INTRODUCTION
Justice (Jesse Smith) recently spoke to the Gladiators Zone during a break in the filming of the brand new NBC series. Here is what she had to say to our correspondents...
INTERVIEW
Q: "Where are you from?"
Justice: "I was born in Detroit, but raised in Germany actually. I’ve been back in the States for 15 years now."
Q: "Tell us more about your sporting background, specifically your Kickboxing."
Justice: "I fight out of Pensacola Boxing Academy which is the same people that started Roy Jones and Smoke Gainer. I have been doing it almost all my life. Started at the age of 8 and have been doing it professionally for 2 years. What I love about the sport is the training regiment as it keeps me focused and helps me concentrate on my goal, which is to win!"
Q: "How do you prepare yourself for a fight?"
Justice: "By training 3 times a day – morning is 7am - lift weights for an hour and half. Then I go to Long Beach Kickboxing around 10:30am and train for another 3 hours there go home and eat and rest and then I go back to the gym in the afternoon and do more lifting."
Q: "What made you try-out to be a Gladiator?"
Justice: "I went with a friend of mine just to crash the auditions. Then one of the producers was like ‘no, you should try-out!’ because I went in with a tank-top on. He asked how my hair was, because I had a hat on, and I told him that I had a Mohawk. He said ‘I want you to go to the bathroom, wash your hair and I’m going to put you on camera with your Mohawk because I know you can make it’ and I did!"
Q: "Did you suggest your name?"
Justice: "‘Justice’ is my middle name. I told them at the auditions what I think about my character. Well, I bring you with my street justice, I’ll bring you down with the hands of justice and I put the smash of justice on your @ss!"
Q: "How do you feel being a Gladiator?"
Justice: "It feels a bit overwhelming right now. It’s kind of hard to digest the whole thing because it’s just so amazing being here. Getting up every morning and doing something you dreamed about doing. I’m an actor and a full-contact kickboxer. I fight K1. You know, just getting up to come to a main gig is a pleasure."
Q: "What have you got individually that sets you aside from everyone else?"
Justice: "I don’t want to be set aside from everyone else, but I think my style and my attitude is cool. Everyone here is cool as hell. I told my wife the other day, I can’t believe that everyone I’m working with is so cool – they’re straight, humble, down-to-earth and easy-going. No-one’s conceited. Everyone’s growing as a family, everyone’s concerned about one another."
Q: "You’re one of the tallest Gladiators we’ve ever seen. How does that benefit you in competition, either in Gladiators or any other sporting achievement?"
Justice: "It benefits me in fighting because my reach is extremely long, people look at me and think I am not quick, so it surprises them when I catch them by the neck and it’s funny to see the surprise look on their faces..."
Q: "What is your favourite event?"
Justice: "Right now I’d say the Assault. I’d like to use the cannon with my cannons! I play paint-ball all the time, so hopefully this concept will be easy to adjust to. But I’d say my best event is probably the Gauntlet. For me, the best thing to do is to come up with a strategy. I’m always thinking and trying to figure out the right strategy to do and that’s because of my fighting background."
Q: "What things do you hope for from next season’s competition?"
Justice: "I hope to be stronger, bigger and faster!"
Q: "How did you find taking part in the promo slots for the show?"
Justice: "I think they were very good and it was interesting being the center of attention physically speaking and I hope mentally speaking that I came across as a great problem solver."
Q: "How do you feel about speed events like The Wall?"
Justice: "You know, I am a quick guy when it comes to chasing after a guy and smashing them – you know, putting the smash-down on them! But climbing that wall is crazy. I did do it in practice, but I think that Wall is geared towards a more lightly-built guy."
Q: "Finally, are there any funny stories you have regarding the whole Gladiators experience that you’d like to share with the fans?"
Justice: "Actually, there is the free fall part (they pull you up on a Ratchet system w/ compressed air) to Assault that I was little… ok a lot… Hesitant about! So when I fell in the water, I hit hard, but it wasn’t nearly as hard or as scary as I thought it was going to be, and I came out of the water laughing because it wasn’t as terrifying as I had made myself think it was going to be."
