Florian Munteanu

Florian Munteanu (Romanian: [munˈte̯anu]); born 13 October 1990), is a German-Romanian actor.[5] He is widely known for his role of the boxer Viktor Drago in Creed 2, the son of former Soviet boxer Ivan Drago, from 1985's Rocky IV. He also played Razor Fist in the 2021 Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

Florian Munteanu
Munteanu in 2020
Born (1990-10-13) 13 October 1990[1][2]
Würzburg, Germany[2]
NationalityGerman/Romanian
Other namesBig Nasty
Alma materHochschule Mittweida
OccupationActor
Years active2016–present
Height6 ft 4 in (193 cm)[3][4]

Early life

Munteanu was born in Germany to Romanian parents, who fled the Socialist Republic of Romania in 1985. His mother is a lawyer, while his father is a dermatologist and a former boxer.[6] Munteanu grew up in Bogen, and later moved to Munich to study at the university of applied science Hochschule Mittweida. In 2014 he defended his Bachelor of Arts thesis on the "Structure and organization of the sport of boxing in Germany: associations, boxing promotion companies, federations, management and marketing in general, with a comparison to the structures implemented in the USA".[7] He has competed in boxing in Germany under the ring name "Big Nasty" and previously showcased his modeling on Instagram, Snapchat, and OnlyFans before his first major movie.[3][5]

Acting career

Munteanu had his first film role in Bogat, a 2016 German-Romanian film shot in Munich.[2] His breakthrough in acting came in 2018, when Sylvester Stallone was looking for a European heavyweight boxer to play Viktor Drago, the son of Ivan Drago, in the sports drama sequel Creed II. Stallone found Munteanu through training videos on the Internet and personally promoted him for the role.[5] At that time Munteanu was 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) tall and weighed ca. 245 lb (111 kg), but had to shed ca. 20 lb (9.1 kg) for the role.[4]

Munteanu lives in Munich and Los Angeles, California. He was featured on the covers of Muscle & Fitness (October 2018) and Men's Health (December 2018).[2] Despite the fact that he was born and raised in Germany, Munteanu has always identified himself as Romanian and he is fluent in Romanian.[8]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Director Note
2016 Bogat Razvan Valentin Kruse Short film
2018 Creed II Viktor Drago Steven Caple Jr.
2021 Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Razor Fist Destin Daniel Cretton
2022 The Contractor Kauffman Tarik Saleh
Creed III Viktor Drago Michael B. Jordan Filming
Borderlands Krieg Eli Roth Post-production

References

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