Interview: Fightland Cast Reveals Why STARZ's New Boxing Drama Is More Than Just the Fights

When most people hear the words boxing drama, they probably picture championship belts, training montages, and plenty of punches flying. Fightland certainly delivers on all of that, but after sitting down with the cast ahead of the series premiere, one thing became impossible to ignore: this show has far more on its mind than who wins the next fight.

Yes, there are knockout moments inside the ring. But outside of it? That's where the real battles begin.

Family loyalty gets tested. Revenge clouds judgment. Power changes people. And nearly every character is carrying enough emotional baggage to fill the locker room. Whew. If you're looking for straightforward heroes and villains, Fightland might not be your show. If you're looking for layered characters who constantly make you question whose side you're actually on? Now we're talking.

That complexity is exactly what drew Howard Charles to the role of Maduka "Duke" Kilroy. At first glance, Duke looks like the guy everyone should probably be afraid of. He's angry, determined and fueled by revenge after losing everything in a single devastating night. But Charles saw something much different when he first read the scripts. Rather than focusing on Duke's violence, he connected with the pain underneath it all. Charles explained that while Duke may appear reckless on the surface, he never viewed him as a monster. Instead, he saw someone drowning in grief, guilt and heartbreak who still has an enormous capacity to love even if he doesn't quite know what to do with those feelings anymore.

That's what makes Duke interesting. He isn't chasing revenge simply because revenge sounds good. It's become his purpose. The thing keeping him moving. The problem, of course, is that purpose has a habit of consuming people, and Charles hinted that viewers will see Duke wrestling with exactly that throughout the season. There's another question hanging over his journey, too: after losing his career, his freedom and the people he loves, is there actually a road back?

Those are the kinds of questions that elevate Fightland above your typical crime drama. And yes, before anyone asks, Charles absolutely put in the work physically. Despite having only about two weeks to prepare before filming began, he trained with boxing coach Marcus Luther, added roughly 15 pounds to transform into a believable heavyweight champion and even continued boxing after production wrapped because he enjoyed it so much. Not us finding out Duke walked off set with an even better left hook than when filming started.

Of course, every great hero or antihero needs someone standing in the opposite corner. Enter Nicholas Pinnock's Kingsley Marshall. Now this man... good luck trying to figure him out after one episode. Kingsley presents himself as a polished boxing promoter, but the deeper viewers get into the series, the more obvious it becomes that appearances can be incredibly deceiving. Pinnock admitted that unpredictability was exactly what attracted him to the role because every time audiences think they've figured Kingsley out, he shifts the playing field. He's manipulative. He's calculating. And somehow, he's still fascinating to watch.

When asked whether Kingsley genuinely loves his family or simply loves controlling them, Pinnock didn't hesitate. In his mind, power comes first. Love exists but largely when it's convenient for Kingsley. That's... not exactly winning Father of the Year anytime soon. Even more interesting was Pinnock's take on Kingsley's relationship with Duke.

Without giving away spoilers, he hinted that Kingsley may actually admire Duke more than his own children, adding another fascinating wrinkle to an already complicated family dynamic. It's the kind of revelation that instantly makes you want to go back and rewatch every interaction between the two once you know where the story is headed.

Fightland_Left to Right: Tyler Conti (“Justin ‘Jay’ Hall”) and Howard Charles (“Maduka ‘Duke’ Kilroy”)

Speaking of complicated family dynamics, nobody seems to have it easy inside the Marshall household. Anita-Joy Uwajeh and Charles Babalola bring siblings Cece and Zeke Marshall to life, and while these two clearly care about each other, they're also navigating the impossible task of trying to earn approval from a father who never seems satisfied.

Uwajeh immediately connected with Cece's confidence, describing her as exciting, fearless and someone whose energy practically jumped off the page during the audition process. She already had a vision for how she wanted to play the character, and once she started exploring Cece's personality, there was no turning back. For Babalola, it was Zeke's emotional depth that stood out.

He explained that Zeke could have easily become a one-note character in less capable hands. Instead, he saw someone shaped by years of trauma, pain and complicated family expectations. That emotional foundation became the key to understanding why Zeke makes many of the choices viewers will see throughout the season.

The sibling chemistry between the pair feels completely natural, and honestly, some of the funniest moments during our conversation came when we asked the all-important question: Who is Kingsley's favorite child? Neither actor seemed overly confident it was Zeke. Poor guy.

"Justice for Zeke" quickly became the running joke, while Uwajeh suggested Kingsley probably appreciates many of Cece's qualities, he just struggles to fully embrace them because she isn't the son he envisioned leading the family legacy. It's an answer that says just as much about Kingsley as it does about either of his children.

One thing that also stood out during our conversations was how much respect the cast has for the work that went into making the action feel authentic. Sure, the fights look impressive, but nobody treated them like the main attraction. For everyone we spoke with, the physical side of Fightland only works because the emotional stakes are just as high.

That was especially true for Tyler Conti and Tahirah Sharif, who play Jay Hall and Kim Harper.

Sharif immediately gravitated toward Kim because she isn't your typical action heroine. Yes, she's tough. Yes, she's more than capable of handling herself. But underneath that confidence is someone with real vulnerability, and that's the balance Sharif was most excited to explore. She described the scripts as fast-paced and emotionally rich, saying every principal character has moments that reveal who they really are beneath the surface.

Kim also gets to throw down a little, which, judging by Sharif's smile, she clearly wasn't mad about. She compared filming the fight scenes to learning choreography, explaining that every punch, movement and reaction has to be rehearsed repeatedly before cameras even start rolling. Then, once filming begins, it's the same sequence over and over from different camera angles until everyone gets exactly what they need. Sounds exhausting? Absolutely. Worth it? She definitely thinks so.

Conti, meanwhile, may have had one of the most relatable reactions to his character.

Jay quickly finds himself caught in situations he definitely didn't plan for, and Conti laughed about how his character spends much of the story essentially wondering, "Wait...what did I just get myself into?" What drew Conti to the role wasn't the action, though. It was the honesty. He talked about how every character in Fightland feels grounded, even when the stakes become larger than life. Nobody exists simply to move the plot forward. Every decision comes from a place that feels real, and that's exactly the kind of material actors hope to find.

Fightland_Left to Right: Nicholas Pinnock (“Kingsley Marshall”) and Howard Charles (“Maduka ‘Duke’ Kilroy”)

Then there's Richard Pepple, who brings Gary "Gazzer" Kilroy to life. While many of the show's characters are driven by power, ambition or revenge, Pepple views Gazzer through a much more emotional lens. What hooked him wasn't the crime or the conflict, it was the fractured relationship between a father and his son. He explained that those complicated emotions gave him plenty to work with as an actor because everyone understands what it's like to carry regrets or wish they could repair something left broken. Gazzer may not always make the right decisions, but his motivations come from a deeply personal place.

That perspective also shapes how he views the rivalry between the Kilroys and the Marshalls. Pepple believes the two families couldn't be more different. In his eyes, Gazzer's family is built on love and ambition, while the Marshalls are fueled by power, money and control. It's an interesting distinction because, from the outside, both families appear willing to do almost anything to protect what's theirs. Once you dig deeper, though, their reasons couldn't be more different.

Another detail we loved? Pepple spoke about spending time in real boxing gyms while preparing for the role, even though Gazzer isn't the one stepping into the ring. He wanted to understand the culture surrounding the sport—the camaraderie, the mentorship and the role gyms often play within a community. That kind of preparation may not jump off the screen immediately, but it adds another layer of authenticity to every scene.

It's easy to make a series full of action. It's much harder to make audiences care about the people throwing those punches. Based on what the cast shared and the passion they all have for these characters, it feels like Fightland is aiming to do exactly that.

Howard Charles wants viewers to understand the man hiding beneath Duke's rage. Nicholas Pinnock promises a villain who refuses to stay in one box. Anita-Joy Uwajeh and Charles Babalola tease a family dynamic that's as heartbreaking as it is complicated. Tyler Conti and Tahirah Sharif remind us that authenticity matters just as much as adrenaline. Richard Pepple brings heart to a story filled with vengeance.

Put all of that together, and you've got a series that looks ready to deliver more than big fight scenes. The gloves may come off inside the ring, but it's the emotional punches outside of it that might leave the biggest mark.

The cast lit up in this interview and you can see how proud they are of the series.

Check out our full interview below: