Episode Transcript
[00:00:10] Speaker A: John Kelly interviews Ash Evildsen on Queen of the Ring. Like and subscribe for more content like this.
So where did the inspiration for Queen of the Ring come from?
[00:00:24] Speaker B: It came from Jim Ross. He told me about the book. I had called him to work on a fictional story that would be a love letter to all of the 80s era.
And I asked if he would work on it with me to help it be as authentic as possible. And he said he would love to. By the way, do you. Have you ever heard of Mildred Burke? And I said, no. Who's that? And he said, you should check out this book, Queen of the Ring. I feel like it should be a movie. And so I read it that weekend. It was one of the fastest books I ever read. And I called him back on Monday and I said, forget about the fictional thing. We have to tell this woman's story. I just. I had no idea who she was. I never heard of her. None of my friends that were wrestling fans had ever heard of her. And it just felt like it was like blasphemous that none of us knew who she was. And her story was so incredible and timeless. So it was all thanks to good old Junior.
[00:01:16] Speaker A: So were you a wrestling fan going into this?
[00:01:19] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm sure it comes across a little bit in the movie.
Yes.
Ever since I was a little kid, I was fortunate to go to a match very young in New York. My. My mom had gotten us tickets to Madison Square Garden. She said, oh, Ultimate Warrior and the Undertaker are. Are fighting in a body bag match. And that wasn't going on television at the time. I was like, mom, what are you talking about? There's no Ultimate Warrior Undertaker feud going on. You're confused. And she goes, no, look. And she's showing me the newspaper.
[00:01:52] Speaker A: Actually, I remember that feud. That was like one of my, like, first wrestling events in Toronto. It was Undertaker versus Ultimate Warrior at Maple Leaf Gardens here in Toronto.
[00:02:00] Speaker B: Oh, awesome. Right. So, you know, and. And when I went and I realized it was amazing, I was like, wait, this isn't on tv because it was a house match.
[00:02:09] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:02:10] Speaker B: And I realized, oh my God, there's more to wrestling than what they put on the television. And at a very young age, I became just totally enchanted with trying to peel behind the curtain to understand how it all works.
So to answer your question, yes, Long before puberty, I was. I was love with watching pro wrestling.
[00:02:26] Speaker A: So we'll talk about more about Mujic Burke. Is that. So this film takes place in, like, predominantly, like the 30s to the 50s. And like this is like an era that most modern wrestling fans would not be familiar with. So what type of research did you go into depicting this era?
[00:02:43] Speaker B: So in addition to, of course, reading the book, talking to her family, talking to other older people that had some connections with some of the characters in real life, there were some documentaries and some other books.
There is a great Gorgeous George book by John Capuya.
There is Lipstick and Dynamite, which was a good documentary. That's why I gave G Bill that line as a shout out to, to the Lipstick and Dynamite document.
There was another book called Heels.
And then there were a lot of old articles that you could actually find, like deep, if you just looked at all the other characters. And you know, by the eighth page on Google, you start finding some little gems of old newspaper articles and interviews. But you know, sadly there's not a lot of specifically on Mildred. There's a lot more in Gorgeous George. But because so much of Mildred's career was prior to television, it just kind of was lost in the sands of time. Which is another reason I felt so compelled and motivated to try and tell her story as a film, just so that she gets a second lease on her legacy.
[00:04:04] Speaker A: And on a sidebar, the film also depicts Mae Young in her heyday as opposed to like the horny 80 year old that was on WWE in the 90s.
[00:04:16] Speaker B: Yeah, I, so I had only really known May from that. Right. Because growing up and that's what the WWE gave us. But once going back, you know, back into the, to the history books and seeing her young, I mean, she was a knockout, she's gorgeous and she was Johnny Mae Young. I mean, she really deserves her own movie. She was tough as nails.
Some of the old articles, the, the arrest that happened in northern Nevada, I mean there are just so many great stories. She really does need her own movie. But yeah, I never knew the young Mae Young. I only knew what you discussed because that's what we had growing up on tv.
[00:04:55] Speaker A: Yeah. So we'll talk about the casting from the films. What words are your preference towards like casting actors? I mean, casting wrestlers because they're like a couple of wrestlers in the cast as well.
[00:05:05] Speaker B: Yeah. So great question.
I felt that June Byers and Claire Mortensen needed to be real wrestlers, predominantly because of the amount of in ring work there was and gun work and that they both have shoot matches and it was just going to be a lot to put on.
Well, I mean, first off, a lot, a lot of actors just won't do all those stunts.
Right. They're just going to be like, I'm not a wrestler, and unless I have two years to train, you're going to have to be throwing in stunt doubles.
So I wanted to not have to do that and have a lot of real bumps taking place and a lot of real stunts and moves by the actor themselves. So that was the main reason for June and Clara's casting to be real wrestlers and also as an independent film, limited money, limited time. You're just not going to have the luxury of doing it again and again and again.
So you need someone that does it for a living. And I thought Tony and Kaylee both did terrific. I hope they do more acting.
Audiences have loved them and they're really great in and out of the ring.
[00:06:22] Speaker A: So what attracted you to Emily Betts Records as Mildred Burke?
[00:06:26] Speaker B: You know, at first it was just trying to find our Milli. You needed someone in the age range, but that also had a natural body type and physique that would be authentic and believable to be Mildred Burke. So even outside of putting on muscle mass and doing the training, you know, some people's natural body types is kind of the foundation to where if you don't have the foundation, you can't build the house. Right.
So looking around, I was really lucky to have found her online.
Looking through, I was actually looking at an agent site for a Mae Young idea. And I go, oh, wow, she's got a great look, great face, super charismatic. And then I saw a picture of her. I think it was a Comic Con photo years ago. And you could really see just her natural frame, both her.
Her chest, shoulders, legs. And I go, she. She could be a wrestler. I. I buy this. And then I looked into her work and watched interviews because I had never seen Arrow, so she was totally off my radar. I didn't know who she was. And then she responded to the. To the material immediately, and she didn't know anything about wrestling. So our fun little joke is I didn't know who you were. You didn't know anything about pro wrestling. And together we're going to make a great movie. And I, I'm so. I'm so grateful that she took the role. And, and I think she just did such a terrific job and I'm thrilled for. Hopefully this leads to a lot more lead roles for her in feature films because she can absolutely carry a picture start to finish, and she deserves all of the praise she's getting.
[00:08:05] Speaker A: So how would you say that Queen of the Ring compares with another recent wrestling biopic, the Iron Claw.
[00:08:11] Speaker B: Well, I love the Iron Claw, and I saw it twice in the theaters, and I cried both times on that ending scene when he is on the front lawn with his kids.
Z did such a terrific job with. With the. With the emotional beats in that film.
Look, it's a lot different, you know.
Yeah. A different era.
And, you know, they had a bigger budget and all that, but that was.
That's a hard R. Right. And the. The main event, so to speak, of that movie is just the emotional release Zac Efron's character goes through, you know, both from his relationship with his dad and then the beautiful ending scene with his kids.
Our main event is a traditional big match at the end of an underdog sports film. So the whole release is so much different in the sense of what happens in the third act.
And they're just obviously much different stories in the sense of this is PG 13 and inspirational. That's R and tragic. There's a lot of tragedy in our story, too, but it's hard to compare the two just because the subject matter.
But I love the Iron Claw. I mean, I was thrilled to see that it got so much praise, and that's a hard story to tell. And I thought they did a terrific job with it. And it's one of my favorite movies in recent years. I absolutely loved it.
[00:09:42] Speaker A: So are you hoping for Queen of the Ring to be a film both, like, accessible to people who aren't necessarily pro wrestling fans and also preserve the legacy of Mildred Burke? In some ways, yeah.
[00:09:55] Speaker B: Fine line to walk. Because we want it to be a gateway drug to the world. Right. We also want people that not care anything about pro wrestling to enjoy the story and to understand how it works and what's going on and why both the fans and the performers are so drawn to pro wrestling and the storytelling and just the whole lore of it all.
So it's, you know, at the heart of it, I think it's. It's a little girl who is becoming a woman and wants her shot at her dream. And the world tells us she can't because girls don't have muscles. Moms don't leave the house to pursue, you know, these types of. Of professions. And she just says, no, I don't have to choose. I can be a mom and I can be a superstar. I can be a woman and I can have muscles. I can still be feminine and glitz and glamorous and I can be tough as nails, and you're not going to put me in a box.
And, you know, not. Not to to make, make a cliche out of it, but it's still true today. It's, it's just a timeless tale of the human experience of society telling you what you can and can't do and you telling society, yeah, watch me, and just not giving up. And I hope, regardless of if anyone has any interest in pro wrestling or that era of society and sports entertainment, I hope from Mildred's story, and it just inspires them that look what she had to go through and she never threw in the towel. She didn't give up. So whatever we're going through in our lives, young, old, just don't, don't throw in the towel if it's still in your heart. You know, if you, if you have a dream, if you have pride, if you have friends and family that are supporting you, stay in it for everyone. You know, stay in it for yourself.
[00:11:56] Speaker A: Okay? And I think that's a good note. End on.
[00:12:00] Speaker B: Well, thank you for having me, Sean. It's great to meet you. I really appreciate you taking time today.
[00:12:04] Speaker C: Sean Kelly on Movies Interviews is part of the SK on Movies podcast network. You can access links to all our shows by going to skonmoviespodcast, ca or search us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or where else you listen to your podcasts. This has been a production of Sean Kelly on Movies.
