Keith Jardine beat Forrest Griffin and Chuck Liddell within the UFC Octagon and now he’s seeking to stun cinema audiences with Kill Me Once more, his first full-feature directorial debut. However whereas he could also be retired from MMA, the person they known as “The Dean of Imply” nonetheless makes use of the teachings he discovered as an athlete to ace his film profession.
“As a fighter, except you win, you discover ways to fail: how you can get off the mat and struggle once more, and performing is similar method,” explains Jardine, who retired with a 17-11-0 document in MMA. “I received greater than I misplaced in preventing, and in performing, consider me, I’ve failed far more than I’ve succeeded.”
Little question, within the ultra-competitive world of showbiz, Jardine has discovered that he should financial institution on himself simply as he did as an athlete. “You gotta rise up off that mat after that failed audition. They didn’t such as you, no matter, you are taking it as a failure. You misplaced. You didn’t get it. You’re attempting to pay your lease, and also you didn’t get that job, you understand? In case you don’t get away from bed and make issues occur, nothing’s taking place. In order that fighter’s mindset helped me so much, and simply the work ethic. I simply put the hours in day by day, no matter how I’m feeling.”
Happily, issues are undoubtedly taking place on account of Jadine’s warrior-like work ethic. His first forays on-screen included a job reverse Jason Statham in Crank 2: Excessive Voltage and credit in Breaking Unhealthy and John Wick. Now, he’s constructing a strong fame behind the digicam, too. In 2023, Jardine received an unbiased Brief Award for his crime story, El Paso:1155, and now he’s taking up his first full function as a director.
Kill Me Once more follows Charlie (performed by Brendan Fehr), a serial killer who turns into trapped in his personal nightmare. It’s a psychological horror that has many twists and turns, and was additionally written by Jardine, who’s love of tales from totally different genres influenced the plot. “It’s The Batman’s, the blockbusters, and all that motion of the 80s,” recollects the renaissance man.
“I used to be in highschool within the early 90s and my pal made me watch Clerks (1994) Among the best films I noticed.” Jardine tells M&F that he additionally attracts from films like The Large Lebowski. “I bear in mind simply laughing out loud all through the theater,” he recollects. Jardine additionally has a fond place for Useless Man, starring Johnny Depp, a film he watched along with his dad. “This pertains to Kill Me Once more so much, as a result of there’s a variety of large twists on the finish, and there’s a variety of little Easter eggs in there,” he teases.
How Keith Jardine stays match for making movies
“Each morning, I work out, eat my enormous breakfast, and the remainder of the day appears to fall in line after that,” says the person who reached the semi-finals of The Final Fighter, Season 2 again in 2005.
Jardine nonetheless units his alarm for 5am and both hits the fitness center or takes his canines out for a dash. The massive breakfast that Jardine speaks of contains six eggs, together with tortillas. “I attempt to begin off good with actually clear meals,” he says. “I received these tortillas which are solely plantain and baking soda mainly because the components. So, I prefer to make these and eat them with my eggs and a few avocado. I don’t actually fear concerning the energy within the morning. I simply attempt to attempt to really feel good after which, relying on how intense my exercise was, I’ll have two extra meals within the day. One large one, one small one, and I’ll do my finest to not snack… as a result of I’m a hell of a snacker!”
Jardine, who was additionally a private coach at one time, says that being match isn’t about having the right exercise. “Simply go have enjoyable,” he encourages. “Simply go transfer some weight round and discover ways to be make your physique succesful. It shouldn’t be one thing you dread. In case you go to the fitness center and also you solely contact the leg press machine, and do 4 units and go house, that’s successful!” You possibly can’t take the struggle out of this filmmaker, nonetheless. “Daily, I attempt to get to some extent the place I lose my breath,” says Jardine. “Meaning I do max pull ups, or I dash up a hill or I do some energy cleans. You realize, if I do that when a day, I really feel I’ve finished so much.”
Keith Jardine’s Kill Me Once more might be launched in theaters and VOD platforms corresponding to Prime Video and Apple TV+ on August 8.