Chris Jericho on Playing Gorgeous George In Amazon Prime’s ‘The Greatest’ TV Series & Watched One Of George’s Old Movies To Prep Himself For The Role

As noted before, Chris Jericho joined the cast for the upcoming new limited television series The Greatest for Amazon Prime Video. Jericho will be portraying the role of wrestling legend Gorgeous George in the series, which focuses on the life and legacy of boxing legend Muhammad Ali.

FOX 5 held a recent interview with Jericho. One of the topics discussed included Jericho’s thoughts about his portrayal of Gorgeous George for the series and how he had watched one of George’s old films to prepare himself for the role.

“Well, I auditioned for it. It turns out they were looking for a Gorgeous George for a while and couldn’t find anybody. I found this old movie that George starred in, so I kind of imitated his drawl, his accent, some of his motions, his persona. It turns out, the reason it was such an important part is that Cassius Clay was a great boxer, but didn’t have the personality. He was really inspired by Gorgeous George and they actually had a meeting at a radio station in Las Vegas where George told Cassius, it’s not about the fighting, it’s about connecting with the fans. Making them love you, making them hate you, that’s what sells tickets. That’s something that Ali always remembered and based all of his persona on from that time forward. It was a great moment in Ali’s career and a great moment in mine, getting to play such an outrageous character in a such a massive show.”

Transcript h/t: Figthful.com