HollywoodLife.com spoke with WWE Superstar Randy Orton who stars with Ed Harris & Amy Madigan in the coming-of-age story of love and tolerance and he also weighed in on his thoughts on Chris Jericho on DWTS and his upcoming battle with CM Punk at WrestleMania 27!

The first thing I thought when I was watching ‘That’s What I Am’ was I was watching a lost episode of The Wonder Years, and that is completely a good thing! The 60′s era story follows 12-year-old Andy Nichol (Chase Ellison), a bright student who, like most kids his age, will do anything to avoid conflict for fear of suffering overwhelming ridicule from his peers as he befriends the social outcast of the school, Stanley, aka “Big G” (Alexander Walters) for a school project.

Ed Harris puts in a Oscar caliber performance as Mr. Simon, the kids favorite teacher who must deal with a malicious rumor brought on by Ed Freel (Randy Orton) that single-handedly could derail and change everyone’s lives forever.

“My role in the movie really causes everything in the movie to turn upside down.” the 30-year WWE Superstar tells HollywoodLife.com exclusively adding, “The moral of the story is to accept people for who they are, you don’t have to like them but you should tolerate them. Tolerance is great and the message the film tells is really cool. It’s a lot different than a lot of movies out today and way different then any WWE film.”

But when asked if Randy would move on from wrestling into acting he was quick to note, “Wrestling is my priority, my first love, if I have time and the WWE and Vince McMahon allows me to get involved in any other projects, I would love to do it. I know the Expendables 2 is in the middle of casting, I’d love to do something like that, even if it was just a couple of scenes.”

Along with the film, Randy also touched on a few other things that are happening in his world and his thoughts on WrestleMania 27 and his buddy Chris Jericho on Dancing With The Stars.

Randy’s Thoughts On Chris Jericho on DWTS & His Potential Involvement

“If the people at DWTS came to me and the WWE wanted me to do it and I had plenty of time to practice, I would love to do the show. Chris and I get along great, I watched his Cha Cha and I was impressed because it takes a lot to go out there and do something like that. As far as right now, I can’t dance at all, just ask my wife but I think I have rhythm, but I definitely think I could do it.”

Randy’s Thoughts on his WrestleMania 27 Match With CM Punk

“When it comes down to it, with the 70,000 plus fans in attendance and the millions watching worldwide on PPV. I’m going to have no remorse for my actions, I’m going to show CM Punk what I am all about.”

Randy’s Thoughts on WrestleMania 27 Guest Host The Rock

“The Rock doesn’t have any business sticking his nose in any of the matches whatsoever, I have every bit of confidence in John Cena, whether there is any physicality or even on the mic, Cena is much wittier then The Rock. The Rock is very entertaining but I think he is old news. When it comes down to it, if he gets in my business at WrestleMania, I’ll give him an RKO!”

IN SUMMARY

Back to the film first. If you want to see the best movie of the year so far that delivers both in laughs and emotion and gives a great message, make sure to see That’s What I Am in theaters April 29. 5 out of 5 stars!

Plus make sure to pick it up on DVD, Blu-Ray and via Netflix streaming On Demand on May 17

And if you can’t wait to see Randy Orton in action, make sure to get WrestleMania 27 on PPV April 3

And for more on the film and WrestleMania 27 and so much more, please visit WWE.com!

Russ Weakland

In Selected Theaters April 29th

Harkins Superstition Springs 25 – (480) 641-4603 – Mesa, AZ
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Chino Hills 18 – (909) 627-8010 – Chino Hills, CA
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Harkins Northfield 18 – (303) 595-4275 – Denver, CO
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West End Cinema – (202) 419-3456 – Washington, DC
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Channelside Cinemas Stadium 9 & IMAX – (813) 221-0700 – Tampa, FL
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Chatham 14 – (773) 783-8711 – Chicago, IL
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Mall of America – (952) 851-0074 – Bloomington, MN
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Quad Cinemas 4 – (212) 255-8800 – New York, NY
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Shaker Square Cinemas – (216) 921-9342 – Shaker Heights, OH
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Southlake Town Square 14 – (817) 310-0345 – Southlake, TX

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Mike “The Miz” Mizanin dreams of becoming the face of the WWE. “When people think of WWE, I don’t want them to think of John Cena or Steve Austin,” he tells HollywoodLife.com. “I want them to think of The Miz.” And as the newly crowned WWE Champion, the Superstar is closer than ever. But first, he’s got some business he wants to take care of… with LeBron James. ”I’d love to smack him,” the Cleveland, Ohio, native confesses. “I’d love to put a skull-crushing finale on him.”

But even though The Miz talks a big game, he admits even he isn’t immune to defeat. For the past three years at Christmastime, he’s lost the family bench-pressing competition at Uncle Jimmy‘s house. Apparently, The Miz’s upper-body strength pales in comparison to his insurance agent cousin Don. And yes, Don made a plaque for this year’s competition.

So what’s next for The Miz, besides this year’s family feud?

A Dwayne Johnson-style film career is doubtful, he tells us, unless the right movie comes along. “I don’t just want to be thrown into something,” he says. “You have to earn your stripes and gain respect in order to get it.”

And don’t expect him to make any surprise appearances on a Real World/Road Rules Challenge show, either. Though he says he owes so much to MTV, he officially retired from the Challenges when he turned 25 and won The Inferno 2. “I didn’t want to keep coming back,” he says. “I didn’t want to be 40 and still doing Challenges.”

For now, the WWE Champion is just focused on moving up in the WWE, keeping Randy Orton (admittedly his biggest competition) off his back, and remaining the pillar of awesomeness in a world full of haters.

And here are five more ‘awesome’ little nuggets from my chat with The Miz:

1. The Miz still treasures ‘Real World’ memorabilia: When Mike first invented “The Miz” on The Real World: Back to New York in 2001, he made a replica of the WWE Championship title — and it still has a special place in his trophy room at home.
2. The Miz equates the Nexus to ‘Herpes’: “One day they’re gone, the next day they’re here,” he says of the Raw stable of Superstar-wannabes. “They’re like Herpes.”
3. The Miz prefers blondes — especially Barbie: “It’s pretty awesome,” he says about being made into an action figure. “Mattel does such a great job with detail. … I’m way better looking than Ken. Barbie’s been hitting on my action figure the whole time. She actually asked the stocking people if she could hang next to me, but they said no — because it’s PG.”
4. The Miz was a huge fan of The Rock growing up: “You always wanted to know what he was going to say next. … I think the ‘Attitude’ Era was the greatest era ever. So entertaining.”
5. The Miz sees potential in David Otunga: “He still needs a lot of work in the ring — we’ve all seen that. But the fact is he’s very good on the mic. And he’s got a superstar wife [Jennifer Hudson] which gives him tremendous hate-ability.”

And those of you who still think of The Miz as the “bad guy” of the ring (a reputation he tells me is undeserved), you really should watch the WWE’s eighth annual “Tribute to the Troops” holiday special, airing Dec. 18 at 9 p.m. on NBC. The Miz, along with his fellow Superstars, WWE Divas and a slew of celebrity guests, show their support to our armed forces in the U.S. and overseas.

Seriously, it’s going to be… awesome.

— Andy Swift

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If the stars align, Justin Bieber might be tapped to sing ‘America The Beautiful’ at WrestleMania 27 on April 3, 2011 in Atlanta…which would put him in a league of performers like Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles!

Justin Bieber might not want to get in the ring with spandex wearing hunks like Randy Orton, The Miz and John Cena, but the 16-year old star’s singing pipes might get him in their grasps regardless. WrestleMania — the annual Super Bowl of wrestling — returns for its 27th incarnation in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA in 2011 and a consistent fixture is to start off the festivities with a rousing rendition of America The Beautiful!

An insider tells HollywoodLife.com exclusively that WWE is trying to get younger viewers and that they’re out to get the Biebs on board.

“It is so perfect! To have Justin perform in front of 70,000 plus people would just be amazing! It is so perfect”, our source says. “It’s still a work in progress but it would be a lot of fun.”

We totally agree, and if Justin wanted to add to his fun night, he could easily ask his friend Kim Kardashian how to handle things backstage with the fellow wrestlers — she was the official host of WrestleMania 24 back in 2008!

Russ Weakland

Now that’s a match we’d pay to see!

In an exclusive interview with HollywoodLife.com, WWE superstar Ted DiBiase tells us he would love to have Spencer Pratt as a guest host on an episode of “Monday Night Raw” — just so he could get him in the ring! “I don’t know what it is about that guy,” DiBiase says, “but he’s got a big mouth. Man, I’d love to beat the crap out of him.”

“I’ve never thought of having Spencer on the show as a host,” DiBiase tells us. “I wanted [Arnold Schwarzenegger] … but Spencer would be tremendous.”

For a taste of what Spencer would be in for, he should check out DiBiase’s feature film debut in The Marine 2, coming out on DVD Dec. 29. It’s the action-packed story of an Marine sniper who has to save his wife (and an entire island of people) from a group of militant rebels.

“I’m my own worst critic,” he tell us. “I TiVo “Raw” every week and watch it and I always find something I could have done better. But when I saw this movie, I was actually really proud of myself.” Even fellow superstar Randy Orton had nothing but good things to say about DiBiase’s performance. “He told me, ‘I’m only going to say this once, but you did a damn good job and I’m really jealous of you.’”

Wow! We can’t wait to see the performance that actually made a fellow superstar jealous — but we’d be even more excited to see an all-out brawl between you and Spencer!

– Andy Swift