WWE star Mike ‘The Miz’ Mizanin and Summer Rae costar in the latest action flick out of WWE Studios, Marine 4: Moving Target.

The Miz & Summer Rae

In Marine 4, The Miz stars in the lead role as Jake Carter, a marine-turned-agent tasked with protecting whistleblower Olivia Tanis (Melissa Roxburgh) from any imminent threats. One of those threats is Summer’s character Rachel, who is among a group of armed mercenaries looking to take Olivia captive in order prevent her from revealing anymore secrets about a military defense contractor.

When news first broke about Summer joining The Miz for his second Marine flick, many thought that the WWE Diva would be playing his love interest. Luckily for Summer, that was far from the truth.

“It was kind of cool to not play the stereotypical [girl]. I think everyone was like oh she’s going to be his love interest and like the girly girl,” Summer told uInterview in an exclusive interview. “I got to play a bad chick and that was super fun. It’s great. [Mike and I] actually had a big fight scene and we’re both very proud of it and we did our own stunts for it.”

Getting to do all of her own stunts was something that Summer had to fight for on set. In order to protect the film’s stars, producers had stunt doubles ready to step in during some of the fight scene’s grittier moments, but Summer wasn’t about to let someone step in for her, and went to some pretty extreme measures to get her way.

“We would be rehearsing the fights … and she would throw herself down on the ground and make it look like I did it and people would be like, ‘Hey, stop being so rough.’ I’m like, ‘I’m not doing it. She’s doing it to prove to you that she doesn’t need a stunt double,'” The Miz revealed.

“Because they would have the stunt double on set with me and she was a nice girl, but she’s not representing me,” Summer added. “I can do that and so I just felt, coming from the background we do, that’s what we do, stunts, you know, so to have that shot as a director, I feel like that’s what you want.”

Granted, stunt fighting is something that both The Miz and Summer are more than familiar with, but performing the sequences for a film is a far different experience than getting inside the ring. For one thing, no one is booing you or cheering you on. Aside from the differences, though, The Miz feels like working in the WWE really does prepare them for acting.

“In a movie, it’s not like the director is going to start chanting, “You suck!” so it’s completely different and you get one take in WWE. That’s it,” said the former Real World star. “And, here you get as many takes as you need, so it’s completely different, but I think WWE really prepares you for that kind of. It’s theater. WWE is theater. That is our stage; that is our Broadway.”

One WWE wrestler who notably took the film industry by storm following – and during – a storied career in the ring is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who The Miz counts as an inspiration. From The Scorpion King to the Fast & Furious franchise and turns hosting Saturday Night Live, The Rock has paved the way for others in the WWE to parlay they’re wrestling theatrics into a broader career in Hollywood.

“The Rock has done such great things. Being a WWE superstar now, you look at his career and he’s really taken it off and really shined a new light,” The Miz said. “And now people look at WWE superstars, not as wrestlers, but as entertainers and performers, as talent that can up a movie. Now people bring in The Rock, and say well, we have a family franchise, bring in The Rock, he’ll make it great.”

The Miz and Summer, who plan to continue on the WWE and in WWE studio films (Marine 5?), are both eager to take on even more acting roles – and dream of landing a gig in a large comic book movie franchise.

Ryan Reynolds has my dream role [in Deadpool]. He’s filming it right now,” The Miz confessed. “But, I honestly think he’s going to do really, really well in that role. I’ve always loved Deadpool. I just think he’s an awesome comic book character and I’ve always wanted to play him. But that’s just a dream.”

Summer added, “That’s so true. Even seeing [David] Batista doing Guardians of the Galaxy, just being in that Marvel franchise, being in that comic – especially for a female – just being a kind of comic book character that’s just so amazing. That’s iconic.”

Marine 4 is currently available for VOD on iTunes and Amazon.

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Q: Can you tell us a bit about your characters in Marine 4? -

MM: Jake’s job is to protect Olivia, who is tagged as a whistleblower who has a lot of secrets and the bad guys do not want those secrets leaked, so he has to make sure this girl stays alive. And so there’s a lot of action. A lot of car chases, guns, hand-to-hand combat. It’s just a really fun, exciting movie throughout the whole thing.

SR: I’m a sniper, so I’m trying to get the girl. I’m trying to kill Mike, which is a pleasure for me.

MM: They all want to kill me.

SR: All the women in America want to kill him. But, yeah that was kind of cool to not play the stereotypical [girl]. I think everyone was like oh she’s going to be his love interest and like the girly girl. I got to play a bad chick and that was super fun. It’s great. We actually had a big fight scene and we’re both very proud of it and we did our own stunts for it and it’s cool to walk away with that.

Q: Did you do all of your own stunts throughout the movie? -

MM: Of course. [Summer] had a stunt double. She was so bad that she would throw herself on the ground. Like we would be rehearsing the fights – it’s not on camera no one’s watching, we’re just rehearsing – and she would throw herself down on the ground and make it look like I did it and people would be like, “Hey, stop being so rough.” I’m like, “I’m not doing it. She’s doing it to prove to you that she doesn’t need a stunt double.”

SR: Because they would have the stunt double on set with me and she was a nice girl, but she’s not representing me. I can do that and so I just felt, coming from the background we do, thats’ what we do, stunts, you know, so to have that shot as a director, I feel like that’s what you want. So, I told our director, Will Kaufman, I was like, let’s not use them. Especially for our scene, because we know each other so we can rough each other up a little bit.

Q: Were there any onset injuries? -

MM: Before I came I actually injured my wrist in a match for wrestling, so the entire first half – which I did not tell anyone – first half I had like just a sprained wrist. My wrist was really huge but nobody noticed, luckily. I had to basically load my gun differently because I didn’t want anyone to know that my wrist was messed up.

SR: But other than that we had a great stunt team and they were really really awesome with everyone and so I actually don’t think there were any injuries.

Q: Did you have weapons training for the film? -

MM: We had combat training. We had weapons training. I wanted to make sure that I was authentic in everything I did, especially when you’re the marine you’re representing, You know, I’m an actor I’m not a real marine, but I’m representing all the marines out there. I feel like and I want to make sure that, since they’re over in a war zone being real heroes, that I can at least be as authentic as I possibly could.

SR: For me, I had never shot a gun or held a weapon, which apparently a lot of girls have and I hadn’t. So, to be a sniper, a trained assassin at the highest level, I wanted to make sure that I looked like I knew what I was doing. Also, I never thought of things, like when I’m in the background of a shot and I’m not the main character, I still have to stay busy. I’ve got to know how to lock and load it and what to do so that was important for both of us. We got a lot of training.

Q: How is it different preparing and shooting fight scenes for a film as opposed to doing it in the WWE ring? -

MM: Oh my god, in WWE you get booing and cheering whenever you’re doing something.

SR: You know if you’re doing it right.

MM: Yeah, people are chanting.

SR: You feed off of that energy.

MM: Then, in a movie, it’s not like the director is going to start chanting, “You suck,” so it’s completely different and you get one take in WWE. That’s it. And, here you get as many takes as you need, so it’s completely different, but I think WWE really prepares you for that kind of. It’s theater. WWE is theater. That is our stage; that is our Broadway.

Q: What was the most memorable scene that you shot? -

SR: For me, it’s the fight scene because it’s the only one I got to do. He had to do multiple fight scenes. For us, guys and girls don’t wrestle in WWE anymore; we can’t touch each other so I knew that would be a big draw for our fans wanting to see us go at it. It was just fun to get banged and bruised. Is that weird that I even said that? It’s fun for me. So yeah, that was great.

MM: I like all the fight scenes. I just like getting hand-to-hand and really feeling that energy of another person, to make it look crisp and nice and perfect, and it’s a challenge because it’s different than the wrestling I do in WWE.

SR: We feel comfortable there, almost like doing the fighting too much. For me it’s more comfortable doing that than maybe the acting. Only because that’s newer to me.

Q: Do either of you have plans to do more acting in the future, and if so, would you venture outside of the action genre? -

MM: I do, actually. I’m actually doing a – it’s not even an action film, it’s a Christmas movie called Santa’s Little Helper – that will come out this Christmas. I leave to film in Vancouver tomorrow.

SR: That’s where we shot this movie. It’s unreal; beautiful. Yeah, anytime that we have an opportunity from WWE Studios. For me, I was the first Diva that they put in a WWE Studios film, so at the time I was so flattered to do it and I wanted to fill those shoes. So, now they’ve had two girls since me be able to be in films, and it seems like there’s more opportunities. The studios with Michael Luessi, the president, they’ve been really having some great opportunities and just hitting lots of different things – cartoons, actions, Christmas movies. So, yeah if the opportunity was ever there I would love to apply what I learned on set here again.

Q: Would you do another Marine movie? -

MM: Oh my god, these are the most fun. I’m like a little kid playing G.I. Joe with real guns and real combat and making a movie. I remember watching Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Running Man and Predator and being like oh my god, that’d be so cool to do that. And now I’m doing it, so of course I’d do another one.

Q: Do you think of someone like The Rock as an inspiration? -

MM: The Rock has done such great things. Being a WWE superstar now, you look at his career and he’s really taken it off and really shined a new light. And now people look at WWE superstars, not as wrestlers, but as entertainers and performers, as talent that can up a movie. Now people bring in The Rock, and say well, we have a family franchise, bring in The Rock, he’ll make it great. My favorite Saturday Night Live skit by the way was the wrestling promo. “HE’S GOT HERPES!” And I was like, “Oh my god! It’s so great.”

Q: What would your dream roles be? -

MM: Ryan Reynolds has my dream role [in Deadpool]. He’s filming it right now. But I think he’s going to do really… I honestly think he’s going to do really, really well in that role. I’ve always loved Deadpool. I just think he’s an awesome comic book character and I’ve always wanted to play him. But that’s just a dream.

SR: That’s so true. Even seeing Batista doing Guardians of the Galaxy, just being in that Marvel franchise, being in that comic – especially for a female – just being a kind of comic book character that’s just so amazing. That’s iconic. We even get Mattel dolls, we get action figures in WWE, and I’m like, “Who has an action figure?” That is the weirdest and coolest thing I’ve ever had. So a lot of times I’m living my dreams now, but yeah to be in any kind of [comic book movie.”

Q: What’s next for you two in the WWE? -

MM: Well, I just beat Damien Mizdow for the Miz brand. Obviously, we know how valuable the Miz brand is, obviously you saw it on the Real World: Back to New York in 2001 when it first started. Fifteen years later, I still own that brand because I defeated him and that’s where I’m at right now in the WWE.

SR: And you never know, at the time, I was dating Mizdow I guess, and last night I helped Miz win. I cheated and helped him win, so you never know what I’m up to. It’s very crafty and sneaky. I think we trick the audience. So we’ll have to see next week.