Paul Wight has been known throughout his wrestling career for his size and strength, and now he’s becoming a fixture on the mic in All Elite Wrestling and the Fast & Furious universe.
Wight spoke with WrestleZone’s Managing Editor Bill Pritchard to promote his role in the new season of Fast & Furious: Spy Racers Mexico, which premieres on Netflix on April 16. Wight voices Palindrome, a bounty hunter character that has “tremendous hair” and a score to settle with the main characters of the show.
Wight says his agent approached him about the role, and it was an exciting prospect since the ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise has become such a strong brand over the years. Wight explained that this not only gave him another chance to do more voice acting, but it’s a fun show that combines top-notch animation with mysterious elements and the cool cars and family the film series is known for.
“I got super excited because it was a chance for me to get into doing more voice acting, which is just another tool I wanna put in my toolbox. I mean, let’s face it, I’m not gonna stay this incredibly handsome forever, but to be able to use my dynamic voice and to find a character like Palindrome, just right away when I was reading it, was so much fun. I mean this guy is super intense. He’s wide open all the time. I love the energy of Palindrome,” Wight explained, “and that’s one of the great things too, is they too from the Fast and Furious franchise and they brought that into an appropriate platform for younger viewers with the cool cars and the sense of family and a little bit of mystery.”
“We’re encouraging younger people that they can do anything they want if they put their minds [to it] and you have this fun, incredible animation. It’s cutting edge, it’s better than anything out there. They really wanted to stretch the limits with this on what they could do visually with it. And then to have this fun character, for me, it’s just been an absolute joyride the entire time, and not just because it’s a show about fast cars,” Wight said, “but it has been fun to do. It has been really fun to do and to actually tap into a different skill set.”
Wight says at this point in his career, he’s trying to find new roles that challenge him in different ways. He says he had a lot of fun with the dynamic of voice acting, but it’s good knowing that he’s part of a show that is fun for all ages and breaks the norm a little bit… and it doesn’t hurt that his character is fantastically well-coiffed either.
“They wanted to create a very inclusive environment and they wanted to give such a diverse array of characters, where there was someone for everyone to identify with a little bit. And I think that’s one of the things because the whole concept is about family, and it talks about how one of the main themes is all these kids and individuals with such diverse backgrounds,” Wight said, “but the one common thing they share is family, just like the ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise. You have all these individuals from different backgrounds, but they embrace the concept of family. And to have fun with this and with the Palindrome character, who’s so intense and with that pretty wonderful head of hair that Palindrome has, I just kind of like watch it over and over just to see the beautiful head of hair.”
Wight joined All Elite Wrestling in February and has quickly adapted to his role on commentary, appearing weekly alongside Tony Schiavone on AEW Dark: Elevation. Wight spoke highly of the various talent he’s seen during his time with the company, including a match-up for the AEW Tag Team Championship set for this week’s episode of Dynamite.
“The Young Bucks, of course, they’re amazing. There’s an incredible match coming up with PAC and Rey Fenix and the Young Bucks. It was just off the charts as far as some stuff that I’d never seen before. So with that kind of talent,” Wight explained, “and there’s some incredible talent in the women’s division as well, the opportunity is there. I think as AEW continues to grow and we have that strong platform on TNT, there’ll be a lot of great things in the future.”
