Developing chemistry with your castmates isn’t always easy. In fact, sometimes it can be a painful experience.
Matt Lauria and Jonathan Tucker, stars of the DirecTV mixed-martial arts drama “Kingdom,” sat down with TheWrap for an episode of “Drinking With the Stars” to talk about the process of preparing for the show — in particular, the weeks of MMA training that the actors endured.
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According to Tucker, it was far from a day in the park.
“I think by the second week we were all driving back in the car together and we were all a little quiet and stewing in what was coming up for us, because we knew what the training regimen was like,” Tucker recalled. “And one of us was like, ‘I don’t like this. I mean, this just sucks; this is really not fun.’ And we all started laughing, because no one wanted to say it. As exciting as this world can be, it takes just as much work to get there.”
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But according to Tucker, the grueling process had the benefit of bringing the cast together.
“It was not a pleasant experience, but in terms of the relationships that are formed in these sort of crucible periods, this was one of the great examples of it,” Tucker said. “And [costar] Nick [Jonas] drove us; it’s always nice to say that Nick Jonas is your chauffeur. Not a lot of people can say that.”
Also read: ‘Kingdom’ Review: Nick Jonas’ Fight Drama Packs a Mean Punch
Watch TheWrap’s interview with Tucker and Lauria above.