Chris Jericho Talks Playing Gorgeous George In ‘The Greatest’, Says He Watched One Of His Old Movies To Prep For The Role

Chris Jericho discusses his portrayal of Gorgeous George.

The character is featured in the new limited series ‘The Greatest’, which documents the rise of Muhammad Ali. Despite only appearing in one episode, Jericho did some extensive prep to imitate the legendary wrestler.

“Well, I auditioned for it. It turns out they were looking for a Gorgeous George for a while and couldn’t find anybody. I found this old movie that George starred in, so I kind of imitated his drawl, his accent, some of his motions, his persona. 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. That’s something that Ali always remembered and based all of his persona on from that time forward. 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.” Jericho told Fox 5 in a new interview.

‘The Greatest’ is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Jericho was recently announced to star in a new horror-action film. Learn more about that movie by clicking here.

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