Though Andrei Arlovski is best known was a former UFC champion, he has also dabbled with the occasional acting role. In 2009 he successfully performed the role of a bad guy in the ‘Universal Soldier: Regeneration’ movie. He also starred in the one episode of TV Show ‘Limitless’ as well as the ‘Bully Beatdown’ reality series.
However, one of the most memorable event for Arlovski happened when tried to be nice to Academy Award Winner Russell Crowe back in 2008.
“It’s a real pleasure [to hear people talking about of my acting career], but what kind of actor I am really?” Arlovski told BloodandSweat. “I played in couple of movies and tried to do this as good as I could. Someone liked it, the others didn’t. I was trying really hard. It’s an interesting process, but I can’t call it easy. For the professional it can be easy, but I’m not one. Well, if I receive any offers [to play in movie], I’d like to do this again. Of course, if my training and fighting schedule won’t be messed up because of the filming.”
Arlovski recalled the heroes of his childhood, particularly Jean-Claude Van Damme, who had later become his partner on the film set.
”I enjoyed working with Van Damme,” said Andrei. “He is very original person and actor. When I was a kid, all the walls in my room were papered with posters portraying Jean-Claude Van Damme, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. I think working with Van Damme was a great experiment. It was awesome!”
Arlovski later moved on to a story about Russel Crowe, who he is not longer a fan of following a confrontation with his bodyguard.
“There wasn’t a real confrontation,” corrected Andrei. “The story is that I love the ‘Gladiator’ movie very much, and especially how Russell Crowe performed the leading role there. I met him accidentally at the famous boxing match between Manny Pacquiao and Oscar De La Hoya, which I attended in a company of a friend. Russel Crowe visited the venue with his bodyguard. I came up and addressed him, using all my English skills I got at the moment, and put all my charm into what I said: ‘Mr. Crowe, I’m a huge fan of yours, can I take a photo with you?’. But suddenly his bodyguard, a really huge guy, just pushed me away. As for Crowe, he didn’t even look at me. After his guard pushed me, the situation was followed by short verbal exchange between us. Of course, I wasn’t able to take a photo. Now I’m not a big fan of Russell Crowe.”
Obviously, neither Crowe nor his bodyguard recognized Arlovski, a professional heavyweight fighter, who was able to inflict damage to anyone. But Andrei wasn’t that type of guy.
“Why it should have ended-up bad?” asks Andrei, “Please, don’t need to lump every fighter together. I’m not some redneck [to start a fight in this situation]. I asked – they answered “No”. What can I say? Mickey Rourke is a legendary guy. I watched him taking photos with literally everyone who came up to him. He never turned the fans down. This [kind of behaviour] shows a real class of an actor, fighter and person. And it says pretty much about his internal qualities as well.”
Bonus: Just for your entertainment, here’s the recap of the Bully Beatdown Season 2, Episode 4 final fight, where Andrei faced a local hooligan in a sanctioned MMA fight and took $10 000 award money in favour of the bully’s victims. The fight was reffed by the Big John McCarthy himself!