Drew McIntyre sat down with Chris Van Vliet in Nashville, Tennessee to discuss his role in the upcoming ReelShort film “Agent of Shadows” as well as his roles in “Hexed” and “The Last Druid”, working with Henry Cavill on “Highlander”, what’s next for him in Hollywood, preparing for a WWE return, getting more muscular during his time off, his viral gym photo with Russell Crowe, why he still hates CM Punk, his army of cats, and more!

I feel like you’ve gotten bigger since the last time I saw you!

“I have gotten bigger since the last time you saw me. I believe I was around 275 prior to Mania.”

How could you get bigger?

“Wasn’t intentional. I’ve been doing all the right things. I was in Barcelona for a few months. I came back and really dialed in the diet. I upped my cardio. I discovered the assault bike, which is the worst thing in the world and the best thing in the world. But that cardio was through the roof, and I figured, okay, I’m probably going to lean up, but that’s fine. You get leaner, you generally look bigger on camera, and I somehow gained 10 pounds of muscle. I’m 285. I’m the only man in the wrestling world where they under-exaggerate. There’s so many times when I would say to the ring announcer, ‘Hey, I’m not 255, I’m 265. Can you use my real weight?’”

So, are you doing all this because you’re getting ready to return to WWE?

“No, I just like to look good. Obviously, I’m in the best shape of my life. I feel physically great. I’m sure you saw the clip that was out there when I was running the ropes. I was just rolling around the ring at Miro’s school, Rusev; you’re very welcome. It’s here in Nashville, and my buddy was like, I’ve never seen anybody hit the ropes so fast because he’s not seen Bron Breaker, the only other man that’s faster than me. He got a little clip, a 15-second clip, and it blew up online. I think over 8 million views, so people seem to be excited about the idea that I’m coming back to wrestling, but I’m just seeing what happens right now. I’m enjoying myself. Hollywood Drew is jumping from project to project, and when the time is right, WWE is home.”

Agent of Shadows is about to come out. It’s you and a ton of other WWE superstars in this, but it feels like all the marketing seems to be around you. You’re one of the main characters.

“I’m the right-hand man of Adam, the lead character, our James Bond type. I am the Q to his Bond. I’m the tech guy, and if called upon, I’m going to kick some butt too, and obviously, the sex appeal. But yeah, we got a lot of the superstars in there. Everybody did a great job, not just the action sequences, which is a given, being WWE superstars, but from the acting-wise, I thought everyone did a great job. It’s fun. It’s a really fun watch, and hopefully everyone goes into it with that idea. Hey, I’m about to have a little fun watch, and might be surprised about the romantic elements, the comedic elements, and at the center there is heart, and it is a very fun watch.”

When you look at the poster, it is filled with stars! Joe Hendry, Jacob Fatu, Booker T…

“How on Earth could you leave out Michael Hayes? Nobody’s more excited about anybody being in that movie. Backstage, a curtain sell out. Everyone’s very excited to see Michael in action. He killed it. He’s exactly what was needed for that role. I’m kind of following in his footsteps in a way. He was a wrestler, and I became a wrestler. Then he was in Highlander, and then he’s going into Agent of Shadows. So in a way, I’m following in Michael’s footsteps.”

At what point did you realize “I prayed for this and it happened” had become the meme that it is?

“I knew talking to Triple H during the day that this is going to be so good. I had an idea and it was too much. It would have offended a lot of people, which I’m very good at. He helped me reel it back, and then Hunter himself came out with the line, which I ended up using because I had such an extreme version, and he dialed it back and the way he said it and the cadence of how it’s to be said. He said it like that, and I got so excited. He’s obviously a savant when it comes to this business. Sometimes though he comes out with [things]; I went, how do you think of that? But it was like, that is genius, and oh my God, that is going to be so good. I know as a fan, I would lose my mind. Didn’t think I’d be seeing it to this day for everything, no matter what. It’s sports, it’s outside of wrestling, it’s constantly me pointing, ‘I prayed for this, and it happened.’ But I knew in that moment when Hunter delivered the line back to me by toning me down a little bit. I went, wow, that is genius. Because I’m going to use that exact tone. The promo itself, I was being sympathetic, I believe, because Punk had got injured, and I understand what it’s like to have things taken away from me, and I’ve been injured before, and I’ve lost in my life in the ring and out of the ring, and I can get real personal. But I hate that son of a bitch, and I’m going to say it in the exact same tone all the way through till people go, wait, what? His face goes, what? And I drop his ass. So yeah, that’s cool. I mean, those promos, that feud, they voted it the best feud of the 2020s.”