THE DEADBOLT: Speaking of fathers, I know your dad is still around, but father figures play such a major role in the film. Did you have a major one in your life? Feel free to say your actual dad, of course.

SEAN: I love my dad to death but, as far as inspiration goes, I got to say my manager, Dino May. When I met him in LA, he gave me an amazing amount of guidance. Together, we've built my career. Now, I'm his number one client. He's my manager and he's my dog. He's also one of my best friends. He had thirteen years in the business and I was smart enough to go, "Hey, this guy knows the business better than I do. This is my first year. I'm gonna do what he says." It's because of that - his guidance and his business sense and my eagerness to work and my perseverance and the little bit of talent that I came with - that my career is where it is today.

THE DEADBOLT: Do you guys sit down and discuss specific career plans like where you want to be in five, ten, or twenty years, or do you just take it as it comes?

SEAN: We don't specifically make it a point to discuss these things but we know where we want to be. In a couple years, we want 'this.' My manager was with me and I was buying a Jeep and he was laughing, "Today's a Jeep, tomorrow's a Porsche." And now I drive a Cadillac; I ain't complaining. We are geared toward a future. My manager's getting into producing and he's my producing partner. We're producing a film called The Glass Eye. We do discuss future plans but not specifically where we want to be in five years. It's more like, "In five years, you'll be calling me from your mansion saying, 'This one's not big enough, you can have it.'" [laughs]

THE DEADBOLT: Along the same lines, is there anyone whose career trajectory you look at and say, "This is what I want"?

SEAN: In the past, I always loved what Kevin Bacon did. He's done more movies than anybody in the business and he stays under the radar. Nowadays, I see my path... I would like it to be kind of like what Phillip Seymour Hoffman did. He had kind of been around for a bit and then he got a great role and he just went for it. And now he's just gone from one great role to the next. That's what I'm kind of hoping Never Back Down is for me. This is my chance to really come in and say, "Here I am, now let me go show you I can act and do some great roles in arthouse and independent films."

THE DEADBOLT: I think a lot of people in your situation might be looking for the big bucks.

SEAN: Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise, I don't want their lives.

THE DEADBOLT: How is Jake different from you and what was the most challenging part of the character for you?

SEAN: The fact that he lost his father and that he was with him when he died and that he tried to stop him [from driving drunk]. That is pretty serious. I haven't had to go through anything like that. I haven't had to lose a parent. I've never been in a situation where someone died, much less been able to possibly stop it. It was challenging to figure out where his head would be.

THE DEADBOLT: So, how do you do that? What do you draw on for the emotions in those scenes?

SEAN: I think about how I would feel or what I think I would feel if my dad was the one driving and I didn't take the keys from him. You have to relate it to yourself personally. I don't think about MY dad being dead or pull that up because I get involved with my character to the point when I think about my father, I'm thinking about Jake's father, the guy I shot those scenes with. I don't want to bring my life completely into the character. I want to play the character and bring certain things that are a part of the character's personality that will make it mine. I want to bring the character into my life. I really try to embody the character's life as much as possible.

THE DEADBOLT: I know we've dismissed some of the message board posters, but there's a common misconception that I think it would do us good to dismiss - what would you say to the people who are already claiming that Never Back Down advocates violence?

SEAN: If you watch the movie, it's clear that it doesn't advocate violence. The whole point of the movie is that you only fight when you have to and only for the right reasons. It does not in ANY way advocate violence. All the lessons learned from Jean Roqua are that you don't fight outside the gym. Competition fighting is a sport - 34 states have approved it as a sport. It's a sport made up of four different Olympic sports combined. Any MMA fighter is going to beat up any person that's only a Karate or a Muay Thai guy. That's how it has evolved. But in day to day life, the whole point of it is that this kid was fighting full of anger and rage and that's where he starts. Where he finishes is - "I don't want to fight you. I can fight you. I can beat you. But I don't want to. I don't need to. I'm only going to fight to protect myself, to protect my family, to protect those I love. That's the only reason to fight."

THE DEADBOLT: You were a part of two acclaimed shows - Life As We Know It and Reunion - that many people feel were canceled before they had a chance to find an audience. Do you feel burned by your TV experience?

SEAN: Not at all, I'm grateful for it. I'm not in TV anymore, I do film and that's what I always wanted to do. TV gave me a platform to have a film career. Now I get offered TV shows all the time and I turn them down because I only want to do film. I do wonder what would have happened with Life As We Know It. It was a great show that was highly critically acclaimed. ABC just didn't know what to do with it. At the time I felt burned by it but I had to pick myself up and do it again. Also, I would still be living in Vancouver if that was running. I like Vancouver, but it's hard to be in a semi-permanent reality - not knowing if you're going to get canceled today, tomorrow, next month, next year. You feel very displaced. With film, it's a three-month shoot and I'm home. I know where I stand. It's so hard to live in that world of "I don't know if we're going to be working in six months. I don't know if I'm staying here for a year of five years." I hated that feeling.

THE DEADBOLT: You know that Never Back Down is going to appeal to a lot of teens and could inspire some to become interested in making or appearing in movies. What were the movies that you saw at a young age that inspired you to do what you do?

SEAN: True Romance, loved it. Braveheart, loved it. Top Gun, loved it!!

THE DEADBOLT: So those kids looking at this movie like you looked at Top Gun, saying 'that's what I want to do,' what's your advice for them?

SEAN: Hard work. Perseverance. Pick yourself up and keep going. Never stop, never give up, and never back down.

Never Back Down opens nationwide on March 14th.