Gladiator Mike O’Hearn Needs Publicity; Fuels Conan and Captain American Casting Fire

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on August 5, 2008

Thanks to the internet and the infinite rate at which casting rumors seem to travel, it has now become quite easy for a fledgling celebrity to drum up interest in their good name. All they have to do is mention that they are auditioning or are otherwise interested in an extremely popular, internet geek-friendly property that is in development. This morning, with his appearance on the Todd ‘n Tyler radio show in Omaha, NE, American Gladiator star Mike O’Hearn hit this instant buzz button twice, name dropping both Conan the Barbarian and Captain America.

According to a report sent into Pete over at Slashfilm, the Gladiator known as Titan mentioned that he had a meeting this morning with the folks over at Lionsgate about the title role in the upcoming reboot of Conan. He also eluded to the fact that he is well past the audition stage, saying “They’re bringing me in today just to sit me down and talk. How about that?”

Yes Mr. O’Hearn, man who has starred in such straight-to-DVD releases as Barbarian and World’s Finest, as well as the daytime soap opera “Days of Our Lives.” How about that, indeed?

O’Hearn went on to spray lighter fluid on another casting fire, saying that he has a casting session scheduled with the folks over at Marvel Studios for the big screen adaptation of Captain America.

Of course, while it is clear that I am poking a bit of fun at the guy, it should also be noted that his comments were probably just zealous remarks of an actor who is at least part of the discussion for two very big roles. He is probably extremely excited about said auditions, and he has every right to be. We have no reason to believe that he would knowingly go out and start rumors for the purposes of publicity. That is what his publicist is for.

That said, I’ve watched a bunch of “American Gladiators” episodes and I can’t see anything that makes Titan stand out any more than any other gladiators. He certainly has the build of a Captain America or Conan, but his acting chops are yet to be proven. With Conan, acting chops are probably second on the priorities list — it is better to get the look right, first. With Captain America however, I would take a much smaller, less behemoth Steve Rogers if he had the chops to give the character grit and authenticity on a dramatic level. As well, Captain America wasn’t always a huge, muscular dude, so the look is relatively irrelevant as long as they get a clean cut All-American looking S.O.B.

Enough rambling though, what do you think of Mike O’Hearn in either of these roles?

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