When Ronda Rousey was first set to star in the Roadhouse remake, it looked like her next major leap into mainstream Hollywood. Conor McGregor eventually took the role instead, and while the fighter-turned-actress hasn’t dwelled on the missed opportunity, her reasoning reveals something about how scripts get made in the industry. Speaking with Complex, Rousey explained what happened behind the scenes and why she ultimately passed on the project.
The original plan had Rousey stepping into a classic action role, a moment that seemed to signal Hollywood’s readiness to build franchises around combat athletes. Instead, she found herself in a familiar position: waiting for the material to meet her standards.
Why Ronda Rousey Passed on Road House: “We Just Never Got a Script That Was 100% There”
“I think the script is so important,” Rousey told Complex. “We just never got a script that was 100% there. I think that people rushing a project and making a movie happen when the script isn’t there is why bad movies happen.”
This isn’t Rousey being precious about the role. She consulted with someone who had direct experience with the Roadhouse legacy: the widow of Patrick Swayze, Lisa Niemi, who appeared in the 2024 version that eventually made it to screen.
Rousey recalled the conversation: “I actually spoke to Patrick Swayze’s widow, and she was like, ‘I want to get her blessing to do it.’ And she was like, ‘Just make sure it doesn’t suck.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, that’s a lot of pressure.’” [laughs] I never got to a place where it wouldn’t have sucked.”
By the time the script questions remained unresolved, the industry had already moved forward. Multiple Roadhouse remakes were either in development or completed, making another pass at the material feel redundant. Rather than force a project that didn’t feel right, Rousey shifted her focus to future possibilities.
What caught her attention during the interview was a gap in action cinema that she believes remains unfilled. “There’s never been a movie done before with two women that know how to be on camera and know how to fight on camera at the same time,” she said. She’s eyeing a potential collaboration with Gina Carano, another MMA athlete who proved herself as an on-screen talent through productions like Haywire and The Mandalorian.
As for the 2024 Roadhouse film itself, Rousey hasn’t seen much of it. “I watched the beginning, but I have two children,” she explained. These days, her movie watching gets interrupted by her kids’ demands for animated favorites. “I can’t remember the last time I was able to watch a movie from beginning to end that wasn’t like My Neighbor Totoro or Encanto. I saw the ending of the fight and I saw the beginning.” Sometimes the best creative decision is knowing when to say no, and sometimes life just gets in the way of keeping up with new releases.
Rousey’s comments come just days before her return to MMA, where she is set to face Gina Carano in the main event of MVP MMA 1 on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, streaming live on Netflix as the platform’s first live MMA card. The fight is scheduled for five five-minute rounds at featherweight under the Unified Rules of MMA, with standard four-ounce gloves, and it marks Rousey’s first MMA bout in nearly a decade as well as a meeting between two of the sport’s early crossover stars.
