A proud Daniel MacPherson says his standout performance as an MMA fighter in blockbuster film Beast will be career-defining.

MacPherson trained for three years and learnt to fight in Thailand to prepare for the role alongside Russell Crowe and Luke Hemsworth.

After starting as an actor in Melbourne on Neighbours, MacPherson was back in town on Monday after a whirlwind publicity tour across the US.

“I knew there was potential with the role like this and to play the lead in a big fight movie, if I got it right and did what I wanted to do, it was going to change the landscape and bring on opportunities in my career that I hadn’t realised before,’’ MacPherson told Confidential.

“It’s done that in America and it’s bringing new opportunities in Australia as well.

“It feels like a really exciting new phase of my career and that’s pretty cool coming up almost 28 years since I started on Neighbours.

“I’m proud of Melbourne, it was where it started for me. I put so much into this film, it’s the best work of my career and the best thing I’ve done in my career.”

MacPherson suffered too, for the transformation to Patton James, nicknamed “The Beast”.

He revealed he couldn’t even walk on the last day of filming.

“I was pretty busted up by the time we’d wrapped,’’ he said.

“I’d torn my adductor off the bone, broke my nose, broke my pelvis and was quite happy to have a break after we finished.

“The stunt double came in and saved the film actually. There was one day left of fighting, but I couldn’t walk.”

After reading the script in 2022 while filming Land Of Bad on the Gold Coast, MacPherson was focused on nailing the role – he was also executive producer.

“It was one of those roles I didn’t want to fake,’’ he said.

“People can see straight away if you’re not the real deal so I couldn’t fail at that part.

“The opportunities that have come from Beast already have been pretty immense.

“Lionsgate bought the film in America and released it in 1200 screens, I got to throw the opening pitch at the Milwaukee Brewers (baseball game) which is one of the most nerve-racking things I’ve ever done.

“And I got courtside at the NBA, so it’s been incredible.”

Beast is in theatres and will be released on Stan in June.