David Higgs
He might unleash his inner beast in the cage on screen but, off camera, Daniel MacPherson is strikingly warm. Speaking to WHO from a Miami hotel, the actor is true to his Aussie roots, frequently dropping a “mate” into the conversation.
And, when our chat is interrupted by a gift being delivered to his door, he makes sure to bring us along with him, proudly telling the hotel staff: “I’m on the phone to Australia!” before thanking them profusely and slipping straight back into conversation about his new film Beast.
“We beat the daylights out of each other,” Daniel says of the physicality demanded of him for his latest role in Beast, in which he stars alongside Russell Crowe and Luke Hemsworth.
The movie follows his character Patton James’ reluctant return to the MMA cage in a desperate bid to win money and provide for his growing family.
The actor, who turns 46 on April 25, tells WHO about his brutal preparation, the pressures that drive his character and why you simply can’t fake a film like Beast.
WHO: You trained as an MMA fighter for this role – that’s a big commitment!
Daniel: “It took no deliberation at all. It’s an absolute no-brainer. It was the end of 2022 [that I got the role], so I started training then, and because [it’s an] indie film – and [with securing] finance and scheduling, and Russell’s availability – thankfully, the film was on-again off-again for almost three years before we got started. And so I was able to train throughout that entire period.”
WHO: You take some pretty gnarly blows and dish them out too – was that all real?
Daniel: “They were! Bren Foster [who plays champion MMA fighter Xavier Grau] is an extraordinary actor, but also an extraordinary martial artist and we sat down prior to starting filming… we wanted to make the most intense and realistic and authentic MMA action ever seen on cinema.
“And that was a pretty ambitious statement from a couple of guys from Sydney, one of whom wasn’t a fighter. It was one of the few movies where every day I had to go in and get my real bruises and my real cuts covered up, and then put on the fake ones for continuity. You can’t fake it – it wasn’t that kind of movie.”
WHO: It tells a very primal tale of wanting to fight for your family – what was that like?
Daniel: “Tyler [Atkins, the director] and I really wanted to tell a story of a man who was fighting to reclaim his identity and his purpose.
“I think that’s something that was really relatable to myself and a lot of friends. And we felt particularly relatable with friends of ours transitioning out of life in sport or life in the military, or where they’ve had this real sense of identity earlier in life, and then can get a little bit lost and wayward – you know, a little bit later with the pressures of life and family.”
WHO: It was hypnotising to watch that anger manifest in you on-screen. What was going through your head?
Daniel: “There was a great synergy of this sort of being a breakout or breakthrough role into a new area of my career. So there was a time to exercise any kind of frustration or angst or prove any doubters wrong. And any of that is simply motivation for me, whether it’s right or wrong, whether it’s all in my head or not. But, you know, ‘F–k you’ is a great motivator!”
WHO: What’s a scene you were really proud of?
Daniel: “My favourite moment, I think, is the scene opposite Russell in his office.
“I mean, the opening four minutes of the film was when we all realised we had something really, really special and the film pretty much sold around the world in the opening four minutes. But, for me, the heart of the film is Patton and Sammy (Crowe) sitting in that office reconciling their differences in an emotional moment.
“I still get quite emotional watching that scene. It’s a father-and-son scene. It mirrors a little bit of mine and Russell’s sort of mentee-mentor kind of relationship.”
(Beast is in cinemas from Thu., Apr. 23)
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