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Michael Clarke Duncan: From Bodybuilding Bouncer to Brazilian Jiu-JitsuBy Edward Pollard |
Home Base: Los Angeles Where You’ve Seen Him: The Green Mile, Sin City, Daredevil, Kung Fu Panda, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li Martial Arts Experience: Gracie jiu-jitsu, kickboxing Sometimes there are advantages to being born into a certain physical frame. The trick is making it work for you in a way that doesn’t insult your intelligence or your bank account. Six-foot-5-inch Michael Clarke Duncan is one of those people who’ve parlayed an imposing figure, deep voice and mental flexibility into name recognition. Best-known for his Academy Award-nominated portrayal of a supernaturally gifted inmate in The Green Mile, he typically plays a large man who can either crush or rescue you, depending on the role. His latest work is Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li. Filmed in Thailand in early 2008, it puts Duncan in the role of Balrog, a part that proved to be one of his more physically challenging jobs. But he isn’t complaining. “I don’t think any of us had stunt doubles,” he says. “Kristin Kreuk (Chun Li) really did the most work. She was there at least two months before us. I didn’t work that hard or long. It was more of a vacation to me. She was pulling double [shoots] for two or three weeks straight.” Gearing up for the role started with Duncan heeding the advice of Kreuk, who warned him to work on his stretching. “I was trying to impress everyone by kicking high,” Duncan says. “I must’ve hurt my hamstrings because I only went to practice twice. Stunt coordinator Dion Lam’s guys have done Spider-Man and The Matrix, and they were flexible beyond belief but very small. I’m about 280 pounds, so when I see somebody my size do that, then I’ll feel bad.” Duncan has played agile heavies in Daredevil and Sin City, but it was a nostalgic change to act in a movie based on a 1980s video game he used to play. “I always chose Balrog because I liked that he wore boxing gloves,” he says. “My Balrog has MMA-style gloves with steel knuckles around the front. It definitely makes the whup-ass look cool.” Before embarking on an acting career, he worked as a bouncer in Chicago even though he’d never trained in the self-defense arts. “I thought I knew how to do stuff, but I didn’t know a thing,” he says. After relocating to Los Angeles, he found work as a bodyguard—with the same complete lack of real skills. “I was just going by basic knowledge and what I thought I knew,” he says. (laughs) “What I really knew couldn’t fill a baby’s cup halfway. You don’t know things until you train with people who actually know things.” Being a fight fan, Duncan was drawn to the Ultimate Fighting Championship from its first days. He wanted to find out how “a little, skinny guy could beat 6-foot-6-inch, 400-pound guys.” During his first visit to the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy, he scoffed at the notion that anyone could control him. Then he fell prey to Rorion Gracie’s standard invitation to a 30-second tryout. After two attempts, during which the 175-pound Ryron Gracie took his back and manhandled him, he signed up. He’s been a faithful student ever since. “I think jiu-jitsu has to be the foundation,” Duncan says. “After that, [studying] other disciplines is just like driving a car. You start off driving one type, but then you can go to big ones, fast ones and so on.” |
