Peacemaker actor Nhut Le reveals he almost quit acting before James Gunn cast him as Judomaster in the DC Extended Universe series.

Warning: the following contains SPOILERS for Peacemaker.

Peacemaker actor Nhut Le reveals he almost quit acting before getting cast as Judomaster in the DC Extended Universe series. At the end of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, John Cena’s Christopher Smith/Peacemaker betrayed members of Task Force X in the name of Project Starfish and appeared to have paid the ultimate price. The film’s post-credits scene revealed Peacemaker survived the events of Corto Maltese and was needed by Amanda Waller’s (Viola Davis) A.R.G.U.S. to “save the f—king world.” In addition to Cena, the spinoff series’ cast includes Jennifer Holland, Danielle Brooks, Robert Patrick, Freddie Stoma, Chukwudi Iwuji, and Le.

In Peacemaker, the titular character joins forces with a new team as they attempt to thwart an alien invasion through Operation: Butterfly. In episode 3, “Better Goff Dead,” audiences meet Judomaster, a sympathetic, hilarious martial artist and bodyguard with an affinity for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, who is a firm believer in Goff and the other Butterflies’ cause. Before landing the role of Judomaster, Le hadn’t acted in another project since an episode of Raven’s Home in 2018 and was best known for appearing in a few episodes of Kroll Show. 

Gunn recently took to Twitter to share a Peacemaker mug made for him by Le. The actor responded to the tweet sharing his story about how, before the HBO Max series, he almost quit acting, moved home, and committed to pottery full time. Check out the tweets below:

When my worlds collide. Right before I booked Judomaster in Peacemaker, I was going to move back home, give up acting, and do pottery full time. A week before my move, I got offered the role. Funny how it always happens like that.

— Nhut Le (@itsnhutle) March 3, 2022

In episode 4, “The Choad Less Traveled,” Le’s Peacemaker tenure appeared to have been cut short when Judomaster was seemingly shot dead by Leota Adebayo (Brooks). However, in episode 7, “Stop Dragon My Heart Around,” Judomaster returns and heads to Adebayo’s apartment where he has a thrilling, brilliantly choreographed fight with Emilia Harcourt (Holland). Adebayo ends up tasing Judomaster until he falls unconscious before they leave, meet up with the rest of the team, and gear up for their showdown with the Butterflies. While Judomaster doesn’t really factor into the finale’s fight, he does show up to the Coverdale Ranch just in time to witness the heartbreaking defeat of his beloved Butterflies.

Peacemaker has become the highest-rated DCEU project on Rotten Tomatoes with a 95% critics score. The show has already been renewed for a season 2, which Gunn will return to write and direct. Le can rest easy knowing he’ll almost certainly appear in season 2. Not only did Judomaster survive season 1, but the character is a longtime adversary of Peacemaker. There is sometimes a lot of power in surrendering.

More: Everything We Know About Peacemaker Season 2

Source: James Gunn/Nhut Lee/Twitter