Drew McIntyre is having a Hollywood moment.
Over the last five months, the three-time WWE Champion has gone from working with Henry Cavill on Highlander to spending time alongside Russell Crowe on The Last Druid. He's been cast in Disney's upcoming animated film Hexed, and he's now starring in WWE and ReelShort's first original live-action microdrama, Agent of Shadows.
For someone who's spent most of his life in a wrestling ring, it's been enough to change how McIntyre thinks about his future. He's even started calling himself "Hollywood Drew."
"Just this time away is, really, that I truly believed this is something I could pursue or continue to pursue into the future," McIntyre tells Complex.
But don't mistake the nickname, or the growing résumé, for McIntyre plotting his exit from WWE. Spending the longest stretch of his career away from wrestling has made him more aware of how badly he wants to get back.
"I have never been off wrestling this long in my whole life," he says. "I've wrestled since I was 15 years old."
McIntyre's move into acting began with some help from former WWE wrestler Dave Bautista, who got him involved in The Killer's Game. But McIntyre felt like he was essentially playing an exaggerated version of himself. Highlander was different.
Working with director Chad Stahelski and Cavill, who plays his brother in the film, pushed McIntyre beyond the persona wrestling fans have watched for years. Then he got another opportunity.
"My agent called me and said, 'Russell Crowe wants you for this project,' and I said, 'Ha ha, very good,' and hung up," McIntyre says. "And he called me back and said, 'I'm not joking.'"
That project was The Last Druid. WWE President Nick Khan and Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque gave McIntyre their blessing to take it, even though WWE initially wanted him back.
"They looked at it and said, 'You know what? We wanted you to be back on the show, but this is a great opportunity. Go and get it,'" McIntyre says. "I love that kind of relationship."
Between Highlander, The Last Druid, Hexed, and Agent of Shadows, acting has quickly gone from something McIntyre was trying to something he believes could become a legitimate second career.
His latest project brought him into a completely different corner of entertainment.
Premiering Oct. 23, Agent of Shadows is the first live-action vertical microdrama from WWE and ReelShort. The action-comedy follows Adam Hawke, played by Chase Mattson, a secret agent who discovers he has a young daughter and goes undercover as her nanny to protect her from criminal figure Raymond Strauss.
McIntyre plays Roscoe, Hawke's right-hand man and tech expert. McIntyre compares their relationship to James Bond and Q, putting him in a different role than the physically imposing characters he's used to playing.
The format presented another adjustment. ReelShort's vertical dramas unfold through short episodes produced at a much faster pace than traditional film and television. Mattson, one of ReelShort's most recognizable actors, says they could shoot around 20 scenes in a day.
"I could tell when he came in, he's coming off big projects," Mattson tells Complex. "I think he's just like, big project, big project, expecting this to be like he has to be on it 100 percent. And I was like, 'No, you could be a little lighter.'"
The two ended up teaching each other. Mattson wanted to hear what McIntyre learned from Crowe and Cavill, while McIntyre picked his brain about the freedom of vertical dramas.
"There was one scene where he added something to the end, and I looked at him funny, and he said to me, 'Well, I like to improvise,'" McIntyre recalls. "I looked at him and said, 'Me too.'"
"Once I told him he can be a little lighter, it was like a weight was lifted off his chest," Mattson says. "Then he just started improving with me and just being super fun and relaxed."
For McIntyre, the connection between acting and wrestling ultimately comes back to understanding a character.
"WWE, especially these days, if you know your character, you have the freedom to go as deep as you want with that character," McIntyre says. "Back in the day, it was very black and white, good guys versus bad guys. These days, shades of gray. It's real life."
Few WWE stars have embraced those shades of gray more than McIntyre in recent years. His character has evolved into someone who considers himself justified even as the crowd boos him, and he approaches acting similarly.
"I'll find the truth in the character," he says. "I find what's real to me. Then I go with that."
Agent of Shadows also gave McIntyre the chance to do something WWE never let him get away with. After years of carrying a sword to the ring and pitching the idea of actually using it on someone, he finally got his chance.
"I always kept pitching to the bosses, 'Can I use the sword on somebody?'" he says. "I finally use the sword on people, so check it out."
The crossover may eventually go in the opposite direction. Mattson, who has martial arts and stunt training, spent the shoot lobbying WWE talent to get him into a wrestling ring.
"I talked to every WWE guy on set," Mattson says. "I was like, 'Dude, you guys need to talk and find a way to get me in the ring.'"
McIntyre wants it too.
"I want to get Chase in the ring," he says. "He's got light feet."
But McIntyre is more focused on what he can bring from Hollywood back into WWE. After working with Cavill and Crowe, he says he's picked up storytelling lessons that can translate to wrestling.
"I'm very proud of my storytelling on the show," he says. "But I've been working with some of the best in the world."
Despite Hollywood opening up to him, McIntyre has no confusion about which world still has his heart.
"The main thing that brings me back is love," he says. "Wrestling is my first love. It's what I've always loved. It's what I've always wanted to do."
McIntyre isn't revealing when he'll return to WWE television, but he has no problem telling the roster what to expect.
"I'm 285 pounds. I'm the biggest I've ever been, in the best shape I've ever been," McIntyre says. "But I'm Hollywood Drew right now."
He recently teased fans by posting footage of himself hitting the ropes, which McIntyre says his wife encouraged him to do to show what shape he's in.
"She said, 'I've never seen you this big and move this fast,'" he recalls.
Naturally, McIntyre couldn't discuss his return without insulting CM Punk. He jokingly called his former rival "old Captain Skinny Fat" before acknowledging the work Punk has done on his conditioning. Then McIntyre turned his attention to everyone else.
"Everybody step up your freaking game because I'm coming back a monster."
Getting bigger isn't the only change McIntyre is considering.
Since losing to Roman Reigns at Clash at the Castle in 2022, McIntyre has gradually transformed his WWE character. What began as frustration eventually became a defining part of his personality.
"Character and story are most important to me," he says. "Evolution is very important to me."
At this stage, McIntyre doesn't measure his position in WWE solely by championships. He's been WWE Champion, main-evented WrestleMania, and spent years at the top of the card. What matters now is having a story worth sinking his teeth into.
"I see myself as one of the top guys," McIntyre says. "I've been around for a very long time, and you can put me with anybody now. You're gonna get a compelling story from Drew McIntyre, no matter what situation I'm put in [...] I'm gonna make you feel something, and you're gonna get a hell of a match at the end of it."
That philosophy also shapes how he thinks about WWE's future.
Roman Reigns recently told Complex that he feels responsible for using the equity he's built to help elevate the next generation, while stressing that younger wrestlers need something of their own before an established star can take them higher. McIntyre agrees, but he isn't interested in handing someone a career-defining moment simply because they're younger.
"When it comes to being on-screen, you have to step up to my level, or I will say it's not time," McIntyre says. "We gotta pick the right moments, the right people. There's a lot of guys coming up that are gonna be great for the future. But let's just keep cultivating them. Let's not hotshot anything."
McIntyre's own place in WWE is changing too. He no longer has to wonder whether Hollywood will call. Between Highlander, The Last Druid, Disney's Hexed, and Agent of Shadows, it already has. But conversations with Bautista have kept everything in perspective.
"He tells me how much he misses the crowd, and he wishes he could go back and still get in front of them," McIntyre says. "I'm not gonna let it slip by, because I know the movies will be there."
If another major role comes along, McIntyre says he'll sit down with Khan and Levesque and determine whether the opportunity makes sense. What he doesn't envision is acting turning him into a wrestler who only appears a handful of times a year.
"I'm a full-time guy," McIntyre says. "I don't want to be part-time."
The irony of "Hollywood Drew" is that Hollywood may have made McIntyre appreciate wrestling even more. Now the question is what version of Drew McIntyre comes back.
