“You can’t be normal to win this game. You have to be insanely competitive.”
Today we welcome one of martial art cinema’s all-time greatest villains to the show. The giant, musclebound German fighter Matthias Hues has spent a career taking on the likes of Dolph Lundgren, Cynthia Rothrock, Don “The Dragon” Wilson, Bolo Yeung, Billy Blanks, Lorenzo Lamas and Mark Dacascos. But despite his on-screen persona, Matthias is actually a very sweet-natured person, as revealed in this wide-reaching, in-depth conversation. His story is fascinating. It starts in the small town of Waltrop, Germany. He became a highly successful owner of health clubs in his home country before his competitive nature took hold and he spontaneously moved to Hollywood at the height of the action movie boom in the 1980s. He worked out at the famous Gold’s Gym alongside wrestlers, sports stars and celebrities, and was eventually spotted, landing an early breakthrough role replacing Jean-Claude Van Damme in the 1988 sequel, No Retreat, No Surrender 2: Raging Thunder, despite having limited English and little-to-no acting training. He then landed the main villain role in the huge studio production, Dark Angel (1990 – also known as I Come in Peace), opposite Dolph Lundgren.
Throughout the video boom of the 1990s, Matthias Hues became the poster-boy for a special brand of low-budget American action film, and featured in fight flicks like Mission of Justice (1992), TC 2000 (1993), Bounty Tracker (1993), and Fists of Iron (1995). In more recent times, Matthias has been working with Mark Dacascos on a number of exciting new film projects. Matthias featured in Mark’s directorial debut, Showdown in Manila (2016), as well as the action comedy, Maximum Impact (2017), and the ensemble piece, Ultimate Justice (2017), which is available to buy on DVD from 3 October. For the latest news regarding Matthias Hues, follow him on social media via his Twitter and Instagram pages.
Matthias Hues as the alien Talec in the 1990 Dolph Lundgren film, Dark Angel (aka I Come in Peace).
The cast of TC 2000 (1993). From left: Billy Blanks, Matthias Hues, Jalal Merhi and Bolo Yeung.
Matthias Hues, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa and Alexander Nevsky during the filming of Showdown in Manila (2016)
