Ready To Rumble has aged more well than it opened, and the stars are still getting paid for it...sort of.
In addition to David Arquette, Oliver Platt and others, many of the WCW roster were featured in the film. The Nitro Girls played a role in the film, with actress Rose McGowan portraying the lead Nitro Girl. Chae was also a part of the movie, and though she didn't have a speaking role, she ended up joining the Screen Actors Guild when she participated. It's not quite paying off as much as it used to, though.
"Because we put in enough hours we actually became we became a member. So which was a huge tree, but at the same time, you know, when things kind of when I knew that my I like it, you know, my life was taking a turn to the other side of marriage and, and all that. Because you know, you have to pay dues every year like that. I just let it expire. But I have to say, we still get checks.If you think about it, I think the way it works is it also depends if you had a speaking role. I don't know how they break it down. But I want to say the speaking role is definitely more valuable than screen time. You know, even if we would have had more screen time and somebody, but if they had a speaking role, then I think that's just kind of I don't know how it works. But we get sometimes I just I can't tell you that I've gotten a check where I'm like, I think they spend more money on postage. They did. I think it was I think it was like 60-something cents at one point. But I think we do get it quarterly… it was substantial at one point. But I mean, 20 years later, we still get it," said Chae.
Ready To Rumble wasn't a big box office success, but has grown in popularity and gained a cult following with age. Chae recalled the process of preparing for the movie when speaking with Fightful.
"Well, there was a big fuss about a movie coming and rightfully so. Because, why not? It was the hottest thing and you know, you just have to just see what all you can create. Because we even had The Nitro Grill, remember the restaurant? We weren't sure what, to what extent that we were going to be involved with [the movie]. But I do know, that we had to practice with Rose McGowan, who played the lead Nitro Girl and we were based out of LA for about two months for that. There was we stayed at this hotel downtown, and that's where that really was our room 24/7 for two months and we traveled in and out. Instead of our hometowns. We traveled in and out of LA and then we’d go back, you know, to whenever we were working Nitro. We had our own trailers. So it was a really fun experience. But at the same time, we felt natural, I think because we were part of the hottest production and cable TV, right? So we were used to things that you see the backstage all the lights, cameras, cameramen, you know, and even like, right down to the craft service, you know, table full of food. So we felt natural in it, but at the same time seeing some of the stars and, and at the end going to the premiere that was that was something very special. yeah.
Fortunately, Chae doesn't have to rely on $0.60 royalty checks and is doing well outside of pro wrestling and movies. You can check out Chae's Ring Along system at this link, which is a multi-purpose & versatile storage options for bags. The Kickstarter is going until September 25 at this link.
