In kickboxing circles the name Stan “The Man” Longinidis is enough to make someone quiver in their boots. An Australian boy from the wrong side of town, Longinidis has got a record eight world heavyweight titles under his belt that he wracked up over 100 fights and 20 years on the international kickboxing circuit. This type of steely determination and toughness has made Stan The Man the success that he is; the same kind of formidable resolve that’s needed to make it in the cutthroat world of film and television. If anyone’s got it, then it’s Stan The Man, and he’s got his sights on becoming the next Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone of the Australian film scene. He’s started the ball rolling with a starring role in the independent Aussie production “Trojan Warrior”.
While Stan The Man has been doing the rounds in Hollywood, making the big names look good on the silver screen with his fighting prowess, and appearing in cameos in Roger Corman movies, “Trojan Warrior” is his first leading role. With a $5 million budget, this is still very much an underground movie and is very Australian in its references (including cameos from local personalities that would be lost on an international audience) and more specifically very Melbourne, the city in which it is set. Longinidis’ character is Ajax, a motorcycle riding, special forces guy who self assigns himself to save his more irresponsible cousin’s skin in what is essentially a crime comedy caper. He admits that he liked this role because “he wasn’t your typical Hollywood hero with romantic interests. This guy laughs, he jokes, he cries and you walk away thinking, I kinda like that guy, because he wasn’t always thinking about his dick like the other guy was”. Unlike the real Stan The Man, Ajax is a man of few words. He is cool, brooding and, guess what, he can kick the a***s of a room full of guys with one hand tied behind his back.
In our meeting, Stan The Man talks with the bravado of a champion boxer; the old Ali “dances like a butterfly, stings like a bee” kind of rhetoric that makes you want to punch the air with excitement afterwards. He talks of dreams and achievement, of overcoming the odds, of providing inspiration in others, of slamming his own critics. He also talks with the speed of a machine gun, which leaves little opportunity to fire questions at him.
Get the interview in part two of STAN “THE MAN” LONGINIDIS: STRONGER THAN A PACK OF TROJANS>>>
