If you thought The Night Agent‘s Gabriel Basso was a force to be reckoned with on screen, it turns out he is so tough he even spooked an MMA legend. Yeah, the dorky kid from Super 8 with the glasses. That guy. In a genre that relies on trick photography, quick edits, digital face-swaps, and countless expendable stuntpeople, there are those A-list performers that feel a twinge of embarrassment at faking it.

He’s put everything he’s learned into his short time on The Night Agent. But it’s the action sequences that bring out his neurotic side. Performers don’t just memorize the scene’s blocking, stage cues, and dialogue, but also have to convincingly sell a phony gut punch — something they evidently failed to cover in his early days as a child actor on the set of Nickelodeon’s iCarly. Pushing his body to further extremes all for the sake of building a better cinematic beatdown, he’s building a cult following of fans, some of whom didn’t even know he was an actor.

The Stunt-Double Dilemma

As the reliance on CGI to sell a scene gives way to realism and intricate fight choreography (sans that god-awful shaky cam), the next generation of action protagonists are already emerging, eager to demonstrate they are no dilettantes. This is a long way from his start on Nickelodeon’s iCarly, in which he played Fake Freddie, for Basso. He views the action genre as a balancing act, needing to protect the stars at the cost of losing the intensity of the performance, literally pulling punches at the detriment of the overall realism.

Basso is quick to credit the need for stunt doubles. “I just care about what we’re hiding from the audience,” he told Time, preparing for Season 2 of his Netflix hit. “I call it death by a thousand cuts. If we’re constantly hiding something, at some point, the audience is going to not care, and they’re going to be like, ‘OK, I’m not being shown things.’ The less I have to lie about what’s happening, the less I have to act.” Which perhaps explains his comfort on the canvas, where he can focus his whole mind without trying to convince anyone he’s for real. Punches talk for themselves.

Gabriel Basso and Luciane Buchanan dish on their gritty new Netflix series and what special preparations went into nailing their roles.

“You’re Gonna Kill a Guy”

Taking the whole method acting thing seriously, he is by far the most terrifying actor pound for pound currently working. Don’t take our word for it, just listen to Bas Rutten, aka “The King of the Liver Shot.” The retired martial artist describes the actor not merely as a natural fighter or power puncher, but as a “freak.” After observing him spar one time, Rutten recounted on a 2023 episode of The Joe Rogan Podcast that he felt it necessary to warn Basso not to underestimate his abilities and throw hands with any random drunk at a nightclub or bar who challenges him:

“I said, ‘If you get into a street fight, do not hit the person in the head. You’re gonna kill a guy.’ I mean, that’s how hard he hits.”

When a UFC legend is fawning at his striking and technical proficiency, you know the guy is legit. In an era when our standards for action heroes are being elevated continuously thanks to Tom Cruise and Keanu Reeves training incessantly, Basso has jumped at the chance to show off too. According to Rutten, one of the most storied brawlers in MMA history, the actor’s abnormally strong, and masters techniques faster than many pros.

Gun fu has been honed precisely as the superhero film stagnated into a predictable blur of super weapons, multiverses, and self-aware quips.

the Hobby Too Far?

Before you think this is just Rutten promoting his friend’s breakout TV show and flattering his favorite student, Basso actually has sought out real challenges to test his mettle in the ring. True to the hype, there is footage of the former child actor pummeling a previously-unbeaten kick boxer in competition, accepting the fight with no prep and no prior amateur experience. From the footage, he barely broke a sweat. Rutten was shocked, not fully comprehending the skill set and hitting power that Basso unleashed.

Are we saying he could knock out George St. Pierre, Anderson SIlva, or other UFC Hall of Famers in his weight class? Absolutely not. But for an actor, he’s easily on par with old-school bruisers like Van Damme and Mickey Rourke, and certainly deserves larger roles outside the octagon. Let’s hope Basso doesn’t get too carried away. We like his face the way it looks now. No offense, Mickey.