The only thing Frank Grillo likes more than getting punched is spending thoughtful hours with the people who live and die by the damage they inflict: fighters.
The 53-year-old actor riding a career high these past few years playing tough guys will tell you he identifies with fighters more than he does actors. The reasons are as simple as hand-wrap and drops of blood. Unlike the Hollywood playground, fighters carry a truth that can't be obtained or defined properly. It's entrusted to a soul at birth. Hollywood can only strive to pretend.
In order to get to the heart of the matter, Grillo took the better portion of the past year and set out on a mission: travel the world, walk into gyms, and live with the toughest men on the planet. I'm not talking about training, working up a sweat, cutting a check, and bouncing. Grillo went to the most dangerous places on the planet-Senegal, Bangkok, Israel, Brazil among them-and let us follow him into that world.
Fight World, a documentary-series arriving via Netflix on Oct. 12, will shine a light on the true warriors that the world simply doesn't know enough about. Men who literally could fight a superhero with their bare hands. I'm not talking about simply climbing into a ring and throwing a few punches. Grillo went to Brazil and learned about the wicked ways of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He spoke with Marlon "The Gladiator" Sandro, a mixed martial arts champion from Brazil, a man who is helping shape young lives in harsh times and locations.
MORE REVIEWS:
An avid boxing fan and a guy who has spent hours in the ring since he was a teenager, Grillo stopped in Mexico to speak with Julio Cesar Chavez, the legendary Mexican boxing champion who embodied the body and soul of a warrior in the ring for decades. While training there, Grillo's Instagram message in September summed his mission up in blunt fashion, "what an amazing morning of boxing, learning, and creating friendships."
One of Grillo's inspirations for the series was the late Anthony Bourdain. The iconic chef and voice of the culinary world traveled the world with the same idea: break down walls designed by language barriers by discussing food and its origins. In our interview in July, Grillo attributed Fight World's worth to a lesson about different cultures, which is what Bourdain set out to do. "I'm connecting culture through fighters," Grillo said. "It's not a tutorial. It's more anthropological."
With this series, Grillo wants to take you to a place where you haven't gone just yet. Places where men put everything on the line when they step into a circle, ring, or octagon. I think of Fight World as enlightening the masses about what a real fighter looks like, and also how they live and operate. It's more than a behind-the-scenes glimpse. You are going to breathe the same air for a few hours. Armed with a visionary auteur like director/editor Padraic McKinley, Fight World aims to transports you.
If you think Grillo is tough, just wait and see some of the giants he spent time.
While he often plays a tough guy on screen, Grillo refuses to label himself a fighter. He may partake in 12 rounds of boxing a day at the nearest gym located on his GPS, but to this day, he's a kid in a candy store when there's an opportunity to hit something and be hit.
The mentality of a fighter fascinates Grillo. "Fighting is a visceral and emotional thing," said Grillo. "I don't claim to be a fighter. I just love to fight and train in many aspects of fighting. It changes on a cellular level how you carry yourself in this world. The way you treat people. You aren't insecure or afraid, but your heart is open."
Grillo found a distinct parallel between two separate worlds in his travels. In places like Senegal, where people understand and accept various religions and ways of life despite centuries of hardship, he couldn't believe the cruelty that was taking place back in Virginia. In Africa, people express themselves with their ability to show compassion outside the ring and merciless pride inside of it.
In every episode of Fight World, Grillo goes into a different country, finds the gym with the most dangerous men, and trains with those fighters in a martial art he may know a lot or very little about. For him, this is the dream. Some actors want a big hotel room or a fancy car; Frank Grillo just wants a smelly gym with a probability of blood being spilled.
How many high-profile actors can you name who like being punched in the face? I'll wait.
Fight World is the latest collaboration between Netflix and War Party, Grillo and Joe Carnahan's production company. It will follow Wheelman and precede the upcoming Point Blank. Another example of the streaming service showing openness to a completely different kind of adventure. One that you haven't seen before.
Back in Sept. 2016, Grillo told me he was cooking up a great idea that had to do with fighters, love, and taking a trip. 25 months later, fans and Netflix subscribers will get to see the result of that vision.
Forget the movie theater on Oct. 12. Stay home, wrap the hands, find a bag to hit, and get ready to find out how the true fighters in this world live.
If you don't, Grillo and his tough friends may want a word with you.
