Favreau Finds Rocky Marciano Role A Knockout

Actors don't have to worry about their physiques for lots of jobs.

The title role in "Rocky Marciano" is not one of them.

Jon Favreau can vouch for that, since he plays the undefeated heavyweight champ in an involving new Showtime movie at 8 p.m. Saturday. Told largely in flashback, the film traces Marciano's path from amateur to professional boxer under the guidance of mob-connected managers (Judd Hirsch, Tony Lo Bianco).

Also getting attention are Marciano's relationships with his wife (Penelope Ann Miller) and immigrant father (George C. Scott), but much of the script - co-written by director Charles Winkler - finds the fighter wearing his gloves in front of a punching bag or a retaliating opponent. That could only translate into a rigorous shoot for Favreau.

"It was tough," the actor admits. "Since we had a limited budget, we had to shoot all the boxing scenes over the course of a week-and-a-half. It took a month to make the whole movie, which put it on par with independent films I've done (including the 1996 hit `Swingers,' which Favreau also wrote). There wasn't a lot of time for me to recover between shots, so I pretty much had to keep going 12 to 14 hours straight with the boxing."

Favreau was relatively prepared, since he had trained for "Rocky Marciano" for six months before the cameras actually started rolling. "I did weight training, boxing training and stunt training, and I studied Marciano's particular style. You worry so much about whether you're going to get the part that once you do, you hit the ground running. You don't want to squander the opportunity you've been given."

That held true for Favreau even when the production schedule was pushed back several times. "It was very frustrating to have to wait for a month, then for another month," he reflects, "but at least I had an outlet through the training. That allowed me to get better and better each time the filming got delayed, and all that training became the inroad to my understanding of the character.

"Because he was small and awkward and a late-starter, Marciano has to compensate for all of his shortcomings by just out-training his opponents. As a result, he never lost." For all the work he did in the ring, Favreau emerged generally unhurt, and he credits that to fight-scene coordinator Jimmy Nickerson: "He kept it safe on the set. Because there are certain punches you can't fake, you can't help but get bruised, but it's not bad to get whacked around a little. It brings you into the reality of what you're playing."

After scoring on the independent-film circuit with "Swingers," Favreau surprised many people with a multiple-episode stint as Monica's (Courteney Cox) wealthy suitor on NBC's "Friends." He says, "I have to admit that when they called and asked, `How would you like to play the boyfriend of one of the sexiest people in Hollywood?,' I felt a childish sense of excitement." Since then, Favreau has appeared in such features as "Deep Impact" and "Very Bad Things," and he's made a UPN series pilot called "Smog."

"Rocky Marciano" is part of an all-boxing night on Showtime that also includes an actual boxing card and the classic fight films "Rocky" and "Raging Bull." That immediately invites comparison, and Favreau acknowledges, "It's a big responsibility, but it's also kind of a dream to be lumped in with those wonderful pieces of work."