Cliche Magazine June/July 2018 | Page 74

GOING WITH THE FLOW Photographer: STEVEN GERLICH AT AESTHESIA STUDIOS Wardrobe Stylist: SUNII B. HENDRIX Makeup: VANESSA VENANCIO Hair: JENNIFER BAKER A cting for twenty-five years, Byron Mann has portrayed ass-kicking characters on screen. Mann has taken on roles like O.G. Kovacs in Netflix’s Altered Carbon, Chang on AMC’s Hell on Wheels, and Admiral Nguyen on SyFy’s The Expanse. Years in the acting industry, Mann admits when it comes to roles, “You have to be open and go with the flow.” Altered Carbon was an interesting experience for Mann. The show centers around the futuristic technology of interchangeable bodies after death, where Kovacs is the only survivor of a group of warriors who revolt against a new world order. Mann embodies Kovacs’s original sleeve before his life memories are transferred into a new body (portrayed by Joel Kinnaman). “This character is a character that is in angst. The first episode that you see him, that’s the state he is in,” describes Mann. For Mann, working on Altered Carbon was a fantastic and compelling experience to be a part of. “It’s a very forward-thinking show. The things they did were very out of the box, not ordinary things 74 www.clichemag.com in terms of the world, characters, fight scenes, and action sequences. Very cutting edge.” To get in shape for intense fight scenes, Mann goes through rigorous combat and weapons training and undergoes physical changes in order to play the role. “There are really two components. Eating right and exercising right.” Along with a high protein diet and lack of carbs, Mann is left to his own devices and likes to work out on a regular basis. When he’s off training and dieting, he admits that his go-to cheat meal are sweet blueberry muffins. On July 13th, Mann will be seen alongside Dwayne Johnson in Skyscraper. The film, an action disaster thriller, takes place in Hong Kong’s tallest and ‘safest’ high tech building that gets infiltrated by terrorists. Being born and raised in Hong Kong, the film was a coming home experience for Mann. As a native, Mann was able to assist significantly in the filmmaking process. For example, dialogue translations between English and Cantonese. Mann even collaborated with a Hong Kong police consultant who gave an inside look on police