COWBOYS & ALIENS: John Wayne’s Grandson, Brendan Wayne Speaks of his Acting Career

Exclusive interview by Marc Anthony

“I have trained with Manny Pacquiao and sparred with him, and I was there for the Marquez fight the first that he won that they called a draw.” — Brendan Wayne

Brendan Wayne is a red blooded American actor who is no stranger to Hollywood. Being the grandson of legendary iconic actor John Wayne, one can imagine the influence he must have had on Brendan.

Brendan can be seen in roles such as the FAST AND THE FURIOUS, COUPLES RETREAT, CSI and now starring in the upcoming blockbuster summer movie COWBOYS & ALIENS, coming out on July 29th, alongside Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde and director Jon Favreau among the many stars in this movie.

RSR catches up with Brendan Wayne to discuss his new movie and his future plans.

MA: Can you talk about Cowboys and Aliens?

Yeah, absolutely, I play Deputy Lyle and it’s a really fun classic western in the sense that it’s driven by the western genre but it just so happens it has aliens. It’s action packed and has the classic western characters. It’s an all-around great movie. The way Jon mashed up the two genres between sci-fi and western is really cool. The audience going in there is going really love Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. They are also going to like the tale of humanity overcoming the odds and at the same time the action is going knock them off their feet.

MA: You get to play what I will say is every boys dream to play a cowboy… how cool is that?

Yeah this is a whole another level. I have done it on TV and I have done it on small movies. This is on a whole another level. You walk in into the town and it’s built and its surreal and you can actually live there in a western style and then you have the costumes. At the end of the day as far as the character work there are so many elements that bring you to the point of fruition.

It’s really amazing that not only do I get to play a cowboy and I grew up watching my grandfather and me myself having growing up playing Cowboys and Indians, it’s really cool when you get there and Harrison Ford, which I have waited in the theater line for five hours to go see Temple of Doom, and you see the best James Bond since Sean Connery there you know you are in good hands. And next to them you have Clancy Brown and Keith Carradine who I grew up watching and respect their work. Then you have Sam Rockwell who for me did the best performance in Conviction. It’s really amazing and also so overwhelming.

MA: You have another project the legend of Hells Gate?

Yeah I did Legend of Hells Gate. I met a young Kid who told me he was going make a movie which you hear a lot in LA. But this kid came through and he put together a short that I was a lead in. Then he did the feature. And it was incredible; it was a lot of fun because what I saw there on that film set. The difference between the two movies is that one has DreamWorks behind it one has Texas behind it. This kid is Texas born and bred and you saw Texas come behind him and help him make this movie. It was a lot of fun.

MA: Was it based on a true story?

It’s based on a true story or on a legend. Depends on how you look at it about Possum Kingdom which just had a big fire. My hopes and prayers go out to those people. But Possum Kingdom has these two mountains that came together where they called it Hells Gate. That’s how Hells Gate got its name and on top of that he has interwoven classic American characters like Doc Holliday and John Wilkes Booth into the fabric of the story so that as you move through the story about these three outlaws trying to get away you have them mixed in with real American history. So, it’s got a bit of both.

MA: You do stage acting also?

Yeah, as a matter of fact, my wife and I. My wife is a great producer as well as an actor. She just did safe house with Denzel and Ryan Reynolds and is about to go to an Oliver Stone Movie. She and I, well more her, she produced a play called “Extropia” last year in Hollywood. That was an original and it was really fun and I got to play a couple of different characters with her. Which in LA, you better love to do theatre because very few people go to it. You go to be doing this for the love of the game.

It’s funny because I have a good buddy named Justin Fortune who owns Fortune’s Gym in Hollywood. That’s where I train and box out there. So I trained with Justin and he was great about because plays and productions like that work out of word of mouth. He went and told all his clients to come see this play.

MA: Do you watch boxing?

Oh yeah, I have been at fights all my life. I was there for, I have trained with Manny Pacquiao and sparred with him, and I was there for the Marquez fight the first that he won that they called a draw. I love boxing. NBA basketball, Football and Boxing are my top sports and on the leisure side surfing my other top sport.

Boxing is the best, I was just out hanging with Jeremy Williams today and he was giving me a couple of pointers. Telling me I was dropping my elbow on my hook. Yeah, Boxing is a great workout and you are around a bunch of real guys so in Hollywood you have a lot of people who lose their grounding… it is great to have that …big time to keep your feet settled in.

MA: What is your prediction between the third fight between Juan Manuel vs. Pacquiao?

You know Marquez is such a good counter puncher and Pacquiao is relentless in his attack and they have been so even. Really they have. I am hard pressed but I have to say Marquez is on a decline and I don’t see any decline from Manny. I think Manny is going to end it with a knockout after the sixth round. It will be intense.

MA: Gregory La Cava was your great-uncle —any aspirations to direct like your great uncle?

I think yes, I did go to film school at USC and learn as much as I could about the whole trade of film making not just acting. So, I think eventually I will probably produce and direct a play in the next year. I have a couple of things I am about to go film Another western in Spain called Dollars from Hell and about three weeks I am about to go shoot a horror movie out here in Pasadena called the Red House, But I think I am going try my hand in stage direction and go into film at some point.

MA: Any final words to RSR readers?

Yeah, keep your guard up at all times!