‘Prince’ Naseem Hamed looked unrecognisable at the ‘Giant’ film premiere as he shared a playful wrestle with movie star Pierce Brosnan despite saying most of the film was ‘made up’
‘Price’ Naseem Hamed looked unrecognisable as he attended the premiere of the biopic ‘Giant’ about his life and career.
The boxing champion, 51, appeared looking unrecognisable on the red carpet laughing and joking as he brushed shoulders with Hollywood big hitters for the gala screening of the upcoming film, which hits cinemas on Friday (January 9).
‘Giant’ chronicles Hamed’s rise from receiving regular racist abuse in a Yorkshire working men’s club to the high life of Las Vegas, winning world titles alongside mastermind trainer Brendan Ingle.
However, Hamed, played by Amir El-Masry, says that the film is almost 90 per cent wrong and vowed to release a documentary to counter the Hollywood script. Despite this, Hamed is happy to promote the film and celebrate his and Ingle’s legacy in British boxing.
“It’s all scripted,” he said. “I won’t say I hate to say it, because I don’t – but 80-90 per cent of the film is just made up. It’s an interpretation of what the directors and writers wanted to say to get some interest.
“I am not that person, to go through everything that is wrong with the film and everything that is far from the truth and what really happened.
“It’s just strange for me to watch a film about me and my trainer – and our relationship – and so much not be covered or true.
“But it’s a film and – if you wake up and hear Pierce Brosnan and Sylvester Stallone are doing a film about your life – you think it’s great, so I am going to embrace it.
“But watch what’s coming next – because I’m going to do a documentary series that, God willing, will be even better than The Last Dance, With Michael Jordan.
“Mark Wahlberg is the person that’s desperate to do it and he loves boxing. So I will use this film as a springboard to see where we can go with it.”
Brosnan, who became a global star as James Bond, transformed himself to play the role of trainer Ingle in the biopic. The 72-year-old revealed he spent hours in make up having prosthetics applied.
Appearing on The One Show, Brosnan said: “There was a transformation in this. I don’t look like Brendan and again when I read this text I thought: “My God, Rowan (Athale, the film’s director and screenwriter), you’ve given me a jewel here”. And so, there were prosthetics involved for me.”