- Ricky Nixon will be on TV screens after landing an acting role
- The former football agent will play an amputee gangster
- Nixon must practice fighting with one leg for the role
Controversial former football agent Ricky Nixon will make his big screen debut after landing a role in a police series.
Nixon will play amputee gangster Thomas Moran in a series called Vendetta 19, written by bestselling First Nations author Roy Maloy, according to news corporation.
Moran, also known as ‘Tommy the Nut’, was a member of Crutchy Push, a gang that wreaked havoc on the people of Melbourne in the early 20th century.
The gang was made up of men with missing limbs and Moran is understood to have family links to the Moran brothers of the 1990s.
The new TV series will depict how Crutchy Push took on notorious rival gangster Squizzy Taylor at Pentridge Prison in 1908.
Ricky Nixon landed a role in a new TV series, it was announced
The former football agent will play an amputee gangster in a series set in the 20th century.
Tommy was sentenced to Pentridge several times for violent crimes, despite living most of his life without half of his left leg.
As a result, Nixon will have to learn to fight standing on one leg, using a crutch as part of his arsenal. He is also expected to perform all of his own stunts and fight scenes.
“I live a very different and colorful life,” Nixon said.
“When I was asked about this, I talked to some friends and thought it was a challenge.”
Filming on the new series will begin in June and the pilot will air this spring on social media.
Author Maloy has written 15 true crime biographies, including Squizzy, The Forensics, The Vendetta, 7246 Minnie, and The Man.
“The difficulty with these roles is that people who are seen with a missing leg are not using the usual type of crutches that we use today,” Maloy said.
Nixon is reportedly fit and ready to take on the physically demanding role.
“Instead, they use a single-beam crutch, instead of two. It’s an incredibly physically difficult role to play. Part of the audition process included asking Ricky to show off his physical abilities, to be able to move in the demanding ways he will need in a fight scene, and to handle a crutch on one leg.
“I can honestly say that he is in incredible shape and was able to absolutely hold his own in a fight.” He has never stopped training and is in exceptional shape for his age.”
Nixon was involved in a furious fight with football teammate Sam Newman last year, in which the former agent was allegedly left bloodied and pushed into a bush behind a cricket club.
