Exclusive: ‘Arrow’ Star Caity Lotz Talks New Martial Arts Movie ‘The Lockdown’

"Watch out for my shins!" Actress Caity Lotz makes the walk to the kickboxing ring in 'The Lockdown'.

Photos courtesy of Tiger Style Media

Caity Lotz rekindled her first love of martial arts in her newest movie.

Preview ‘Art of Eight Limbs’ & ‘The Lockdown’ Martial Arts Double Feature

The Lockdown

Known for past roles like White Canary in DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Arrow, and many more, Lotz landed the lead role in Tiger Style Media's The Lockdown - a new martial arts film, which releases to digital Aug. 27 and in select theaters Aug. 16.

Directed by Ryan Jaeger (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood,The Hateful Eight), the R-rated film takes place from inside a Myanmar prison. Brother and sister are locked up for a crime they didn't commit, and their only means of escape is a rather deadly gauntlet of fights in the kickboxing ring, all televised for entertainment, with the victors walking free and the losers leaving in body bags.

Leo Howard (L), Caity Lotz (R) in The Lockdown (2024) / Tiger Style Media

Lotz Has Lots Of Love For Martial Arts, Training Muay Thai In Thailand

Lotz stars as Charlie Hightower in The Lockdown alongside Jack, played by Leo Howard (Kickin' It, G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra) with both on-screen siblings coming from extensive martial arts backgrounds.

"I was excited. I love martial arts, and I always wanna do more action stuff," Lotz told MMA Knockout about getting the call to star in The Lockdown. "I kind of got my start with dance and and then doing stunts. So, it's part of my first love."

"When they called me about it and I met with Shannon [McIntosh] the producer and Ryan [Jaeger], the director, and they were just so awesome. They're like, 'Do you wanna work and shoot in Thailand?' I was like, 'Yes'. And a Muay Thai movie in Thailand? Like, do we get to go train? That's been one of my dreams is to go to Thailand and train Muay Thai and pretend I'm like that bad***, but they're pretty hardcore out there... I was like, oh, 'Watch out for my shins!'"

The Lockdown (2024). / Tiger Style Media

Fight Choreography From The Ring

Having a wealth of experience in Filipino martial arts such as Kali and others, Lotz says she had done "a little Muay Thai" before ultimately diving back into the discipline to help prepare for the movie that would see her pull off incredible stunts and fight scenes in The Lockdown, both inside and out of the ring.

"It was different. I've never done ring fights. So, that's a whole different type of choreography," Lotz said of her experience filming. "Which, it was interesting and nice because also in Thailand, the stunt people there are hardcore. Like, they're like, 'Just hit me, just do it...' Like, there it's less of like the pretend and more where we're like... because when you're in the ring, you at least have some, like, gloves and stuff. You're getting hit, and you're hitting. It makes it look better."

"Great fights and know everything you're seeing is practical. Like, no wires, no tricks, no nothing.
We did everything. No stunt doubles. It's a little it's more realistic than any of the other fights and stuff that I've done."

Caity Lotz in The Lockdown (2024). / Tiger Style Media

"It's About The Fights.."

Looking up to beloved martial arts greats from the past in Bruce Lee, Jean Claude Van Damme, and Jackie Chan, Lotz looks to "satiate that appetite" in The Lockdown, one of four films by Tiger Style Media releasing this month, ushering in a new era of martial arts cinema in 2024.

"I think this whole slate of of films that they're doing is so cool because you really don't get that," Lotz said of the combat sports appeal behind The Lockdown. "When I was growing up watching Bloodsport and like, all of these martial arts films where you have these actors who are legit martial artists and you're getting to watch amazing fights, and it's about the fights."

Caity Lotz in The Lockdown (2024). / Tiger Style Media

"That's what we're here for, and I feel like that's been neglected," the actress added. "We haven't really been getting that, so it gets to kinda satiate that appetite, I think, for those kind of martial arts films."

Watch Caity Lotz lace up the gloves and fight for her freedom in The Lockdown, now available on digital.

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