Men's Health May 1, 2026 0 Comments

How Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Transformed from Reluctant Actor to Unstoppable Action Force — The Unexpected Journey Revealed!

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II hitting the action scene might seem like a plot twist straight out of a blockbuster—but turns out, this towering 6-foot-3 talent never really saw himself as an action star. Yet, here he is, seamlessly kicking ass in Michael Bay’s high-octane Ambulance, embodying villains in James Wan’s Aquaman saga, and starring in superhero sagas like Watchmen and Wonder Man. What’s the secret sauce behind this unexpected shift? Is it sheer charisma, athletic roots, or a newfound love for the adrenaline rush? With a Yale Drama degree in one hand and a pistol in the other, Abdul-Mateen is redefining what it means to be ‘capable’ on screen—balancing raw physicality with soul-deep storytelling. Curious to know how he navigates the legacy of icons like Denzel Washington while forging his own path in Man on Fire? Let’s dive into this unexpected journey of grit, grace, and gunpowder. LEARN MORE

8 min read

YAHYA ABDUL-MATEEN II never thought of himself as an action star. The 39-year-old actor has spent lots of time in the ass-kicking space, however, starring in Michael Bay’s 2022 heart-pounder Ambulance, playing the villain in James Wan’s two Aquaman films, and even taking on two action-adjacent superhero shows in Watchmen and Wonder Man. With the combination of a 6-foot-3 frame and background as an athlete (he was both a basketball player and ran track) and a brand of can’t-look-away charisma that can’t really be taught, he’s a natural fit to pick up a gun, punch someone in the face, and run across the frame like he’s Tom Cruise.

It’s somewhere he’s already spent a lot of time—and not anywhere he ever expected to be.

“I never really saw myself as an action guy, but now that I’m doing it, I dig it,” he tells Men’s Health over Zoom. He’s wearing a black button-down shirt and has a clean goatee wrapped around the big smile on his face. “If I can get to do it in the way that I’m doing it—which means I surround myself with the best of the best in terms of making sure I’m physically prepared, and then there’s some heart and soul behind the why of why I’m getting busy—I can get down with that.”

Courtesy of Netflix//Netflix

Abdul-Mateen’s combination of physicality, classically-trained acting skills (he’s got a Master’s degree from the Yale School of Drama), and pure charisma isn’t far off from the combination that once helped Denzel Washington—another classically trained actor who eventually became a mainstay in the world of action—establish himself in the same space.

Abdul-Mateen’s latest project (of which he’s both the star and an executive producer), Man on Fire, is one that will be familiar to anyone who’s followed action movies, or Washington’s career. Abdul-Mateen takes over the lead role of John Creasy in the Netflix series adaptation of the same A. J. Quinnell-penned novelthat spawned big screen adaptations in 1987 (starring Scott Glenn) and 2004 (directed by Tony Scott and starring Washington). Creasy is a down-and-out-but-still-extremely-capable special ops master who takes a job that leads him to eventually find purpose amidst tragedy.

That scenario, for Abdul-Mateen, makes this a perfect story to bridge his skills as both a badass fighter, and a dramatic lead who can ground a story with just a few expressions on his face.

“I want to look like I’m capable, and that’s the bar for me. I just want to be capable,” he says. “I didn’t think about this story in terms of the action, because all the action is a means to an end because of the high degree of emotion that’s going on. Creasy happens to be this man who has all of these combat skills, but we’re never supposed to see them.”

Netflix

With Man on Fire’s entire first season now streaming on Netflix, Men’s Health spoke to Abdul-Mateen about his action-star prowess, following in Washington’s footsteps, and what he learned from starring in a Michael Bay action extravaganza.

MEN’S HEALTH: I want to start by putting you on the spot a little bit.

YAHYA ABDUL-MATEEN II: Uh-oh.

MH: What’s your favorite action movie of all time?

YAM II: [Thinking] …Is Tropic Thunder action? [Laughs]

MH: I’ll give you Tropic Thunder, for sure.

YAM II: There we go.

MH: When you’re in the process of preparing for a role like Man on Fire—whether you’re in the gym or learning some new skills—do you ever start to get excited about your progress, and feel like, yeah this is really going to pay off and be worth it?

YAM II: I think for me and my personality, that would be a little too close to thinking about the end. I’m always, always, always surprised at what we have done. That’s because, mentally, I’m always right there in the moment. I have a high degree of respect for the teams that come together to make us look good. They really downplay their own abilities in order to make us look extraordinary. I put all of my focus into being dedicated, to be able to take care of my body, and to be able to tell these physical movement stories. Then, I like to step back and be surprised at what we get in the end. There’s a moment in the first episode where Creasy has this drunk fight. That was one of my favorite moments of the show, because I got to really blend the emotions and stakes of Creasy’s inner fight with the reality of two people trying to mug me for my wallet. You know what I mean? It’s a rare opportunity that you get to blend those true acting moments with a gritty fight like that. That’s one of the things that makes this show special—we try to combine them both at all times.

MH: Gritty is a perfect word. We see a lot of perfectly-choreographed, John Wick-style action sequences these days, and when Creasy is drunkenly fighting, it’s very distinctly not that. How do you approach a fight sequence that’s deliberately a little sloppy?

YAM II: [Laughs] Those are character decisions, and that’s about the same as What is the story I want to tell? Everything comes down to the story. So, I said, “I don’t want to play a guy who’s gonna be perfect. I want to play a guy who’s like, Look at me. I’m drunk. I don’t believe in myself. So, I need someone else to start the fire.” So, let’s let him take a couple hits, so he can wake himself up. Maybe Creasy needs to get into a fight. This is a guy who wants to feel something in order to be reminded of who he is. So, there’s storytelling in all the movements, hopefully, and in that particular one, there was the story of a guy who needed to feel something. Who needed to get hit so he could feel alive, so that he could then prove he’s alive, and that he’s still capable. I look at everything through the lens of storytelling, and that makes it all the more compelling on the screen.

Netflix

MH: As both a producer and the star of the show, how did you engage with the previous versions of this story? Obviously there’s the Denzel Washington/Tony Scott movie that everyone remembers, but there’s also the books and the Scott Glenn film as well.

YAM II: It would be wise to engage with it closely enough to what worked well. Closely enough to know what the audience liked and loved about those projects, and you take a bit of healthy information gathering. And then you assess it, and you say, well, you know, do we think those qualities can and should exist in our show? If the answer is yes, and if we can do it without burdening ourselves, then you go ahead and you do it. You take the good, and the good [from the 2004 Man on Fire film] happened to be the elements of heart. The elements of soul, and having a gritty filmmaking style. That’s what people loved.

Then, as an actor, I said, OK, there’s this huge ghost in the room, of this monumental, herculean performance by Denzel Washington. And I do myself no favors by putting myself in a comparison. So, I do the same thing. I said, well, what did I love about that performance? I loved the heart and soul. OK, well, cool. That would be useful for myself, and then the rest, I put it to the side, with respect, and then I step into this and I make it mine. Because at the end of the day, I know I’m going to be the one sitting in a chair, talking to yourself about this show. So, I have to rely on what it actually is and was that made me excited about it. And ultimately that was the chance to tell this story about this guy who was way in over his head, who still had to find a way to survive.

MH: There are some things that happen in the first episode that make it clear this story is pretty different from the one in the movie.

YAM II: I think very, very soon, they’ll find out they’ve come along for a different ride. That’s cool. I think the strength of the IP, the strength of Denzel’s performance, the strength of the reputation of the history of Man on Fire, will bring a lot of people in. We knew we could never rest on that, and it was never our goal to make something that rests completely on the reputation of the past. There’s an opportunity to tell the story in the way we see it today, and hopefully the people who come for that will find a bit of what they’re looking for, but also be pleasantly surprised when they see what it is we have to offer.

Susana Gonzalez//Getty Images

MH: I would be remiss if I was talking to you and didn’t ask about your role in The Adventures of Cliff Booth—if that’s the official title.

YAM II: [Smiling] Uh-huh.

MH: What was it like working with David Fincher, Quentin Tarantino, and Brad Pitt?

YAM II: [Still smiling] Yeah, yeah. Unfortunately, that’s not one I can get into at the moment, but when I do have the opportunity to talk about that, that’s one I’ll be very, very excited to share more about.

MH: Okay, I kind of figured. I have another I bet you can get into.

YAM II: [Laughing] Come on, bring it!

MH: You have a history with these sorts of action projects. One of my favorites is Ambulance, because I just love the tempo and speed of it. How did working with Michael Bay on that prepare you for something like this?

YAM II: What I learned from Michael is that it really helps when you love your job. He loves his job. What I enjoyed most about working with Michael is watching someone at the top of their game still show up to work with energy and with passion. And, also, when there’s a will, there’s a way. So, I approach everything with that spirit. I’ve learnedto approach everything with that spirit, because I’ve seen it done. That was an excellent example. He has a very contagious energy on set, and, when there’s a will, there’s a way. There’s so many ways to get filmmaking done, and tell these stories, and it helps to be passionate and to love what you do.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Watch Man on Fire Here

Evan is the culture editor for Men’s Health, with bylines in The New York Times, MTV News, Brooklyn Magazine, and VICE. He loves weird movies, watches too much TV, and listens to music more often than he doesn’t.