UFC's Couture takes on "Mandrake"

What happens when you tire of beating people into the ground for a living? Why, you take up an acting career of course! Three times UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture is indulging in a spot of theatrics in the forthcoming adaptation of "Mandrake", the little known 30's comic book (created by Lee Falk).

Couture had his guard very much up when talking to Comingsoon.net but what is known is that he will play a mysterious character named Jed. Thankfully for all concerned, including Jonathan Rhys Meyers who is still attached to play Mandrake the Magician, the project has broken the submission hold put on by the writers strike earlier this year.

"It's been reset, and I think now they're waiting for the dust to settle with the Olympics in China, 'cause most of the movie is shot in China," Couture told Comingsoon.net. "I'm attached to play a U.S. agent that's intricately wound up into the plot of the movie." And in a startling bout of frankness Couture admitted "I'm not familiar with the comics at all...I'd never heard of them until after I'd read for the part in the movie, and then I said, 'Oh, this is based on a comic book character' so I had to go back and look at it then. It reminded me a lot of Chris Angel (US Street Artist) and some of the stuff that he does in his persona a little bit."

Chuck Russell ("The Mask") is down for directing duties and incidentally worked with Couture previously on a direct to DVD prequel to "The Scorpion King".