For someone who got his start in the entertainment industry on The Real World, Mike “The Miz” Mizanin has come along way since debuting in WWE. He’s gone from Tough Enough competitor to WrestleMania main eventer, having held almost every title in WWE including the coveted WWE Championship. This week, The Miz adds another accolade to his resume as he stars in WWE Studios‘ The Marine 3: Homefront, arguably the best installment in The Marine franchise thus far. Just days after the film’s Blu-ray/DVD release, The Miz talks to Wrestling with Pop Culture about his transition to acting, his hopes for WrestleMania and his recent endorsement by “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair.

You transitioned from The Real World to WWE and now you’re starring in your first film. What has that experience been like for you?

It’s incredible. I sit here and look back on my life and I’m like, “Oh, my God. Look at all this stuff you’ve done.” It all started with The Real World. If I had never made it onto The Real World, I don’t think any of this would have been possible. So I always thank Bunim/Murray, as well as MTV, because it opened my eyes to say, “You know what? I can do anything I want with my life.” That started with WWE saying I could do this. No matter what anyone said about me not being big enough or I’m not athletic enough, I was like, “Yes, I can.” Now I get the opportunity to star in an action flick where I play with guns, I have fight scenes and there are cool explosions. It’s amazing and surreal that this is my life.

How would you say being a WWE superstar prepared you for being an action movie star?

In WWE that’s what we are, we are action stars. We perform in front of 16,000 people each and every night, whether it’s on Raw, SmackDown or WWE live events. We have WrestleMania 29 coming up at MetLife Stadium April 7 where there’s going to be 80,000 to 100,000 people we’re performing in front of. It’s nonstop everyday that we’re in front of a camera, that I’m being The Miz, where I’m this cocky, arrogant, egotistical jerk, I guess you could say. But now, it’s funny, people are actually cheering me. Normally they’d be booing me, but now I’m their cocky, arrogant, egotistical jerk and it’s been fun. You only get one take in WWE; you don’t get five or six or ten takes like you do in movies. Even though there are five, six, ten takes, I only needed one to be quite honest.

You clearly have become more of a fan favorite as of late. What would you attribute that to the most?

I think it’s the time I’ve spent in WWE. Fans are really starting to respect the fact that I’ve built myself up. I didn’t just walk in and all of a sudden be successful. I had to work for it. I think they like people that are hard workers and that’s what they are drawn to.

Ric Flair has recently given you his endorsement, going so far as to pass his figure-four leglock on to you. How does it feel to have someone like that in your corner?

Um, awesome. Whooo! Are you kidding me? In my wildest dreams as a kid you could have never told me that I’d be strutting, having a whoo-off, putting on a figure-four with Ric Flair right there passing it on to me. It’s incredible and surreal. As a kid, whooing and strutting where what I would do. I loved Ric Flair and now him being my friend and mentor, and coming to my corner to help me out, passing on the figure-four to me, it’s incredible and amazing. I mean, he’s a two-time Hall of Famer.

Last year he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame for the second time as a member of the Four Horsemen. If he were to assemble a new Horsemen-like faction, who do you think the other members might be?

Ric Flair, myself, clone another version of myself and clone me again. Then there’d be four of me and I’d be the Four Horsemen of just me.

With The Marine 3 out, the fans behind you and Ric Flair supporting you, you definitely have a lot of momentum going into WrestleMania. Yet you don’t currently have a match scheduled for this big event. Do you have any idea who you might be facing this year?

People are scared of me, bro. What can I say? But I couldn’t agree with you more. I’m on a roll right now and this WrestleMania is one of the biggest ones we’ll ever have. You’ve got The Rock and [John] Cena in the main event. CM Punk vs. ‘Taker – CM Punk‘s been on a hot streak as of late as one of the longest reigning WWE Champions ever and now he’s going up against the Undertaker in his prime. So that’s going to be an incredible match. [Jack] Swagger vs. Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship…

Now I’m looking for a spot on that card that will give me the opportunity to steal the show, to be the person everyone’s talking about. That’s what I’m looking forward to. Come one, come all. I don’t care who I’m up against, I’m going to win, I’m going to become undefeated once again, I’ll be 4-0 after this year.

Given the positive response The Marine 3 has been getting, do you think you will be doing any more films in the near future?

I’m actually getting ready to start filming another movie that will be on ABC Family during the 25 Days of Christmas called Christmas Bounty.

You were also in a scene in The Campaign with Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis that was cut from the theatrical release. Do you know why it was cut?

I actually had lines in that, but they cut them all so it looks like I’m a featured extra. I was like, “Oh, come on!” But Jay Roach, the director, actually emailed me, which I thought was a tremendous thing because he didn’t have to do that, to say, “Due to time constraints and to move the movie along, we had to cut your scenes.” And that wasn’t a problem. It was cool. It was very, very nice of him to do that. But it was an honor to watch Will Ferrell in action. He’s an incredible actor and I’ve always loved his comedy.

www.wwe.com/superstars/themiz