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 referred to as “The Dean of Imply” nonetheless makes use of the teachings he discovered as an athlete to ace his film profession.
“As a fighter, until you win, you learn to fail: the way to get off the mat and battle once more, and performing is identical manner,” explains Jardine, who retired with a 17-11-0 document in MMA. “I received greater than I misplaced in combating, 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 stand 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 making an attempt to pay your lease, and also you didn’t get that job, you already know? When you don’t get off the bed and make issues occur, nothing’s occurring. In order that fighter’s mindset helped me rather a lot, and simply the work ethic. I simply put the hours in daily, no matter how I’m feeling.”
Fortuitously, issues are undoubtedly occurring on account of Jadine’s warrior-like work ethic. His first forays on-screen included a task reverse Jason Statham in Crank 2: Excessive Voltage and credit in Breaking Unhealthy and John Wick. Now, he’s constructing a strong status behind the digital camera, too. In 2023, Jardine received an unbiased Quick Award for his crime story, El Paso:1155, and now he’s taking over his first full characteristic 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,” remembers the renaissance man.
“I used to be in highschool within the early 90s and my pal made me watch Clerks (1994) Top-of-the-line films I noticed.” Jardine tells M&F that he additionally attracts from films like The Huge Lebowski. “I bear in mind simply laughing out loud all through the theater,” he remembers. Jardine additionally has a fond place for Useless Man, starring Johnny Depp, a film he watched together with his dad. “This pertains to Kill Me Once more rather a lot, as a result of there’s a number of huge twists on the finish, and there’s a number of little Easter eggs in there,” he teases.
How Keith Jardine stays match for making movies
“Each morning, I work out, eat my big 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 health club or takes his canine out for a dash. The large breakfast that Jardine speaks of contains six eggs, together with tortillas. “I attempt to begin off good with actually clear meals,” he says. “I obtained these tortillas which might be solely plantain and baking soda mainly because the elements. 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 huge 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 proper exercise. “Simply go have enjoyable,” he encourages. “Simply go transfer some weight round and learn to be make your physique succesful. It shouldn’t be one thing you dread. When you go to the health club 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 battle out of this filmmaker, nevertheless. “Every single day, I attempt to get to a degree the place I lose my breath,” says Jardine. “Which means 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 rather a lot.”
Keith Jardine’s Kill Me Once more might be launched in theaters and VOD platforms resembling Prime Video and Apple TV+ on August 8.
