Alain Moussi kicks the door in

Have you watched an action film and thought, “damn those fight scenes are out of control?” Well chances are you have seen Alain Moussi and you didn’t even know it. Alain has been a fight and stunt double in some of the biggest movies over the past five years, from Immortals to X-Men: Apocalypse to Suicide Squad and kicked some serious ass in all of them. Even in the new Warcraft film trailer, you can see him three different times while he doubled for star Travis Fimmel.

A lot of actors don’t watch their films, well Alain is the complete opposite of them. He goes out and buys all of the films that he is in on Blu-Ray and tries to see if he can tell where he is in the film. He also wants to see if his friends and family can decipher the difference between him and whoever he is doubling. In a perfect world, they would never know, but it’s always fun to guess. Alain was Hugh Jackman’s double in X-Men:Apocalypse and the amazing scene when Wolverine was truly Weapon X, which was one of our favorite scenes of the entire film.

You can now see Alain in the first film of the new Kickboxer trilogy, Kickboxer: Vengeance. He takes over the role that Jean Claude Van Damme had made so iconic and has made it his own. You can see the film on Blu-Ray or digitally, but it is also on Netflix right now as well. Next time you watch a blockbuster action movie, see if you can tell the difference between the stunt double and the actor, who knows…it could be Alain Moussi.

Wingman Magazine: You have been stuntmen for some of the biggest actors on the planet (Hugh Jackman, Jai Courtney, Henry Cavill) What goes into your preparation for doing the stunts for these leading men?

Alain Moussi: One of the major parts that I have to go through is that I really observe the actor if I am doubling them. I really want to get their mannerisms as much as I do perfect the stunt that I am going to perform. While we are working together, the idea is that I want to learn how to move, like they move. Also, my physical training could be structured in a way that my proportions are the same as theirs. It’s not about me looking ripped or whatever, it’s about understanding that I am shot from the back or from far away. So, it’s all about mimicking the movements and my goal is to fool the audience so that they think that the actor did the stunt for real. It is also about delivering a performance that is emulating the actor’s performance. It’s interesting because there is a whole acting part that I wasn’t expecting when I started. When I first began it was all about me getting punched this way or fly on a wire, but now I look at what if I was Henry (Cavill) or Hugh (Jackman) how would they fly or react to that based on their body mechanics. When it comes to size in regards to Jai (Courtney) I did a lot of training and gaining weight for the part. I only had three and a half weeks to get ready to double for Hugh Jackman. I got a call from Fox and I knew it was only going to be for two days. Everything that was shot wide over those two days was going to be me performing. I know how ripped Hugh is in the X-Men movies, so my coach structured a two-a-day regimen, one workout in the morning and one in the afternoon for me, which lasted about an hour and a half per workout. I had to gain about ten pounds of muscle but also stay lean in about three and a half weeks. It was a huge undertaking. Three and a half weeks after meeting with the producers I went back to set and they were just like, “oh my god…what did you do?” It is all about the right nutritional and workout program. I don’t take supplements except for protein shakes here and there.

Wingman Magazine: Kickboxer: Vengeance is out now, and is on Netflix. You take the reigns of Kurt Stone who was played by the great Jean Claude Van Damme many years ago. Is this a remake of that film or it’s own entity?

Alain Moussi: It is a reboot of the series. Jean Claude did the first one and then there were several sequels afterwards that did not have him in any of them. You could say they are not true sequels to Kickboxer, but they were sequels with other actors. This is the first of a trilogy for Kickboxer.

Wingman Magazine: When you were cast as Kurt Stone, how many times did you watch the original Kickboxer before filming began? And tell us about your reaction when you got the role.

Alain Moussi: My approach to it was that I wanted to bring something original to Kickboxer, so I didn’t watch the film. I steered away from it. A lot of my friends had not seen it and they wanted to watch it with me. After my conversations with the producers of the film, who is also the writer I really wanted to make it my own. I had to disconnect myself from everything that had done before by Jean Claude and Kickboxer in general and bring what I wanted to the table. It’s the only way to make something unique.

Wingman Magazine: Van Damme is one of the biggest actions stars of all time. Did he have any advice for you about going forward or about your role as Kurt Stone?

Alain Moussi: This was not the first time that I had met Jean Claude before. I had doubled for him previously on the commercials for GoDaddy. He had some issues with his hip so they wanted a rehearsal double so he wasn’t staying in the splits for too long. One of my friends recommended me for the job up in Vancouver. I met him for the first time when I went on set and that meeting was amazing for me because he was my childhood hero. After he saw me doing the split he asked me if I could kick. I was just like, “Of course I can kick. I have been kicking since I was a kid, because of you.” I ended up doing a demonstration for him. He loved it and took my information and told me that he would call me if he ever needed a double for him or a fighter in a movie. He actually did call me for a job, but I was working on Warcraft so I couldn’t do it. On the set of Kickboxer, the unreal part of it was that on the first day we were doing a fight piece and I came to the realization that I am not only remaking Kickboxer, which is one of my favorite movies when I was a kid, but I am starring in the film and Jean Claude is in the film. One day during filming they called cut and I looked at where I was and the fact that I was on set with Jean Claude and getting my head kicked in, in a film that I loved and just had to take it all in. It was an incredible and magical moment.

Wingman Magazine: You have been training in the martial arts since you were a child and now you are living your dream by reprising the role of someone you idolized as a child. The main question is…can you pull of a split as well as Van Damme?

Alain Moussi: (Laughs) Oh absolutely!! The splits, the kicks…anytime, anything, any move. It’s called 2.0 for a reason (Laughs again) To me Jean Claude is the greatest inspiration for me as a kid because he portrayed the true martial artist which I loved.

Wingman Magazine: Gina Carano, Georges St. Pierre, Dave Bautista all star in this film alongside you and Van Damme. So many great fighters and actors, how was it on set? Any challenges for fights or brick breaking or anything?

Alain Moussi: It was a lot of laughs. Everyone that worked on this film, no matter how matter how big of a fighter they were, there were absolutely no egos. They don’t take themselves seriously, they were all just there to have fun and do the best job that they can. For example, when I was acting with Jean Claude, he was all about passing the torch. He told me that I had to be a success in this film because that’s what will bring it forward. Dave Bautista was the most humble person I have ever met. When he came in we discussed scenes and when it came to the action, since he hasn’t done a lot of on-screen fighting he told me that I was the expert and he wanted me to tell him what to do. Coming from him, it meant a lot. I was a huge wrestling fan and having him tell me that was incredible. He helped me on the acting side, and I helped him on the action side. All the other fighters that were there, Georges, Cain Velasquez, Fabricio Werdum… Fabricio had the right words for it, “listen, I am the black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu, but I am a white belt here. So you are going to have to help me out so I can get my first stripe.” If one person looks good, then everyone looks good. The only issue that we could’ve had was when Cain and Fabricio were on set, since they had fought before. At one point me and Jean Claude were between them. There were no issues in the end, which is good.

Wingman Magazine: Fight films and television series can be hard to come by, but you are finding the right ones. You were also just in the Street Fighter series as Charlie Nash. Were you a gamer at all as a kid? Did you play Street Fighter?

Alain Moussi: I played the original game in the arcade and on Nintendo. I had played it quite a bit. It was a really great time to be Charlie Nash for that series. I didn’t know about Charlie Nash before so I did a little research about him before and who he became in Street Fighter 5. Playing an anti-hero is so much fun. You don’t have to be the good guy all the time, which is awesome. I heard through the producers that they may be distributing the film via Youtube. They make a lot of connections between me and Jean Claude since he was also in Street Fighter back in the 90’s. If I got to make a Charlie movie…oh my god I would be ecstatic.

Wingman Magazine: You vs. Van Damme in his prime…who is winning in a fight?

Alain Moussi:  (Laughs) Georges St Pierre was asked this question and he answered it so perfectly. “Jean Claude is a movie star and I am a fighter so you can’t compare it.” I personally think that Jean Claude is an amazing martial artist. I think I have a different type of baggage because I have done a lot of grappling, jiu jitsu and mma. I have a lot of different tools than he does and I think it would be a very interesting match up. The mixed martial artist answer would be whoever has the most tools in their belt, wins. If you have kicks and punches that is one thing. If you have kicks, punches, takedowns etc, that is completely different.