Unfortunately: Ryan Guzman (9-1-1) announce reason he won’t act and departure leaving the…
Ryan Guzman’s path to the ABC drama “9-1-1” began with Bruce Lee.
He recalls falling in love with martial arts as a child after his father showed him a movie starring the Hong Kong American actor.
“I remember begging him around 6 years old, ‘Can you please give me like a karate lesson or whatever?’” said Guzman. “He signed me up for a taekwondo class for my seventh birthday. I got my black belt when I was 10.”
Guzman, who was raised in Sacramento, eventually pursued a career in mixed martial arts fighting and joined an amateur league
“I had this fear of not necessarily getting hurt but losing and being embarrassed,” he said. “I wanted to overcome that fear and put myself in the worst possible scenario I could. I ended up doing that and fell in love with MMA. It led to the expansion of my own durability and the question of what’s next.”
But fighting brought him no income, so he sought out a side hustle. He landed on modeling — not exactly the most complementary profession for a fighter
“I couldn’t hide MMA from modeling because I would show up with a black eye or with cage marks on my back,” said Guzman, chuckling. “I remember doing a runway show and I took off my shirt. The whole room gasped and thought I had gotten in a car accident.”
Guzman’s modeling career took off, leading him away from fighting and bringing him to Los Angeles. It wouldn’t take long for the former mixed martial artist to follow in his hero’s footsteps and pursue acting.
“I saw these people who were coming out to do modeling and acting and they were all snobbish. I looked at them and I thought, ‘You have the IQ of an ant. How are you successful?’” he said. “No way that they’re going to beat me in these [auditions]. I gotta try this out. It became more of a competitive thing.”
Modeling casting calls were replaced with commercial auditions. In 2011, Guzman landed his first big role— he was cast as Sean Asa, the protagonist in “Step Up Revolution,” the fourth installment in the dance film franchise that helped launch Channing Tatum’s career.
