen to the interview

Update: After getting home and searching the net, I think I’ve found the video that is getting a lot of attention. A submission wrestling match inside a cage which I think is very safe–and a lot of fun for the kids!– as long as the referee is experienced.

This on the other hand is not very safe for the kids involved in my opinion:

What are you thoughts about the “Kids Fighting in MMA” topic?

The people at the Score just sent me a link to one of my fights that they recently posted on their website.I hadn’t seen this version of the fight before, instead only the one shot from my friends video camera from way back in the crowd.

I fought on the Score Fighting Series Debut Event back in 2006. The fight took place in Gatineau, Quebec and was for the Apex Fighting World Welterweight title.

My opponent was Nuri Shakir, a veteran southpaw who had never been KO’ed or TKO’ed in over 20 fights against very tough competition including Thiago Alves, Marcus Davis and Jorge Masvidal. My goal going into the fight was to try and be the first to stop him with strikes.

Here’s our pre-fight interviews (Mine on Left & Nuri’s on the right)

and the fight Video…

and my post fight interview (I couldn’t find Nuri’s)

They just released the trailer for “The Secret Cross”. I play Willy Basin; a character that is a little rough to say the least. *clears throat*  I like to thank Jon Fitch for knocking my teeth loose back in the day with a head butt (watch) and making my character appear even more messed up . Just kidding I miss my old teeth!

I’d like to invite you to come out and watch the premiere with us at the Royal Theatre in Toronto on October 22nd,2011 click on the link below and I’ll hook you up with some tickets. The theatre seats roughly 400 people so get your tickets soon before they’re all gone.

—>Click here to get tickets to the premiere

Check out the trailer below…

Visit www.thesecretcross.com for more info on the film

“The Secret Cross” World Premier

Place: The Royal Theatre (608 College St. Toronto, Ontario)
Date: Saturday, October 22nd, 2011
Start Time: 4:30 p.m (Doors open at 4pm)
Tickets – $5 each

I just got a hold of some tickets to the premiere of “The Secret Cross” and would like to invite you out join us for a fun night in Toronto at the Royal Theatre.

For my acting debut, my role was to play a very interesting and fun character that is a little rough to say the least. I can’t say too much more than that without giving away too much about the film. It’s been so tough keeping details secret!

There will be a trailer released soon and I’ll post more info about the premiere as I get it.

The theatre seats roughly 400 people so get your tickets soon before they’re all gone.

—>Click here to get tickets to the premiere

“The Secret Cross” World Premier

Place: The Royal Theatre (608 College St. Toronto, Ontario)
Date: Saturday, October 22nd, 2011
Start Time: 4:30 p.m
Tickets – $5 each

Acting is tough!

Similar to a pro-fight, it’s definitely something that you have to train hard for every single day if you don’t want to get smoked on game-day.

Come showtime, it’s so much like fighting in that you’re mind needs to stay focused on the task at hand.  If not, you most likely will not take a punch in the head like you would during a fight; instead you’ll look like an unskilled idiot who is wasting everyone’s valuable time and money. I’ll take the punch in the head any day over the latter repercussion.

For me, that was enough motivation to take my first film role very seriously. I really hate to let people down especially when they give me a chance to do something that’s really cool. I practiced so much at home that my wife is almost sick of the whole thing. I also ran through my lines every time I drove my car even though I’m sure many people were wondering who I was talking to and screaming at during those trips. One day my 8 year old daughter turned to me and recited every single one of my lines flawlessly: word for word with full expression and high energy.  It was too funny!

It’s safe to say that everyone at home was quite annoyed by my repetitive process of getting into my character.

He is definitely an interesting guy. I won’t say too much other than that so that I don’t give away too much. Playing him was a challenge. I really had to change my mental state to get him right. In the end I’m happy with how my scenes went and I’m looking forward to seeing how the final film turns out. All of the people involved were extremely talented, knowledgeable and experienced in their fields and very friendly; the vibe and excitement on set was amazing and the location was pretty friggin awesome.

I’ll post more info about the film, and how you can grab some tickets if you’d like to come out to see it, as the premiere date (screening on October 22nd in Toronto) gets closer…