In Night Patrol, an LAPD officer must put aside his differences with the area’s street gangs when he discovers a local police task force is harbouring a horrific secret that endangers the residents of the housing projects he grew up in.
Directed by Ryan Prows, the movie stars Jermaine Fowler, Justin Long, RJ Cyler, Freddie Gibbs, YG, Flying Lotus, Dermot Mulroney, Jon Oswald, Nicki Micheaux, and WWE Superstar—and current WWE World Heavyweight Champion—CM Punk.
Beyond his work as a professional wrestler, Punk counts plenty of impressive acting credits to his name, including Heels, Revival, and Zootopia 2. With Night Patrol, he gets to be a full-blown villain, portraying a corrupt cop and vampire as Deputy, a terrifying force to be reckoned with.
Punk, who is credited as Phil Brooks on Night Patrol, delivers a stellar performance in a movie that balances horror, badass action, and some very timely social issues. Like the best horror movies, it has something to say.
Earlier this month, we had the good fortune to sit down with the Best in the World to discuss his role in Night Patrol, how he went about bringing Deputy to life, the parallels between his acting and pro wrestling careers, and how fake blood differs from the real thing.
There are some light spoilers for the movie, but you can watch our interview in full with CM Punk in the player below.
CM Punk, Phil Brooks, how are you? It's such a pleasure to be able to speak to you today.
I'm good. Pleasure is all mine. How are you doing?
I'm doing great, thank you. Of all the projects I could have spoken to you about, I'm really glad it's Night Patrol because it's a great action movie with a very cool take on vampires on the one hand, but then on the other, it's got a lot to say about police corruption and racism. As an actor, how exciting is it for you to play a villain like this, but to also tackle some pretty heavy themes at the same time?
It's really exciting. You know, I'm a big horror movie fan. And a lot of it is because of the subject matter, but horror movies to me have also been the genre that filmmakers use to speak on social issues. Way back when George Romero made Night of the Living Dead, that is a social commentary. This movie is no different. And it's fun to be able to do an action horror movie because you like them. It's more meaningful when you're actually saying something with the movie. So yeah, getting to play a bad guy in this kind of movie was tremendous. It meant a lot to me. I took it very seriously, because there are a lot of underlying issues in this, and I think we did a masterful job of kind of asking the questions, 'Who's the real monster? Who's the real gang?'
I've always admired how you've used your platform to speak out against racism and for a lot of great support causes that you support. Being an actor in a project like this, what's the biggest challenge in terms of getting into the mindset of a character who stands against everything that you do as a person?
You know, I wish I could say it was hard, but it's not. It's actually quite easy. I think everybody has a less-than-desirable experience with a cop, whether it's being pulled over or harassed on the street. I know I've had multiple instances where it's just like, 'Man, I thought you were supposed to protect and serve. Why are you like this?' It was fun to be able to get to act that out. You get to be a little bit naughty, but it's all for the art, so to speak. It was easy to be able to be that rotten, nefarious, diabolical bad guy.
I know, like myself, you're a big Marvel Comics fan. Deputy as a character, I could see squaring off with someone like Blade, so in the later stages of this film, to get to play a larger-than-life kind of vampire villain, what did that side of things mean to you?
Absolutely. That's one of those where you're looking around like they're I would do this for free, but they're paying me. It's a win for me. It's just a lot of fun. There's something about villains that I think are...villains are more often, for lack of a better word, sexier than the good guys. The villains get to do fun stuff. The villain's got the better weapons, the better outfits. Cobra's cooler than G.I. Joe. This movie really turns that on its side and explores who the villains really are here.
Without getting too much into spoilers, in the final act, there is a really dark scene with you and some prisoners in a cage that culminates with a very bloody moment. What do you remember about that night on set and the process of shooting a scene like that?
I remember asking how far we can push it because it is a very dark scene. I do say a lot of questionable things that if you heard a real person in real life say, you'd be like, 'Huh?' Given where we are in the political climate of 2026 right now in the United States of America, I think this movie is gonna make people think.
And what better way to reach an audience than with a movie that can make people think?
Yeah.
In your other profession, you've worked with real blood, but to work with fake blood...I speak to a lot of actors who say it's a nightmare. It's sticky, and they can't stand it. But what was it like for you?
There's a in the moviem and maybe you want to throw a spoiler tag on here. When I get chewed on by Justin Long, I straight got waterboarded. We had a tube that was running up through my chest plate, and I was lying on my back. So when they hit that, I mean, it was straight in my mouth, straight up my nose, and I have to keep my eyes open because that's the scene. And I think any normal person would have just rolled over and gagged. And no, I was like, 'We're shooting it. We got one chance at this. We got to get it.' And then I spent 15 minutes on my hands and knees throwing up after that. It was exciting. Fake blood, though, very sticky. Sounds cool. I used to be the kid who would make fake blood in a bucket in my house with the KO syrup and the red food colouring. But when you're covered in it, and you're sitting in it for 16 hours, not fun.
As CM Punk, you're telling these amazing long-term stories, 52 weeks of the year, but as Phil Brooks in this film, does that help you when it comes to shaping a character like the one you play in Night Patrol? And does that feed back into your other profession, as well?
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, there are so many parallels with both jobs. There's tiny little minutiae that are different here and there. Obviously, with TV and movies, we can do multiple takes. The wrestling shows we do on a weekly basis are live, but that's a lot like theater. So, you can take from both and apply to both. For wrestling, I need to be bigger. I need to wrestle bigger so people in the cheap seats can see me. For TV and movie, this is it. So, I almost need to be more subtle, or it comes off like I'm overacting and being comedic. So, I can apply that to wrestling and vice versa. When the time's right, I can act bigger and sillier if need be on a movie set.
Talking of those big moments, there's a great scene with Deputy where he's like this unstoppable force just shrugging off gunfire. Are those action-heavy days on set a lot of fun for you, or is it actually pretty gruelling?
They're both. You just know that the final product is going to look cool. When the soundtrack is added and the VFX are added, it's going to look that much cooler. What a fun night that was. Freddie Gibbs and YG are pointing guns at me, I'm just walking them down. It's a very, very interesting moment and a lot of fun because it is very much an action movie underneath all the horror overtones.
For sure. Well, thank you so much for your time. CM Punk has long been my favourite wrestler, and I thought you were fantastic in this film, so it's been such a pleasure to speak to you about it as a fan of yours.
Appreciate the support, Josh.
NIGHT PATROL will be In Theaters on January 16, 2026.