by kellie abrahamson kabrahamson1@aol.com
This is a big year for Hawk Younkins. After paying his dues on the reality show circuit and competing in the pro-wrestling ring, the First Coast native has his sights set on Hollywood and hopes his latest film, Thunder over Reno, will make him a household name. EU caught up with Hawk earlier this month to chat about the film, his upcoming projects and his hopes for the future.
I met Hawk at the St. Johns Town Center for a casual interview over lunch. When you meet him, it’s easy to see why the 24-year old has been playing Navy SEALS, football players and firefighters for the past four years. At 6 foot 4, Hawk’s a big guy, not normally what you picture when you think “leading man.” With Thunder over Reno, which is scheduled to release nationwide on September 29th, Younkins is hoping to change that perception and put himself on the map.
“If I was a baseball player, I would be in AAA getting ready to get called up to the Majors,” he said. “Everyone in Hollywood looks back at that one movie or that one TV show that established them and I’m hoping this will be mine.”
Thunder over Reno is an action film about the International Championship Air Races in Reno, NV (“Reno is the Daytona 500 of airplane racing,” Hawk explained). Younkins plays Butch Bandi, a young crop duster who unexpectedly gets tapped to be a pilot in the big race. With love interests played by Natasha Yi and Izabella St. James of Playboy fame, the film promises to be “the world’s fastest love story.”
Once Thunder over Reno is released, Younkins will waste no time getting into his next project, this time playing the roles of actor and producer. Top Fuel is a Cinderella story about a young woman’s triumph in the world of drag racing. Hawk will play Brad, a member of the pit crew and the leading lady’s love interest. If you think the premise sounds familiar, you’re not alone.
“The nature of both Top Fuel and Thunder over Reno are very similar and we didn’t plan it that way,” Younkins admits. “The plot’s are different but… I’d say in the movie world they’re cousins. If you like one, you’re definitely going to love the other.”
With a budget of roughly $60 million, much of Top Fuel will most likely be filmed in Jacksonville and Gainesville, great news for area businesses and lookie-loos. Local aspiring actors should be on the lookout for a casting call sometime before the film’s October start date.
“We’re definitely going to cast a lot of the small roles, featured extras and regular extras, all locally. Maybe even a medium role or two,” Hawk said. “There’s plenty of good talent here in Jacksonville… I could go to Alhambra Dinner Theatre and find a fantastic actor [whose] probably overqualified for such a small role.”
Hawk and his partners have yet to officially cast all the leads, but are in talks with some big names according to partners Fylmar Productions. Their website lists Bruce Willis, John Travolta, Billy Bob Thorton, Lindsay Lohan and Hilary Duff as some of the actors on the “short list” to star in Top Fuel. Unfortunately, Hawk couldn’t name any names for legal reasons.
“I want to so badly, but it would be my ass if I did,” he explained.
Hawk’s got even more projects lined up after Top Fuel. Rouge is a science-fiction film that’s “kind of like Stargate” and will possibly be filmed in Dubai. He’s also co-writing a script about Ultimate Fighting, one of Hawk’s many passions. It’s clear, though, that his pet project is The Squared Circle, a film Younkins wrote based on his experiences in Professional Wrestling.
“It’s like Rocky meets Any Given Sunday, minus the boxing and the football. But [those] themes, meet pro-wrestling,” he said, then added later, “It’s also going to be kind of like Othello. There’s a love triangle.”
Hawk Younkins’ enthusiasm about this and all of his projects is absolutely infectious. Our chat over lunch turned into an in-depth four hour conversation about everything from movies to politics to faith to porn and I barely noticed the time passing. We covered so much ground that this article is just the tip of the iceberg. Be sure to check out eujacksonville.com for more on Hawk and keep an eye out for this ambitious actor in a theater near you.
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