By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

WWE star Dean Ambrose (Jonathan Good) says the lead role in WWE Studios's "12 Rounds" movie fell into his lap and caught him off-guard. But, he feels like he put in enough time, work, and research to make the latest WWE Studios project a worthwhile movie.

"I wanted to be the best possible performance in an action movie you can ask for. I wanted it to be better than a John Cena movie. I wanted it to be better than a Randy Orton movie. I wanted this to be better than a Miz movie. I wanted this to be the best WWE film there has ever been. I think with director Stephen Reynolds, who created a cool atmosphere in turning this building predominantly used in the movie into a character all itself," Good told Scott Fishman for Channel Guide Magazine.

Although Good says his WWE character is not much different than his real-life persona, he had to go back to Jonathan Good to build the lead character of Detective John Shaw.

“I didn’t want it to be Dean Ambrose, who plays the cop. I wanted to fully become this character. It’s a much different personality and character than myself. It’s not the guy you see on WWE TV, which is essentially me. That’s the funny part. In WWE, I’m not acting. I just kind of go out there and am myself. Sometimes with sports entertainment you are somewhat over-the-top. In this, I’m a bit serious as a detective. There is a lot of acting involved. There was a challenge to learn how to do it," Ambrose told Fishman.

The biggest change Good experienced was internalizing the emotions of Detective Shaw, in contrast to having to emote for WWE TV.

“If I have a microphone in my face, I’m just going to let my mouth run with whatever I feel or comes out. Like walking to the ring and having a bad day, I’m going to be out there scowling in a bad mood. Whatever legitimate emotions, I’m going to portray it. Whatever comes to mind or whatever ridiculous thing pops in my head, I will do. Shaw is a lot more calculating. He has much more of a poker face than Dean Ambrose," Good told Fishman.

“The bad guys don’t quite know him because he has this poker face about him. He has to be in dangerous situations and has this evidence that if other people know he has, they will kill him. He is a detective, so he has this edge to him. A lot of his character is internalized, which was a challenge because in pro wrestling it’s very expressive. There are a lot of pieces to this guy that I really wanted to become him.”

Good added to USA Today in a separate interview: "I didn’t want it to be ‘Dean Ambrose plays a cop’ and it’s exactly the person you see on WWE television but with a cop uniform on or a cheesy movie like that. I wanted to do a good, proper job. I want you to forget that I’m the guy on your TV every Monday night and buy into this … pretty straight-laced, no-nonsense detective who internalizes a lot of stuff."

"12 Rounds" is due out in limited theatrical release and video on-demand this weekend. He offered a final sales pitch in the USA Today interview.

“You expect to see John Cena in a movie, a superhero like that. Even if they’re WWE fans, that might not be enough to see John Cena in a movie. But it’s so different with me being the complete exact opposite of him. That might be a more interesting allure to make you want to click on iTunes and buy it," Ambrose said.

[ LINKS: Full Interviews with Fishman HERE and Brian Truitt for USA Today HERE ]

[Torch art credit Travis Beaven (c) PWTorch.com]

We suggest these recent related articles...

WWE NEWS: Superstars SPOILERS - Results from Chicago Raw

WWE NETWORK: Monday, Oct. 12 Schedule - Raw pre-show, Sting DVD preview

WWE NEWS: Lana & Rusev reportedly engaged - follow the interesting 2015 timeline