Jonathan Majors On Hollywood, Faith & ‘Run Hide Fight: Infidels’

Okay, first before we give you the facts of the day, run Hyde Fight Infadels is streaming now only on Daily Wire. It's an ode to the great action movies of the 80s and 90s. There is even a love story which nobody expected. And you can support Daily Wire's mission to continue making movies that people actually want to watch. Go check it out. Inspiring Bible Stories and messages created to strengthen your faith. Whether you need peace, encouragement or a fresh start, Pray.com helps you make prayer part of your everyday life. Download the Pray.com app today. We need to split up. Try to get a size shot before you get to that bird. One, two, rock and roll. That was Jonathan Majors in the role of Captain Clay Saunders in Daily Wire's new action thriller Run Hyde Fight Infadels that went live on the platform this week. Majors has starred in blockbuster films and TV series in the Marvel universe and taken on hard-hitting roles like Damian Anderson and Creed III. In this episode, we sit down with Majors to discuss his latest project, what drives him as an actor, and how he's seen the film industry change in recent years. I'm Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley with Georgia Howe. This is a weekend edition of Morning Wire. We should all be concerned by the rise in Marxist thought in our country to tax the very foundation on which our freedoms are built and it's already having dangerous effects. Alliance defending freedom is pushing back, protecting your god-given rights in courtrooms across America. They're scoring critical wins for free speech, religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and parental rights even at the US Supreme Court, but they rely on friends like you to keep up their work. Stay in for freedom with a gift today. Your gift will be matched by a special grant while funds last. Visit jointadf.com/wire or text wire to 838-48 to make twice the impact. That's jointadf.com/wire or text wire to 838-48. Joining us now is actor Jonathan Majors, star of the new Daily Wire Bonfire Legend film Run, Hide, Fight, Infidel's. Jonathan, first of all, thank you so much for coming on. Oh, it's my pleasure. It's my absolute pleasure. Love the film. Yeah, we do too. We're excited about it. We've been hearing for months now from people on the production side here about how much they enjoyed working with you. In fact, we just talked to Kyle Rankin, the director, earlier this week, and he talked about how much you lifted up the crew. I actually wanted to use that as the first question for you. You're the first guy on the call sheet. That takes a lot of energy. I think a lot of people outside the industry don't realize what that means. How much pressure do you put on yourself to really bring the energy every day on the set? Oh, wow. From the beginning, I love that you spoke to Kyle because something we're getting, Kyle and I, we've got really, really tight, you know, and our objective was, okay, you're the coach here. You know, this is your story. You've written this, you know, you're supported by Dallas and Mrs. Shapiro. I'm here, you know, let's do this thing. And the more I read the script, the more I realized that he was, he was indeed the coach and where I could be most helpful, I felt, you know, just always trying to add to the culture of a team, you know, was, you know, kind of for the back, you know, I know what I know as far as the acting department goes, you know, and so one of my huge passions is teaching. And as an actor, I think the best thing you can do is teach. And so Dallas and Kyle were very, very, very supportive in me speaking to a lot of the young actors and in helping them along the lines, you know, being, being, you know, number one on the call sheet is, it's a great number, you know, it's a great privilege to have, but with that comes a great deal of responsibility, you know, it's kind of up to you to, you know, in a way to help and support, you know, I like to think of number one as number zero, you know, and you're the one there, you know, that's, you're, you're a custodian, you know, you do the clean things up, make sure you make your days, you know, and support the team and crew. And I had a wonderful team and crew to do that with, and fell in love with my co-stars, especially JC and young James. Yeah, there's a lot of young actors. We actually had them in the offices this week, which was great fun for us. And they specifically brought up how much your coaching mattered to them. Is that, is that a passion for you, you know, in general, like building up new actors, young actors? Well, yeah, absolutely. I think that, you know, I'm very serious guy, you know, I took acting very, very seriously. But, but, but, no, Jessica side, I do, you know, I feel it is my, it's my duty. It's my calling, you know, I believe that it's a gift that God gave me, you know, and I, I really believe in that. And because of that, I find it very important to, you know, take the little bit I know, you know, I went to some cool schools with both, can I school the arts grade school? Yes, full of drama and grade school. But to sit around with the young actors and watch the next generation come up and kind of, you know, the best way I can kind of instill in them, you know, some of the principles of what it is to be an actor, you know, to be a storyteller. You know, and also, you know, at the same time, you know, being an actor, you're, you're kind of a professional human, you know, up, down, left, right, some mistakes and triumphs, you know, they're all there. And just, it's trying my best to, I show that to them, you know, what it is to be an actor on screen and off screen. You know, JC and James and I got really closer that way, you know, just talking about, you know, how this correlation between how you move on set and how you move in the real world. And the better you move in the real world, the better you move on set. And so, you know, not to be like the old man on set, I was really giving that to them as well as like, this is your mark, this is the line, you know, let's try it this way, you know, really getting their imaginations going, you know, yeah. Now, you're known for really pouring yourself into roles. What do you look for when you're choosing a role? What kind of things are you really excited to do? The great question, you know, one thing that I look for is level of difficulty, right? When you read the script, you go, okay, cool, you know, or like I can jump in gymnast, you know, or weightlifter, you know, you say, okay, this is a heavy weight, you know, this is a hard routine. And I look for that because the sudden it's going to challenge me as an actor, right? And it's going to challenge me as a human being, you know, stepping in the Clay Saunders, you know, Captain Clay Saunders was a huge, how I say, opportunity for me, because I've played many men in the service, right? I've played a Navy pilot, you know, I've played soldiers, Buffalo soldiers, the gambit. But this is the first time I was playing a Delta guy. And the interesting part about that and understanding like what that training is, you know, for a very long time, I wanted to be a Navy SEAL. You know, and so what I'm doing my research and I hope our service men and women won't be upset when I say this, the process of coming Delta is a whole different ballgame, you know, it's a whole different ballgame. And that was really good to kind of jump into that world, you know, put my body through that, you know, when I was going to set out, I would run and just try to keep my breath going, you know, and keep my mind going, you know, and try to work at, you know, these guys are, these guys are tier one, you know, these guys are top and top and top and top and top and top, you know, and so, yes, sir. Yeah, I wanted to ask you exactly about this, you know, this is a very kinetic movie. I mean, this is an action movie that hits hard. Yeah. It doesn't pull punches. You actually punch bricks at one point and you fall out windows. Yeah. Yeah. Are you, do you find yourself drawn to physical roles? Yeah, I do. I do. I find that, you know, acting to me is a full body experience, you know, and I think that, you know, sometimes in our craft, you know, sometimes people take that for granted, you know, they just think I'm just going to say the words and the words are so important. But this is a visual medium, you know, it's a visual medium. And I find that, you know, again, I referenced my school as my upbringing, you know, is in theater, you know, where you're on the stage, you know, you're standing and you are physically communicating the story, you know, and so any role I take on, you know, I try to make it physical, you know, but a role like this and a world like this that Kyle has put together really demanded it. And so I really, I really enjoyed it, you know, I got to do my own stunts sometimes on purpose, but I got to do my own stunts, which is cool and it keeps my record on for that, you know, but this story, the physicality of it, the aggression, the heart, all those things go together, you know, and I think it's important that a body can also mirror, you know, the given circumstances of the film and the given circumstances of our film are survival and love and brotherhood and fighting, you know, in loyalty, family, I think I said that, you know, that's going to require the entire body, you know, so to answer your question, yeah, I definitely look to see where I can throw myself physically into the script, you know, as well as emotionally and to me, it's a 50/50 split. So you touched on this and I understand your mom is an ordained pastor. Yeah. And tell us about how your faith plays into your career and just how you move through life in general. Oh, wow, tremendously, you know, tremendously, you know, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has been in my life, my entire life, you know, my mother, as you said, so are they minister, you know, I grew up both Methodist and Baptist, also from a military background, you know, down in Texas. And so God has always been a huge, the anchor in my life, you know, and there's always movement. me and allowed me to see the world in a certain way, you know, and because of that, I've used that point of view, you know, my Christian religion and experience. And I use that in the work, you know, even even as far as, you know, speaking to Kyle, you know, like I prayed about the role before I took it, you know, I prayed before I go on set every day, you know, Lord just, you know, let me hear, see, feel and know everything you need me to and what is to play this role, you know, and so my entire life is committed to, you know, my Lord and Savior. And so even the work I do with, you know, the cast, the uncast and the crew, you know, I'm just trying to be a disciple of that, you know, the human experience is the most beautiful thing in the world to me, you know, and you know, us being in the, us being molded in the reflection of our Father, you know, in beginning God created, you know, and unfortunate enough, and then you two are fortunate enough to work in a, in a field where, you know, our creativity is first and foremost, you know, if we're known by the free bear, you know, the creativity I gave in the discipleship, you know, through the work is something that I'm, I'm really focused on. Yeah, it's been one of the things that's drawn me to this company in particular is the creative outlet it provides so many of us. It's exciting to put new things into the world and see how the world responds to it. I got to have a much less deep question for you. Sorry about that. This is a throwback action movie. It's a very 90 style action movie. Do you have any throwback action movies? You're, you know, a sucker for personally that you just love. Oh my goodness. I mean, I could just say anything's for Tinegar. Anything's for Tinegar. You know, I'm also a big Bruce Willis fan, you know, I have to say I did probably tap into some Schwarzenegger in my portrayal of Clay for sure. You know, he's got some exterminator vibes. He's got some marathon man and vibes, you know, so yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I love it. I mean, the movie is an 80 90s throwback. You know, there's so much action. Yeah, for sure. But one of the things that we really like about that 80s, 90s throwback films, you know, as we call them are classics is that they have, they have humor. You know, they're so human, you know, like in the middle of, you know, a car chase or a gun or whatever's going on, you know, these are real human beings. And they're like, yeah, I was kind of, I was kind of close, man. You know, so there's humor in it, which opens up the heart. And yeah, this is some definitely does that. And the surprise me, you know, as I stepped into it, you know, when I would read the script and I would go, is he really mean that? You know, is that, is that the tone shift? That was one of the most fun parts about, you know, working, working the script and working so closely with Kyle and the young cast is that we got to go through and go, oh, no, this is funny. And it needs to be funny, you know, it would be like allow it to be funny. You know, people are actually funny in these circumstances, you know, humor. And it's a super power. Yeah, I found myself as a viewer going, oh, wait, oh, oh, this is funny, too. This is supposed to be fun. Right. And it's almost like we've forgotten how to have fun in a lot of movies, you know, to me. And so this is a, yes, in life, absolutely. Sort of a broader question. You know, the Hollywood landscape has been changing pretty dramatically over the last five years. It's been pretty tumultuous. You know, there's the movie industry is moving out of LA. There's this really long attempt to win people back to theaters. Some hopeful signs for that. You know, what do you see as the path forward for Hollywood? Wow. You know, as I said, you know, we just, we just got back in town and the city is different. The city is changing. You know, we just came from Atlanta. Now we're shooting here. But that's rare. You know, we were in Atlanta. Everyone was saying like, you know, there's no work. You know, nothing's really happening. That seems grim. But I think what's happening is, um, creatives are really coming to the forefront. And I just created this on screen. I'm talking about, you know, producers, people who are seeing things a certain way and have a certain point of view in our, in our, in our using that point of view, you know, to raise funds to make films, you know. And so it can be something like, you know, Mrs. Shapiro with daily wire, you know, or it can be something, you know, as simple as, you know, like the chosen, right? Those guys that make that, that wonderful show is one of my favorite shows. You know, some of those guys run a crew with us there. You know, so everyone's getting a, it's becoming a bit more, um, democratic in a way, you know, I think the stronghold that, um, you know, it's a business, you know, and some people, uh, yeah, it's a business. And I think that business is shifting and changing with the times and with the people. And I think what the audience is. And ultimately, I think what's going to get people, you know, back to the theaters is, is telling real stories, you know, real stories about real human beings and having real human beings, uh, able to articulate, you know, the human experience, you know, we just what we, I believe we did, you know, with infidels. And again, what I was really trying to, you know, there was any secret sauce I was trying to throw to the kids, it was that, you know, make it flesh and blood, you know, the work will come, you know, make it flesh and blood. We'll come back, you know, as a industry, you know, as an art form, the question, but we will have to pivot and, and really start listening to the people, you know, and making stories and telling stories that, you know, our audiences need, uh, need to hear. Yeah, Colin said that. He said, you know, the, the beginning of a project for him is getting a character he really cares about and feeling like he can really understand that character and building the story out of that. It's exactly the same concept. Yes, sir. Now, you mentioned that you've been shooting. What are you working on? Or is there anything you can share with us about your upcoming projects? Hopefully, 2027 will be a really nice year for myself and, and, you know, some of some cool films that I'm trying to put out, you know, so that's really exciting. I can't speak the names now, you know, I'm sure they can be Googled and found out, but, no, you know, I'm just really happy to be telling those stories, you know, so there's, there's, there's a project come on now and the project is coming up that I'm really excited about, you know, and you can just, you know, add to the conversations that were happened today. Well, it's great. Hopefully, we will be working with you again in the future, too. Jonathan Majors, thank you so much for joining us. Hey, thank you guys so much. That was Jonathan Majors, star of the new daily wire film, Run, Hide, Fight, Infidelz, and this has been a weekend episode of Morning Wire. What if a few minutes with God could change the direction of your entire day? With Pray.com, you can begin each morning with powerful daily prayers, inspiring Bible stories and messages created to strengthen your faith. Whether you need peace, encouragement, or a fresh start, Pray.com helps you make prayer part of your everyday life. Download the Pray.com app today.