Dustin Rhodes did an exclusive interview with Nerds & Beyond to talk about several aspects of his life, both in-the-ring and out-of. Rhodes touched upon his new acting role as semi-retired wrestler Van Thunderclap in the upcoming film Thunderclap, but also talks about his origins for his catchphrase “Keep Steppin'” and how his love for dogs got him involved with the Williamson County Sheriff’s department. A few of his quotes from the very in-depth interview are below:
What was your worst wrestling injury?
“Oh man, I’ve had so many injuries. I’ve had 13 surgeries. The worst, probably the most painful, was when I broke my hand. Now I’ve had a lot of surgeries, like three shoulder surgeries, four knee surgeries, a hand surgery, back surgery, nothing on my neck yet – knock on wood. When I broke my hand, I broke all these metacarpals in half, in what’s called a corkscrew break, and it shot some pain in me like you would not believe. It hurt so bad, that was really painful. Then probably my first shoulder injury, it shot me through the roof too, so both of those are terrible. Terrible pain.”
What would your dream acting role be?
“My dream role in a film would be a very dramatic role. I love drama, I love serious. I mean, action stars and things like that: that’s cool, but I don’t see myself as like The Rock or Sylvester Stallone, or somebody like that, of that caliber. I see myself more like an Anthony Hopkins or Philip Seymour Hoffman. It’s dramatic, where you actually learn how to act, ya know, and you love to act, not just play an action star. To really relate to people and get them drawn in, to make them feel something, that’s what acting means to me. If I can make someone feel something with my storytelling and how I present a story, then I’ve done my job well. Whether they like me, or they hate me; they love me and they’re crying with me or laughing with me, whatever it is, I know I’ve done something right.”
It was just announced that you will be playing Van “Thunderclap” Tenner in the upcoming movie “Thunderclap,” what can you tell us about that role?”
“Yes! Van Thunderclap is a semi-retired professional wrestler and he’s working side jobs. It’s the story of a kid that is getting bullied and he comes into my life and I kind of teach him the ropes. That’s all I can say about it right now.”
Your motto is “Keep Steppin’.” On hard days, how do you keep steppin? How do you stay motivated?
“The ‘Keep Steppin’’ thing came from my father. When I decided to get help for my alcoholism and drug abuse, I went to rehab, I did my time and I came out and I worked my program. Working my program meant I needed to keep stepping and that’s where I picked it up. My dad would call me every single day before he passed and that was always one of the things he would say to me; ‘are you steppin’ today? Keep steppin’, keep steppin’,’ so it stuck with me. This is four years since he passed but I use it daily. You gotta keep moving, man, you gotta keep moving forward because the past is history, tomorrow is a mystery; we have today, so me personally, if I can get through this day clean and sober, and actually just live and know that I can have a bad day but I can do it without substance abuse then I’m gonna be fine.”
