Khris Davis did not know who he was auditioning for when he first got the lines for an untitled project about a boxer. They didn鈥檛 even tell him it was based on a true story at first. But he liked that there was a character arc 鈥� it鈥檚 more than actors often get early in auditions.
Somewhere along the way he began to piece it together. And then it clicked: Oh, this is George Foreman, he thought.
The film, 鈥淏ig George Foreman,鈥� is now playing in theaters nationwide. It charts his path from impoverished youth to heavyweight champion, his crushing loss to Ali in Zaire that led him to give up boxing, all the way through his miraculous comeback to the sport at age 45.
鈥淎 lot of people see George as the grill guy,鈥� said director George Tillman Jr. 鈥淪ome people see him as the boxer. I wanted to tell a story of things that you don鈥檛 know.鈥�
Tillman Jr. (鈥淭he Hate U Give鈥�) had been searching for a while for the right actor. Some had the acting chops but not the size. Some had the size but not the chops. And they had the added pressure that Foreman himself was executive producing. Then 6-foot-4-inch Davis emerged. It would take a chemistry test with Sullivan Jones, who plays Muhammad Ali, to seal the deal.
Davis cut his teeth in the theater world, in Philadelphia first before he made the jump to New York. Oddly enough, his big break came in 2016 with a play also about a boxer, as the lead in Marco Ramirez鈥檚 鈥淭he Royale鈥� at Lincoln Center Theatre. It was loosely based on the life of heavyweight Jack Johnson. Davis' Broadway debut came in 2017 with 鈥淪weat.鈥� Movies started coming, too, with roles in Kathryn Bigelow鈥檚 鈥淒etroit鈥� and 鈥淛udas and the Black Messiah.鈥�
He'd never had a challenge quite like George Foreman, but he was used to giving it all in the theater and he was going to do that here, too.
鈥淚t didn鈥檛 occur to me to put on a fat suit," Davis said. 鈥淲hy would I put on a fat suit if I can gain the weight? It didn鈥檛 occur to me to put a bald cap on. Why would I do that? I鈥檓 going to cut my hair off. It never occurred to me to cut a corner.鈥�
Still, Tillman Jr. was a little nervous when he sent Davis off for a five-week hiatus in which he was supposed to put on a significant amount of weight. He didn鈥檛 tell his star, but he had a backup plan of a fat suit waiting. He also knew it was an imperfect solution: How would it look when the shirts came off in the ring?
But he didn't need to worry. When Davis came back, Tillman was shocked to see that he鈥檇 actually gained 50 pounds in five weeks, going from 225 pounds to a heavyweight 275.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know my body could do that," Davis said. 鈥淎nd sometimes I look at the images and I鈥檓 still in shock because I can鈥檛 believe that I managed to do that to myself. I was eating 7,000 calories a day. The heaviest I got was 282.鈥�
It was, he said, hard on him emotionally to look in the mirror and see 鈥淜hris鈥� going through this. That鈥檚 when he cut his hair, shaved his beard, took his shirt off, looked in the mirror and saw 鈥淕eorge鈥� instead.
鈥淚 said, 鈥楾here you are. There it is,鈥欌�� Davis said. 鈥淓very calorie that I was eating was worth it because it was working and I could see it being built all around me. It was insane. It was intense. But I think that amount of effort was worth it.鈥�
The boxing was another challenge, full of complex choreography and a number system for where the hits were going to go. And they got to a certain point where they were comfortable enough to make 鈥渞eal contact鈥� with the hits. During the staged Ali fight in Zaire, he believes he was punched in the face about 45 times. Davis got his hits in too, though.
鈥淭hose weren鈥檛 easy, soft punches,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淚f they would have cut the audio down and just let you hear my gloves hitting his body, it was shocking.鈥�
And top of mind was always the real person he was playing.
鈥淗e was always kind of overlooked and bypassed. Mr. Foreman should not have been an underdog as much as he was in his life,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淧eople talked about his rage. And as I was looking at interviews and looking at him on talk shows and on TV shows, I kept seeing this guy smiling and I鈥檓 like, 鈥榃ait a minute. Hold on, hold on. You guys are saying this is a crazy, deranged, mean guy, but this guy is smiling so much, he鈥檚 laughing, belly laughing out loud.鈥� I was like, 鈥楾here鈥檚 a gentle person in there with a big heart. I can see it.鈥� So I wanted to carry that not just in the second half.鈥�
Davis continued: 鈥淧eople think that he learned how to do that when he came back. No, that鈥檚 who he always was. But in the second half of his life, he didn鈥檛 have to commit to the persona anymore... This is his story. It鈥檚 not my story. Sure, part of my legacy is married to his story because I鈥檓 telling his story, but it鈥檚 his. It鈥檚 really a continuation of his legacy. I just didn鈥檛 want to disappoint him.鈥�
鈥�-
Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr: www.twitter.com/ldbahr.
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
