Robert Maillet (born October 26, 1969) is a Canadian

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and retired professional wrestler. He is known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1997 to 1999, where he performed under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons ...

Kurrgan and was a member of The Truth Commission and The Oddities. He is also known for his roles in films such as ''

300 __NOTOC__ Year 300 ( CCC) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Valerius (or, less frequently, year 1053 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 300 ...

'' (2006), ''

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

'' (2009), '' Immortals'' (2011), '' Pacific Rim'' (2013), '' Brick Mansions'' (2014), ''

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

'' (2014), and ''

Deadpool 2 ''Deadpool 2'' is a 2018 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Deadpool. It is the sequel to ''Deadpool (film), Deadpool'' (2016) and the eleventh installment in the X-Men (film series), ''X-Men'' film series. The film wa ...

'' (2018).

Early life

Maillet was born in

Georgetown, Ontario Georgetown is a large unincorporated community in the town of Halton Hills, Ontario, Canada, in the Regional Municipality of Halton. The town includes several small villages or settlements such as Norval, Ontario, Norval, Limehouse, Ontario, Lime ...

, northwest of

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. Less than a year later, his family moved to Ste-Marie-de-Kent,

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

, a French-Acadian village where he grew up.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1989–1997)

He began wrestling as the Acadian Giant in the early 90s. Maillet made an initial appearance in the WWF on November 11, 1991, when he wrestled as The Cajun Giant, defeating

Bob Bradley Robert Frank Bradley (born March 3, 1958) is an American association football, soccer coach, who most recently managed Norwegian football team Stabæk Fotball, Stabæk fron 2023 - 2024. A native of New Jersey and graduate of Princeton Universi ...

in a dark match at a television taping in Utica, NY. He worked for Super World of Sports as Giant Goliath in 1991. He also spent some time working for the Japanese W*ING promotion as Goliath El Gigante.

World Wrestling Federation (1997–1999)

He was signed to the WWF in 1997, alongside The Jackyl, as a member of The Truth Commission. The group was sent to the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) before being called up to the main WWF roster in June of that year, where Maillet's ring name evolved into The Interrogator and later to Kurrgan (whose name was inspired by The Kurgan in November 1997, and was occasionally referred to as Kurrgan the Interrogator on television). Under the tutelage of The Jackyl, a charismatic cult leader, Kurrgan was a

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exerted ...

known for applying the Iron Claw to his opponents and not breaking the hold until The Jackyl slapped him across the face. After The Truth Commission disbanded in March 1998, Maillet (now billed simply as Kurrgan) continued as a singles wrestler managed by The Jackyl. He later went on to be part of The Oddities, The Jackyl's new stable; however, once The Jackyl was removed as the advisor of The Oddities and replaced by the

Insane Clown Posse Insane Clown Posse, often abbreviated as ICP, is an American hip hop duo. Formed in Detroit in 1989, ICP's best-known lineup consists of rappers Violent J (Joseph Bruce) and Shaggy 2 Dope (originally 2 Dope; Joseph Utsler). Insan ...

, The Oddities turned

face The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect th ...

and became fan favourites. Kurrgan was taken off WWF TV in February 1999 and was later released that November.

Mexico and Canada (1999–2001)

After WWF, Kurrgan worked in Mexico CMLL as Gigante Kurrgan. He also worked in the Independents in Canada working in Nova Scotia, Calgary and British Columbia. By the end of 2001, Kurrgan took a hiatus from wrestling.

Later career (2005–2011)

Maillet returned to wrestling working for Jacques Rougeau's wrestling events in Quebec as Kurgan. On July 8, 2005, he lost to

Jim Duggan James Edward Duggan Jr. (born January 14, 1954), better known by his ring name "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is best-known for his time in World Wrestling Federation (now WWE), where he won the first ...

in Montreal. He continued working in Quebec and other parts of Canada until he retired from wrestling in 2011.

Acting career

Maillet appeared in the 2006 film ''

'', an adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel of the same name. He played the Über-Immortal, a savage

berserker In the Old Norse written corpus, berserkers () were Scandinavian warriors who were said to have fought in a trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the modern English adjective ''wikt:berserk#Adjective, berserk'' . Berserkers ...

who was part of the enemy's imperial guard. In November 2008, during a fight scene for the 2009 film ''

'', he accidentally punched Robert Downey Jr. in the face, bloodying Downey and knocking him down. Downey later stated on an episode of the ''

Late Show with David Letterman ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...

'' that Maillet was "10 times more upset about it" than he was. Maillet played a Russian professional boxer who takes a dive in the 2011 film '' The Big Bang''. Later that year, he appeared in the film '' Monster Brawl'' as

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 Gothic novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a Sapience, sapient Frankenstein's monster, crea ...

in a wrestling tournament of eight classic monsters that fight to the death. He played Polyphemus in the 2013 film '' Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters'', Blackwell in the 2013 film adaptation of '' The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones'', and the executioner in the 2014 film ''

''. He also had a recurring role on the Syfy original series '' Haven'' billed as a "Heavy", a thug for the series antagonist. In 2018, Maillet had a small part in the superhero film ''

'' as Sluggo, a mutant mercenary who is in prison alongside the titular character. He also had a part in the 2018 Netflix film '' Game Over, Man!''. He appeared in the 2020 thriller film '' Becky'' alongside

Kevin James Kevin George Knipfing (born April 26, 1965), known professionally as Kevin James, is an American comedian and actor. He began his career by performing stand-up comedy at clubs on Long Island in the 1980s. He rose to prominence for his portrayal ...

, in a rare non-comedic role.

Personal life

Maillet has been married to Laura Eaton since June 14, 1997. He has two stepdaughters, as well as a daughter adopted from

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. Being an

Acadian The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern American region of Acadia, ...

, his first language is French and he is conversant in English.

Filmography

Film

Television

Championships and accomplishments

*Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling **AGPW Continental Championship (1 time) * NWA: Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling ** NWA/ECCW Heavyweight Championship ( 2 times) *Legend City Wrestling **LCW Newfoundland Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Mr. Fantastic *Real Action Wrestling **RAW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) * United States Wrestling Association ** USWA World Tag Team Championship ( 3 times) with Recon * Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards ** Worst Tag Team (1998) with Golga ** Worst Gimmick (1998) as Kurrgan,as part of The Oddities *World Wrestling Association (South Korea) **WWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maillet, Robert 1969 births Acadian sportspeople Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian male professional wrestlers Living people Male actors from New Brunswick People from Kent County, New Brunswick Professional wrestlers from New Brunswick Professional wrestlers from Ontario USWA World Tag Team Champions 20th-century Canadian sportsmen