Chris Jericho Discusses His Prep To Play Gorgeous George In Prime Video Series The Greatest

Chris Jericho plays Gorgeous George in Prime Video’s Muhammad Ali series The Greatest, and he recently talked about his prep for the role. As previously reported, the AEW star portrays the famed and influential heel in the new series about Ali’s life, which arrived on Prime Video on Wednesday.

Jericho spoke with Fox News 5 about his role in the film, and talked about his preparation for the role. You can see the highlights below:

On How He Got the Role:

“Well, I auditioned for it. And it turns out they were looking for a Gorgeous George for a while and couldn’t find anybody.”

On Preparing To Play Gorgeous George:

“I found this old movie that George starred in, so I kind of imitated his drawl, his accent, some of his motions, some of his persona. And it turns out the reason it was such an important part, is that Cassius Clay was a great boxer but didn’t have the personality. He was really inspired by Gorgeous George, and they actually had a meeting at a radio station in Las Vegas where George told Cassius, ‘It’s not about the fighting, it’s about connecting with the fans. Making them love you, making them hate you, that’s what sells tickets.’ And that’s something that Ali always remembered and based all of his persona on from that time forward. So it was a great moment in Ali’s career and a great moment in mine, getting to play such an outrageous character in a such a massive show.”

On the Response So Far:

“It actually just came out today, which is great. So, it’s cool to be here talking about it. And listen, I’ve done a lot of stuff in the acting world, but this one’s probably the biggest one. And I got sent a whole bunch of reviews, which have been through the roof. 100% review [aggregate] on Rotten Tomatoes, and some great reviews for for me as Gorgeous George as well.

“So, it’s cool to be a part of this whole ensemble cast produced by Michael B. Jordan, who just won an Oscar for Sinners. Produced by Sean Carter, aka Jay-Z. So, it’s just cool to be in this company and know that that when it came down to it, the acting chops that I studied and worked on through many years in wrestling — because wrestling is all about your character and all about connecting with the audience and playing this part — it paid off in spades.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Fox News 5 with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.