LEAD ACTOR: Brian Anthony as "Lee Southward"

 

Brian Anthony started off as a professional wrestler by the name Bad Boy Brian Anthony and a member of The Wrong Crowd tag team. As a professional wrestler for 17+ years Brian enjoyed tremendous success having won many regional titles as well as the NWA World Heavyweight Title. Through the course of his career Brian worked for several of the major national companies such as , the NWA, WWF(now WWE) and ECW, in addition to many regional companies. Brian first came to notoriety as a member of the Wrong Crowd. Having won several regional tag team titles the Wrong Crowd was ranked among the top 5 tag teams in the country for the better part of a year and a half. It was at this time that the WWF started to take notice. Brian’s time with the WWF started off just doing some “skits” on their Live Monday Night RAW television show. These appearances eventually led to Brian wrestling a series of ‘dark” matches for the company. As things never really panned out there, Brian received a try-out with ECW. Having wrestled several matches for the ECW Brian was weeks from signing a full time contract with them before the company ceased operations. Throughout his wrestling career Brian also had an interest in acting and had several small roles in some independent films. One was the role of a bouncer in a George Romero produced horror film about wrestling. He also had a role as the main character in a short film titled “Finding Mecca.” In addition to these he was also an extra in a student film on several occasions. After being bitten by the acting bug Brian began to apply for some acting roles and it is then that he met the KillerWolf director, Len Kabasinski. Having seen an ad on the internet for a company looking for an actor for the leading role in an independent film, Brian sent a resume and head shot. It was then, after several months, he received an email response from Len stating the role was his. Fist of the Vampire became Brian Anthony’s first major acting job.
In preparing for this film, Brian underwent extensive training in martial arts. Having always been an athlete, and wrestler, the fight scenes were something that he knew had to be right. Brian didn’t want to “just get by” on his wrestling experience and athletic ability, he wanted to make the kicks and karate moves look as real as possible. For several months leading up to the film Brian worked with a martial arts/self defense instructor to prepare for the fights. His training leaned more towards the self defense portion as that seemed more appropriate to the role. The instructor, at Inpax, a self defense/personal security company in Pittsburgh actually trains police officers and military personnel so Brian thought this was the best route to take. In addition to the self defense training Brian went back to his “athletic roots” for his workout routine. Knowing the physical demands that the fight scenes would take Brian switched his workouts from the traditional “bodybuilding” routine to a more athletic based training routine. In the workouts he focused a lot on core strength and stability. He focused on the major, compound lifts such as bench, squat and deadlifts to strengthen all the major muscles of the body as a whole rather than parts. Brian knows from his experience and education in Exercise Physiology that this is the best way to prepare the body for any athletic type endeavor. In preparation for the film, Brian strength trained in this manor 3 times a week and did conditioning 5 times a week.
Increasing his “cardio” was imperative as Brian knew that the fight scenes and filming in general would be very long and demanding. It was for this reason Brian knew that the “traditional” cardio of treadmills and stairclimbers would not work. Again, referring back to his athletic roots he switched his cardio training to a more sport specific type of routine. This included such things as stadium stair running, jumping rope, jumping jacks and things of the like. Brian knew he needed to condition the body as a whole just as he needed to strengthen it as a whole. In order to be as lean as possible for this role he began his diet 3 months out from filming. The diet consisted of low carbs and high protein and consisted of calories just below his maintenance level(about 2000 a day) spread out over 6 meals a day.
In addition to acting Brian also still wrestles professionally as well as runs a successful outdoor fitness company for women, Pittsburgh Boot Camp for Women. He has a degree in Exercise Physiology as well as being a Certified Sports Performance Coach. Brian is also the sole owner of a personal training business, Body Built By B.A. in which he trains several clients out of their homes or in a semi-private studio. He has trained clients ranging from professional athletes to the general population.