James Harrison & Allen Maldonado Interview: Heels

STARZ’s new drama Heels, out August 15, gives wrestling fans a peek behind the curtain at what goes on outside of the ring. Starring Stephen Amell and Alexander Ludwig as estranged brothers left with a wrestling league courtesy of their father, the series examines both the glory of battle and the dark underside of fame.

Allen Maldonado and James Harrison Jr., play two fighters in the fictional DWL, Rooster and Apocalypse. They spoke to Screen Rant about training for their roles and the ambitions of their characters.

Screen Rant: Allen, your character Rooster is kind of like a locker room vet, but he hasn’t been the world champion yet. Why does he think his character is being held back and does he think that’s gonna change with Jack in charge?

Allen Maldonado: He’s frustrated with the idea that it hasn’t changed. And you’ll see throughout the evolution of their conflict with that. Whether it changes or not, that will be told later on in the season. But at the beginning of the series, he’s frustrated. He wants his opportunity, and he can’t really understand why. 

Because it’s these outside forces, these family issues, and things outside of the ring that are determining his success that he’s not really excited about. So, [he] and Jack will definitely come head to head in regards to him becoming the champion.

James, your character has a loyalty to the Spades and their promotion. Why is that?

James Harrison Jr.: Well, they were loyal to him. You’ll see, he is a recovering alcoholic, and they were there for him through that process. They took him back after he completed that process. He’s been there from where Rooster is now, and he has held the belt. So, he’s looking at it in a different light than Rooster is.

Rooster’s like, “I want it now,” and it’s not happening for him now. So, he’s a little upset about that. And the timing is not his timing, but Jack feels that’s the best timing for the DWL and the betterment of the organization. And Rooster doesn’t feel that way.

I did wrestling school for one day, and the next day I literally felt like I was in a car accident. Are you guys taking bumps and doing all that stuff? And if you are, can you talk to me about the training process of going through that? 

Allen Maldonado: You cannot not take a bump.

James Harrison Jr.: Except for running the ropes, taking a bump is the next thing that you learn. You have to figure out how to hit that ground and not hurt yourself, or how to put someone on that ground and not hurt them.

Because it’s choreography; you’re working together, and it’s a dance. It looks like a horrible dance where you’re actually hurting someone, but you’re trying your best to make it look as painful as possible with the least amount of actual pain. So, the bumps? That’s just bumps, I don’t care. If I picked you up and dropped you from 10 feet, and I don’t put an ounce of flair into it, it’s still going to hurt because that’s force.

Allen, your character sees this new rookie, Bobby Pin (Trey Tucker). Can you talk to me about how he views Bobby and how their relationship progresses throughout the series?

Allen Maldonado: Yeah, it’s not anything personal with Bobby. It’s literally the business he’s frustrated with, and he’s just a casualty of the situation. But you will see Rooster come to a level head in regards to the overall picture. Ultimately, it doesn’t take away from his disdain and doesn’t take away from his want to be a champion. 

So, it’s a constant balance of understanding with Rooster, and Apocalypse is often there to help him find balance. Because Rooster wakes up and violence on his mind.

I think one thing this show does really well is shine a light on things that a lot of wrestling fans don’t actually see. You talked earlier about Apocalypse’s past struggles, but can you talk about shining a light on those kinds of situations?

James Harrison Jr.: It’s the realness of making an authentic show about wrestlers, especially independent ones. It’s the traps and the downfalls that guys fall into, and it usually starts with just having a good time.

You’ve got to realize these guys are on the road day in and day out, and they’re running the circuit, throwing their bodies against something seven days a week. It turns into something to kill the pain, and that turns into partying with it, and the next thing you know you’ve got a guy that’s popping pills and drinking alcohol and mixing a cocktail. 

You’ve seen wrestlers in the past that have had unfortunate situations that ended up being worse than what Apocalypse is in right now. But the picture is just about the same: it’s the abuse of a substance, and the downfalls that come with a guy trying to stay up with something that is just a grooming circuit; it probably starts as just a release and ends up turning into an addiction.

Heels premieres on Sunday, August 15 at 9 PM on Starz