TCA: Mike Tyson And Spike Lee On HBO’s ‘Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth’

While Tyson has had plenty of experiencing performing in entertainment projects, mostly in cameos, the boxer said today that doing his one-man show “felt like second nature.” He was happy to get the gig because it’s helping to pay the bills. “I didn’t know how I was going to be able to do it,” he admitted. Tyson also said he found parallels between emoting onstage and throwing his fists in the ring. “The only difference is I don’t have to go to the hospital after I perform,” he deadpanned. In both cases “it’s like being in a war.”For his part, Lee played up what a professional production this was, shot with 11 cameras from every conceivable angle. And while this was a live one-man show, he said that directing is directing whether fiction or non-fiction. “I don’t make a distinction,” he said. “It’s all storytelling.” Lee also made a point to praise Tyson’s uncanny honesty in the show, a trait that has proven to be something of a hallmark in his life — sometimes to a fault. “Mike Tyson is the most honest human being I’ve ever met in my life,” Lee maintained “When you see this, he’s out there on the stage naked, displaying his dark parts and his demons to the world. It’s the most courageous thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”