Interview: Gavin-Keith Umeh Talks ONE FOR THE MONEY

Special thanks to Lionsgate, I recently got to interview actor Gavin-Keith Umeh who’s part of the cast of ONE FOR THE MONEY (starring Katheirne Heigl) which opens this weekend. Gavin also co-starred in one of my favorite and sadly short lived series last year, Lights Out.
Gavin talked about his role in One For The Money, whether or not he’d read the book that it’s based on and why boxing may not be as popular as MMA nowadays, check out the full interview below..

RS: My readers haven’t seen the movie yet, so what is your role in ONE FOR THE MONEY?

GKU: “In One For The Money, I play Benito Ramirez, who is a professional fighter, that is initially connected to a case that Stephanie Plum is investigating. As she gets further into the investigation, she finds that Ramirez has an increasing role and responsibility with a number of disappearances and questionable acts of violence that have occurred around this case. And the more she pulls out the strings, the more she finds connection back to Ramirez.”

RS: Did you read the Stephanie Plum novels?

GKU: “Based on Stephanie Plum novels, and I’ve read them. When I was auditioning for the film, I just mentioned it to my aunt and turns out, she’s a huge fan and she said ‘o you have to read them’ So after reading the screenplay, I then went back and read One For The Money and then got into the series.”

RS: So having read the book and having worked with Katherine Heigl, do you think Katherine did a great job of capturing the character on screen?

GKU: “She absolutely did, I think she really worked hard, and really took great care to stay true to the source material and really bring Stephanie Plum to life and I think she saw some of herself in this character, the quirkiness and therefore able to connect with it in a special way”

RS: Do you think fans of the book would be pleased by her portrayal?

GKU: “ya I think the fans are going to be very impressed with how the character was brought to the screen”

RS: How was working with Katherine Heigl? Was she a prankster in between takes? Was she serious on set?

GKU: “She was great, I wouldn’t describe her as a prankster, but she was very good natured, there’s a scene between Katherine and myself and I was always very cautious because of course she’s Katherine Heigl, she’s also the producer of this film, she really made me and everybody else feel comfortable and feel like we were in a safe environment, so we could do our best work, she was a lot of fun on set.”

RS: Was author Janet Evanovich involved with the production? Was she on the set?

GKU: “I did not meet Janet, I’m sure she was involved with the project, there were screenwriters who adapted the book for the screen”

RS: You play a boxer in this film, did you have boxing background or did you have to train for this role?

GKU: “Yes and yes, I’m an amateur boxer, fought on the golden gloves here in New York City. But then there’s also training required, in the film, you’d see Ramirez kinda morphed into mixed martial art fighter, so I had to explore that, and there are some difference, there’s kicks and these types of things, so to do it real justice I spent a lot of time getting ready, working with fighters and martial artists I know and then I also spent a lot of time in the weight room because when I fought I was a light heavyweight and Benito is a heavyweight, so I really wanted to put on some extra weight and have that size and a little bit extra muscle mass, so I could do the character justice because in the book, the way Benito is described is this big kind of mountain of a man, very intimidating, and I wanted to stay true to that. I did my best to really put on some size for the role.”

RS: It seems like nowadays, MMA is more popular, people tune into UFC fights and not a lot of excitement about boxing anymore and some say it’s because we don’t have heavyweight contenders like Tyson and Hollyfield back then, why do you think boxing isn’t popular anymore?

GKU: “I think welterweight boxing is still popular, you look at the potential match-up between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, people have been following that for years but in heavyweight division, I often heard a number boxing writers and sportswriters say that the great American heavyweights are out there but they’re playing football, they’re playing basketball. So I think the way that boxing has been monetized kind of historically made it a great out for potential athletes who were tough guys growing up. Now, football and basketball have become more lucrative, even in boxing certainly in many cases, a safer way to make a living. I think some of the talent pool has been drawn into these other sports. In addition, there’s a lot of things to boxing that if you haven’t watched it a lot that you might not be able to appreciate it as a first time viewer, maybe harder for them to grasp, there are certain aspects of Mixed Martial art that are more visceral, that people can connect with it.”

RS: What was the most fun to shoot in this film?

GKU: “We had a lot of fun. There’s a scene at the end of the movie, without giving much away, kind of a big showdown, we shot that over night, that was a lot of fun, I did that with Jason O’Mara and Katherine Heigl adn then John Leguizamo was there for the later part of that. But then also the scene where you see Benito Ramirez at his home gym, a very tensed scene, loaded with threat of danger, and then later actual danger and violence, and that was a lot of fun too because there were stuntwork and anything that involves stuntwork to me is a lot of fun, it brings out my inner kid.”

RS: Can you see yourself as a bailbond recovery agent?

GKU: “They’ve gotta be really tough. They have to be risk takers because they frequently walk into situations that they have no way of anticipating, I don’t know if that would be a way that I’d make a living but my hats go off to them.”

RS: I was a huge fan of the series Lights Out and I was hugely disappointed when that show got canceled. Was it a surprise to you or did you see it comin’?

GKU: “First of all, thank you, it was a project that we were very all proud of.
It was very disappointing, I would say in the moment it wasn’t a surprise per se, because we kinda knew that we were on a bubble as far as rating needed, it wasn’t going to get renewed. I was glad that they did air the whole season because I thought there was a great story arc and I appreciate FX for letting the show run its course. I don’t think it built enough of a core audience quickly enough, it was telling a slower story over a longer story arc and TV audience doesn’t always have the patience for that. Sometimes they do, and there are great examples, I remember New York Times said that The Wire was a TV show that thought as a novel, The Wire told a slower, longer story arc but that doesn’t always work. But I’m still proud of the work we did and it was a great season.”

RS: What made you choose acting as a career? Did you wake up one day and say ‘this is what I want to do for a living’?

GKU: “I don’t think I ever woke up and decided I wanted to be an actor. I’ve wanted to be an actor for as long as I’d known what film was, since I found out that there were people who made a living by playing make-believe. I don’t think I ever decided I wanted to be an actor, it was really more ‘Ok, I’m going to take the necessary step to make a living doing this’. I came from a musical background, I was with a couple of different bands, performing here in New York for years, I tried to be on stage one way or another since I was a teenager. Acting is a difficult career to pursuit, and I’ve heard many acting coaches and different type of speaker say ‘if you can picture yourself doing anything else for a living, doing any other kind of job, then you should go do that job because acting would be too hard for you’ and I realized at some point that I could not picture myself doing any other job. I can work 18-hour day and not feel drained, I feel invigorated.”