'Love Hurts': Former Seahawk Marshawn Lynch steps further onto the big screen

Watching the recently released trailer for "Love Hurts," it won't take long for Seattleites to gasp, press pause, and ask, "Is that Marshawn Lynch?!"

Yes. It is. Lynch will be on the big screen alongside Ke Huy Quan in February 2025 (just in time for Valentine's Day). It marks yet another step into Hollywood for the former Seahawk, with more films to come.

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The trailer for "Love Hurts", released this week, features Lynch, whose acting chops appear to have evolved quite well since his "Stop freakin, call Beacon" days. In the trailer, Lynch goes Beast Mode on Ke Huy Quan in the middle of a kitchen. There are lots of sharp things around.

Quan leads the film as realtor Marvin Gable, whose face is plastered on billboards across Milwaukee's suburbs. He's a real estate success, but this mild-mannered persona covers a violent history in a criminal underworld. Gable has run and hidden from that history (which makes you wonder why his face is on all those billboards), but his cover is blown and he is thrown back into the mix. Behind everything is his evil brother and crime lord Knuckles (Daniel Wu) who is not happy with him. And if that wasn't enough, Gable must mend fences with Rose (Oscar winner Ariana DeBose), his former partner who he left for dead — she also isn't too keen on Gable these days. Lynch appears as a hitman on his trail.

It adds up to an action/comedy that production company 87North says is accompanied by a "killer soundtrack." And that soundtrack better include some version, or versions, of the song "Love Hurts." Otherwise, what's the point?! Obviously, the Nazareth rendition or Joan Jett's version are apt for a film like this, but they could get away with the original Everly Brothers' song. Personally, you can't go wrong with Roy Orbison's "Love Hurts." There are a couple cowboy hats in the trailer, so perhaps we'll get the Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons duo. For the love of God, please don't play Incubus in the film. But I digress.

While this is perhaps Lynch's first blockbuster-level film, it is not his first time on screen. Aside from Seattle-area commercials for Beacon Plumbing, fans may know his voice from a handful of video games. Lynch has also played himself in a handful of TV shows and movies, and has played characters in "Westworld" and 2023's "Bottoms."

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"Love Hurts" appears to be just the start. Lynch is slated to appear in four other upcoming films that are currently in production, including a movie called "The Pickup," starring Eddie Murphy, Eva Longoria, and Pete Davidson.

"Love Hurts" (2025)

Expect near non-stop action and never ending punches punctuated by a few jokes. Or as the film's PR puts it, "a visceral, high-octane story of wrath and revenge" ... with laughs.

Given that "Love Hurts" is produced by 87North, the same production company that gave us "Nobody," "Violent Night," "Bullet Train," and "The Fall Guy," audiences should know what brand of action/comedy to expect. "Love Hurts" is therefore next in this line of modern action-packed cinema.

For JoJo Eusebio, "Love Hurts" is his feature film directorial debut. Eusebio has carved a name for himself in Hollywood as a stunt coordinator, known for films like "John Wick," "Deadpool 2," "Black Panther," and "Violent Night." With a talent like Eusebio in the director's chair, one has to wonder if the action scenes will be a bit more spectacular.

The movie is also the latest chapter of Quan's Hollywood comeback. After rising to child-actor success in the 1980s — as Short Round in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" and Data in "The Goonies" — roles became sparse and he largely disappeared from the screen for many years. He went behind the camera as an adult, working as an action and fight choreographer (Quan has two black belts in taekwondo).

Things changed when he was asked to step back in front of the camera as Waymond Wang in 2023's "Everything Everywhere All At Once." The role earned him an Oscar and a Golden Globe for best supporting actor. He quickly went on to star in the series "American Born Chinese" and the second season of "Loki."

"Love Hurts" is Quan's major-film follow-up to "Everything Everywhere All at Once," and places him in the leading role. In a way, the film pulls together all aspects of his career spanning acting and choreography. The movie also features actor Sean Astin, Quan's "Goonies" co-star (Quan has also maintained a relationship with "Goonies" actor Jeff Cohen, who played Chunk, and is now his entertainment lawyer).

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