![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/deepestdream.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/DanielMacPhersonDeepestDream.jpeg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1\" "\\"DanielMacPhersonDeepestDream\\"\/")
<\/a>Daniel MacPherson – Beast. Credit: Lionsgate<\/p>\nAdvertisement<\/p>\n
Daniel MacPherson stars in Beast as Patton James, a former MMA champion who is pulled back to face formidable opponent Xavier Grau (Bren Foster). Xavier has history with Patton\u2019s younger brother, the impulsive MMA fighter Malon, and family bonds leads Patton back into the ring. MacPherson talked to CinemAddicts host Eric Holmes about this feature, which marks his third pairing with Russell Crowe (he plays Patton\u2019s former trailer). Check out the full Beast interview below to find out why making this movie was an uphill climb!<\/p>\n
Read more: Daniel MacPherson Talks \u201cPerfect Storm\u201d Of Making Intense MMA Drama \u2018Beast\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n I would ask how you got brought into this project, but the last movie I saw you in was Land of Bad also with Russell Crowe, so I imagine that has something to do with it.\u00a0<\/p>\n Daniel MacPherson: That\u2019s exactly right. The writer of Land of Bad was David Frigerio and he said, \u201cI\u2019ve watched you guys work together the last couple of weeks on the film (and) you guys are really good together.\u201d (He said): \u201cI\u2019ve got this MMA project that I think you\u2019d be perfect for.\u201d <\/p>\n That was back in 2022 and I started training straight away, because it was a great script and a great role. It was originally set in upstate New York. And then just as it evolved. It became an Australian story.<\/p>\n And Tyler Atkins, the director, came on and we knew a lot more about what it was like to grow up as a fighter in the working class kind of steel towns of Australia. We knew a lot more about that than we did anything about Buffalo, New York. So it ended up back in Australia and then Russell agreed to come on board and a great Australian cast was assembled.<\/p>\n Then we teamed up with ONE Championship<\/a> to take the filming and the final fight sequences up to Bangkok and to really just elevate the production level and to give us this kind of neon southeast Asian sort of street state that is also, steeped in, in martial arts history and martial arts culture and.<\/p>\n And the result is what you\u2019ve seen. We\u2019re really proud of it.\u00a0<\/p>\n The fight scenes are one thing. I saw you doing the punching the pushups and all that. If I saw that in the script, I\u2019d be like, \u201cnot for me.\u201d I\u2019m gonna go lay down!\u00a0<\/p>\n Daniel MacPherson (laughing): Yeah. No, man. I mean, I was 44, 43 when I was shooting (Beast).<\/p>\n This was only 12 months ago. I was training for three years. It took us three years to get this thing up and running. I got into the fight shape three times. I\u2019ve lost 20 pounds three times, to finally the third time that the camera\u2019s actually rolled.<\/p>\n But look when Russell Crowe says, \u201cHey man, we\u2019re gonna do an MMA fight movie, and you\u2019re gonna play the lead and I\u2019m gonna play your coach and we\u2019re gonna do it\u201d . . . you give it absolutely everything. So, I trained as hard as I could with the best coaches.<\/p>\n I got myself to the lowest body fat I could possibly get to at this stage in my life. By the same token, and then I had to work opposite Bren Foster, who\u2019s an extraordinary martial artist.<\/p>\n But then had to turn around and act opposite one of the greatest of all time, one of the all time heavyweights in Russell Crowe. So it tested every area of my skillset, that\u2019s for sure.\u00a0<\/p>\n You must have changed during the three years it took to make Beast in at least an incremental fashion.<\/p>\n Daniel MacPherson: Oh totally. Life changes. You change in three years. The person you were three years ago I\u2019m assuming is a little different to the one that turns up today. <\/p>\n I became a father at 40 and so fatherhood and my son growing up affected me. I did two plays during that time and they both evolved me as an actor as well. And it was also, it was my third film with Russell Crowe. So I\u2019d evolved in my relationship with him and our onscreen kind of working relationship had evolved as well. <\/p>\n It was a perfect storm for me to really land at the timing that we did where I was in my personal life, the work that I put in for this role and the story and the character I was ready to create.<\/p>\n I was ready and so I put everything I possibly could into it because you never know when these opportunities are gonna come again. They\u2019re so precarious and they nearly fell over again for a third time, like right before we rolled a camera. <\/p>\n So you give it everything you got.\u00a0<\/p>\n What were some things that maybe changed from the script from like when you first read it to when you shot it to now the movie\u2019s done?<\/p>\n Daniel MacPherson: The level of heart in the film really evolved as it went on.<\/p>\n Tyler Atkins had a vision in his mind of what this film was and thankfully it was similar to mine as well. It was always the family dynamic. The responsibility of the father and the husband and the little core nucleus of the family against the rest of the world.<\/p>\n That really interested me. Realistically you could tell that story against any sporting backdrop \u2019cause this guy\u2019s competing for his family and his life and whatnot. But you tell it against the visceral nature of the biggest and most brutal sport in the world right now.<\/p>\n You take a fight movie into a whole new realm. The relationship with my brother evolved. Mojean Aria really brought a lot to that character and we found that a really rich place to mine. And so that relationship started to take up more and more complexity and space on screen.<\/p>\n Kelly Gale, as my wife, was extraordinary and that relationship really grew in the edit and on screen. A lot of those really special relationships really grew and it became it elevated. At the end of the film, you (understand) what those punches mean.<\/p>\n Now you know what\u2019s at stake (and) what this guy\u2019s fighting for. It\u2019s as much for himself and for his future and his identity. His purpose is to right his past wrongs as it is for all the people that are supporting him.\u00a0<\/p>\n Before I let you go, I just wanted to get a film recommendation from you, either a movie that\u2019s real personal to you, or a movie that\u2019s this one\u2019s really good and not enough people talk about it.<\/p>\n Daniel MacPherson: Oh man. That\u2019s a great one. I\u2019m (going to pick) one of mine. Go back and watch Infini.<\/a> Shane Abbess made it. He\u2019s an extraordinary filmmaker. He launched my film career. Luke Hemsworth did an amazing job.<\/p>\n Brent Foster\u2019s in it as well. That was kind of one of our origin stories. \u00a0<\/p>\n Excellent. Daniel, thanks for joining me. You\u2019ve been a pleasure and yeah, congratulations on Beast.\u00a0<\/p>\n Daniel MacPherson: Hey buddy. Great to chat!\u00a0<\/p>\n Catch Beast in theaters April 10 via Lionsgate! Share your thoughts on the movie in the comments!<\/p>\n Like this:<\/p>\n Like Loading…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n\tRelated Content\n<\/p>\n
I’ve been a movie reviewer\/interview since 1991 (as a UCLA Daily Bruin scribe), worked at Westwood One for 20 years. Currently a podcast co-host of “CinemAddicts” and “Find Your Film.” I can be reached at editor@deepestdream.com for inquiries or whatever the case may be!<\/p>\n
Daniel MachPerson in \u201cBeast.\u201d Credit: Lionsgate<\/p>\nBren Foster and Daniel MacPherson in \u201cBeast\u201d \u2013 Credit: Lionsgate<\/p>\n
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\n Previous article\u2018Fantasy Life\u2019 Review: Amanda Peet Shines In \u201cEmotionally Resonant\u201d Comedy<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n
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