The night before I sat down with Steve Austin, there was a screening of his new film, “The Condemned.” After we were all seated, Austin strolled in, looking like a giant. It seems a natural fit for the former WWE wrestler to be the new action-star. “The Condemned” stars Austin and Vinny Jones (“X-Men: The Last Stand”) as two of 10 convicts on death-row who are sent to a deserted island where they fight to the death while the world watches on the Internet.

The next day, I went to shake his hand and actually had a stronger grip then him. In fact, his whole demeanor was laid back. At no point did I fear my body would end up getting slammed. Austin struck me as a man who would rather be fishing, but somehow got stuck being famous.

Bayer: So you think it’s a natural step for a wrestler to move into an action movie? Austin: Yeah, I think it’s a natural step because he is already doing action. I don’t think you want to just take any wrestler and say you’re ready for an action movie. I think having a successful career, as I have, would definitely help it.

Bayer: And how does it feel, in your first line of dialogue, to get to drop the F-bomb? Austin: Well, if they were looking to put me at ease and at home on my first day on the set, they succeeded. From that day on, I was very comfortable. That was my first day on the set, a little jitters, but it came off like a million bucks.

Bayer: Was there anything that you brought to this role that was not in the script? Austin: Some things, like changes in the dialogue. In talking to the writer/director Scott Wiper, who did a wonderful job, there were times I went to him and said I don’t need to say anything here. If anything I took my dialogue out of the script. Which, I don’t think you would find too many actors that would do that.

Bayer: What’s a stunner? I stopped watching wrestling a while ago. Austin: Basically, it’s my finishing move for the WWE. You kick your opponent in the stomach to bend him over a little bit, then you hook him over the shoulder by his head, you drop down to your ass, and when he goes down to your knees it jams your shoulder blade into his jaw. It’s a finishing move in pro wrestling, it’s not going to kill you.

Bayer: You delivered that to Donald Trump recently at Wrestlemania, how was that? Austin: He was cool; he’s a super guy. The thing is, here’s a guy who’s a hugely successful guy who comes into our world on a crash course. You couldn’t expect much more out of him than with what happened. It’s a tough transition to make from Trump Tower to hot-blooded, full blown wrestling.

Bayer: I know you’ve had a lot of injuries, how are you holding up? Austin: When you’re standing on concrete all day long, your knees will ache just from all the pounding and stuff like that. But nothing that really nags me. I’ve been really fortunate. People always ask how I’m feeling, I guess they just think that I am beat to shreds. And I guess to some degree I am, but I feel pretty good. From the chin up I feel like I’m 18. From the rest down, it’s a whole different story, I got some miles on me.

Bayer: From your WWE days, how were you able to pound open two beers and guzzle, while spilling so little? Austin: I always tell people about 50 percent goes in, and about 50 percent goes on. The part that goes on, is the showbiz part for the audience. The part that goes in, that’s for me. Normally, I can leave the ring with a pretty decent buzz.

Bayer: How many beers does it take you to get a pretty good buzz going? Austin: In the ring, because you are shotgunning, you can get a buzz pretty quick. Fifteen minutes or whatever. Sitting around the house, I don’t normally drink beer like that.

Bayer: What does your daily workout consist of? Austin: I like to get up by at least 6 or 6:30. Drink coffee for an hour. I might as well drink out of the carafe ...

Bayer: That’s good to see you turn your pinky out when you imitate drinking coffee. Austin: Well ... that’s the old manners system. Plus, we’re at the Ritz-Carlton. If I was at the Holiday Inn, I wouldn’t have done that ... So I get up, do the elliptical thing for 45 minutes to an hour. Then later on in the evening I do my weight training.

Bayer: When “The Rock” switched to movies, his team told him to get smaller to attract more roles. Will you do that since you are trying to do more movies? Austin: Man, I’m pretty realistic with what I am bringing to the table and my genetic structure. I’m built like a tank and there is no getting around it. I have these big legs. ... This is what I look like and we’ll get around it. I weighed 253 for the film. I’m probably 265 now. I can’t change my body that much.

Bayer: Are there people who come up to you and want you to prove how strong you are? Austin: Not how strong I am, because I’ve never claimed to be strong. I’m not at a bar to bother anybody, so nobody has ever, ever bothered me. The only thing you get on occasion is the drunk guy in the corner who wants to arm wrestle you. And I don’t arm wrestle; I don’t want to arm wrestle, cause I don’t enjoy it. If anything they’ll ask if they can buy me a beer, and usually I have three of them sitting in front of me anyway.

Bayer: I heard you and Vinny Jones were pranking each other on the set. Give me some examples. Austin: Every time I went to the make-up trailer, I would have five Vinny Jones pictures, glued on my mirror, to me, words of advice, all that stuff. So then I would do the same to him. Then the other stuff would be when I made the trip to the adult shop and got all the blow-up dolls and things, completely trashed his place.

Bayer: Do you have any Chicago memories? Austin: I’ve been blown away. This is the first time I have been downtown. I’ve been coming here for 13 years. We used to wrestle at UIC Pavilion, then with the Rosemont Horizon (now the Allstate Arena), they can rename it whatever they want, but I call it Rosemont. It’s my favorite building to wrestle at in the whole world, and if you ask any top guy who really knows what he is talking about with crowd, noise, acoustics and everything else, they’ll tell you the same damn building. Now, Madison Square Garden is a magical place and a cool building, but if you want instant reaction and crowd participation, Rosemont is the building. So, since that building is right by the airport, I’ve never been downtown. It’s not like New York ’cause you can get around here, and it’s not like L.A. We were driving at all hours through traffic and we never got jammed up. Now, I know you can get out on those highways and get stuck, but the downtown is so clean and the architecture is so cool, I’m just blown away. I’m going to come back with my girlfriend.

Quick Questions

# Favorite: breakfast? Huevos Rancheros # Favorite fruit? Watermelon # Last CD you bought? Nickelback # Worst job? Liked every job # Favorite place? South Texas # Your weakness? Short attention span # Favorite Sports Team? I root for players # Who would you be for 24 hours? John Wayne # Superpower? Hearing, I’m practically deaf # Last time you cried? I don’t remember # Age of first kiss? Guessing ... 14 # Favorite Charity? Make-a-Wish and American Cancer Society