Elisabeth Röhm as Stacey Newell in 'Notorious Nick'

Elisabeth Röhm as Stacey Newell in 'Notorious Nick'

‘Notorious Nick’ tells the true story of Nick Newell, a champion MMA fighter. Elisabeth Röhm plays Stacey Newell, Nick’s supportive mother, and the actress spent time talking to us about her work on the movie.

Moviefone: Could you describe Stacey Newell?

Elisabeth Röhm: Absolutely. I think she is a superhero in the sense that all moms are superheroes. I mean, the good ones, that is. She happens to be an extraordinary one. She is scraping her money together to make everything happen. She is scraping her courage together to not say anything that will stand in the way or create doubt in her child.

She's pulling it all together to encourage him to overcome his own obstacles. I mean, we all wish we had a momma like this, that decide to become our biggest advocate and encouraged us to fight for what we felt ours. Even if it seemed nearly, if not entirely, impossible.

MF: Did you get to meet the real Stacey before you started work on this film?

Röhm: I did not, but I did a lot of research. I've played a lot of true characters before, so digging into that is something that I'm familiar with, and adopting her qualities. We were very dedicated, Cody and I, to really telling the true story, which you can see from the support of the family, that they're behind this film and feel they were represented really well.

MF: How familiar were you with mixed martial arts before you took on this role?

Röhm: Oh, that's what MMA fighting stands for! (laughing) No, I'm just kidding. I am. Who's not familiar with MMA fighting? Are you kidding me, we'd have to be under a rock. I'm not like a huge fan. I'm not that girl, that tomboy that's like, "Yeah! Boxing!". But of course, I've seen many, many matches of boxing, and MMA fighting.

I was really inspired to discover that this person became a champion. I didn't know about that. Did you know about that? I mean, for those that know MMA fighting, did they know this story?

I hope that they didn't. I hope that it's a surprise for them. I hope that for those that love MMA fighting, they're like, "No way!" And they dig into Nick Newell's incredible career. I hope everybody feels tremendously inspired by seeing his journey of excellence and becoming a champion.

MF: Now that you know this story, if your own child came to you and wanted to get into MMA, what would you think about that?

Röhm: Well, I think that any parent that I know personally, generally, is already overcoming something on behalf of their kid. You know what I mean? Whether it's... no matter what's happening. If you have a teen, you've got something going on. Mine's got lots going on.

My encouragement is the same as Nick Newell's mom, which is, "You're worthy. You have a voice. You have a place in this world. You're extraordinary. I'm not pumping you up to get your ass kicked. I'm telling you what I feel to be true about you. Go for it. You only have one..." It's like that song, Eminem. You've only got one shot, so you better go for it.

MF: I read that you have directed recently. I'm curious for you as an actor, has that changed how you approach acting, being on the other side of the camera now?

Röhm: I don't know that it's affected how I act. I guess I've been acting so long, that's just such a huge part of my being. I think being an actor has influenced how I direct. I don't know that I've every really been handled as an actor the way that I am handling, or hoping to handle, or perceive myself to be handling the actors that I've worked with in the two films that I've done. I think, ultimately, having that shared language has really been a huge asset.

MF: You have done plenty of equestrian work and riding horses, which is not necessarily the safest pastime in the world. There are points at which we see Nick get the crap beat out of him. Does that idea of injury and possibly career-ending injury, is that something you relate to as a person? Did that give you tools that you could use in your performance here? Or at least how you are approaching it as Stacey?

Röhm: Well, I definitely think that riding horses as a kid has influenced my sense of fearlessness as an adult and as a person. I like speed. I like some wind in my hair. I like death-defying experiences. I like taking risks. Not doing bungee cord jumping, but I mean... David O. Russel said that he loves actors that free fall into an experience and that he works repeatedly with the same actors because they have that essence to them. I'm sure being a horseback rider as a kid gave me that sense of fearlessness.

I do think that that sense of fearlessness is something that Stacey tried to give her son. He had it, but she tried to recalibrate herself to not put upon him her fears that had limited her in her life. I think that that is a journey that every parent has to go through, which is to not dump on our children our fears that have limited us in our life. We have to zip it or dig deep inside of ourselves and encourage them to be bold and say, "Yeah."

I mean, if my parents had told me, "Oh, you can't be an actor. We don't know any actors." You know? But they didn't. They said, "Treat it with seriousness. Treat it with professionalism. Go for it. If not you, then who?"

I think that that film has this spirit. I hope that anybody who's struggling with overcoming their limitation or their perceived limitations of the mind, of the spirit, whatever, that they get out of this... You know what, it's that Rocky moment, "If not me, then who?" They go out there, and they want to take a whack at life just a little bit with more bravery.