Ronda Rousey couldn’t sleep.
It’s not that she wasn’t drained.
She was exhausted after shattering a knuckle at WrestleMania 35. Finally in her resort mattress after surgical procedure, Rousey had a cross-country flight to Los Angeles in 5 hours.
Then inspiration struck. The former UFC champion and then-WWE famous person had been attempting to work on a screenplay, however had solely give you a one-line synopsis: “Two wanted assassins with an unwanted pregnancy learn that giving life is harder than taking it.”
“Do you ever get an idea in your head and you’re laying in bed and then you won’t let yourself go to sleep and you keep repeating it in your head over and over so you don’t forget it by the morning?” Rousey stated throughout a cellphone interview with The Times.
Sleep by no means got here for Rousey, who typed all 5 hours in her resort room and continued on the flight.
Five years later, that screenplay concept is now set to be a graphic novel. A Kickstarter marketing campaign launches July 25 for “Expecting the Unexpected,” a Rousey-written 160-page ebook with illustrations by award-winning comedian artist Michael Deodato slated to be revealed subsequent 12 months by Artists Writers and Artisans.
Through the Kickstarter marketing campaign, followers may have 30 days to order the ebook, with entry to quite a lot of particular choices, together with restricted and signed editions, variant paintings, bonus pages and the chance of being drawn into the novel as a personality.
The story revolves round a infamous hitwoman who goes by the code identify Mom, as a result of she wears a faux child bump stuffed with weapons. After she sleeps with a fellow murderer, nevertheless, Mom turns into pregnant for actual and has to come back to phrases with the notion of changing into a mum or dad … with a bounty on her head.
Ronda Rousey kisses the top of her daughter, La’akea Browne, in 2022.
(Courtesy of No DNB Productions)
In an early take a look at the novel, supplied by AWA, one factor turns into clear upon first view of Mom, together with her lengthy hair pulled again in a good ponytail, muscular arms, white tank prime and a few very familiar-looking facial expressions:
Mom is Rousey.
“I’m particularly pleased with how I captured Ronda’s essence in the Mom character — her mannerisms, personality, and even her laughter,” Deodato stated.
The lead male character’s identify is Hapa, the nickname of Rousey’s husband, former UFC fighter Travis Browne. Their first baby collectively, La’akea Browne, was born in 2021.
“It really is our story — even though it didn’t really happen,” Rousey stated, including with amusing, “ I didn’t really go on a spree of fighting all these people.”
Ronda Rousey and Travis Browne attend the Kids’ Choice Sports Awards on July 19, 2018, on the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica.
(Willy Sanjuan / Invision / Associated Press)
She defined: “The whole story is just the story of me and my husband. Our journey trying to get pregnant, having a baby, our becoming parents — you know, the process from when you become pregnant to when you accept the task of being a parent. … When you actually come to that realization and live up to it is I think a process that isn’t really covered in anything I’ve really seen so far. That was kind of a personal journey that was really important to us.”
Rousey was 21 when she grew to become the primary American girl to win an Olympic medal in judo, taking residence bronze from the 2008 Beijing Games. She grew to become a famous person as a blended martial artist, successful six UFC ladies’s bantamweight title bouts earlier than retiring from MMA in 2016. Rousey remained within the highlight as an expert wrestler, changing into a WWE triple-crown winner earlier than retiring final 12 months.
By 2019, Rousey had appeared in quite a few films and TV reveals, however by no means a number one position. She wrote ‘Expecting the Unexpected” hoping to be the star, but realized she was too unproven.
That’s when she landed upon the thought of a graphic novel, a literary kind she had grow to be “a closet nerd” for as an grownup.
Writing the script was simply the beginning. .
“This has a lot of action sequences in it,” she stated, “I wrote all the choreography for it in the script and I actually had to film them and perform the choreography with a couple of friends of mine in a wrestling ring.”
Deodato, the comedian artist, then turns it into illustrations.
It’s a number of work, however Rousey stated she’s having fun with the method.
“I originally intended on this being a movie, but I really think that this is the way it was always meant to be, as a graphic novel. Maybe that’s the path that I was meant for more, to be a graphic novelist,” Rousey stated.
Ronda Rousey works out July 15, 2015, at Glendale Fighting Club in Glendale, Calif.
(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
All that stated, if introduced with the chance, would Rousey be keen to show her graphic novel again right into a screenplay?
“Twist my arm and I’ll do it,” she laughed.
“But I’m also so happy with where I’m at. I don’t see this as a stepping stone, I see this as a new path that I never dreamed would be available to me, and I’m enjoying the scenery more than I ever thought was possible.”