King Kong’s Got Nothing On Him (Exclusive)

You never get the sense from Mr. T that he sees anything in his life other than through an extraordinary lens. From his rough upbringing in Chicago to the most sought-after man in Hollywood, Mr. T became larger than life, a hero, and a role model.

The Netflix documentary Untold: I Pity The Fool chronicles Mr. T’s life with a rare insight and perspective about the man behind the Mohawk, giving viewers an intimate and full portrait of a remarkable life. Mr. T insisted that the documentary had to tell his entire story, not just the flashy parts.

“You got to follow who I am if you’re going to stick,” Mr. T recalls to me about his early conversations with the filmmakers almost two years ago.

“See, a lot of people know of me, they don’t know me. Sure, they know, hey, I’m tough, I did Rocky, this and that, but it’s way more than that. If that’s all you know about Mr. T, you don’t know nothing.”

With commentary from actor Terry Crews, journalist Scoop Jackson, and his daughter, Erica Clark, among others, you get the idea that Mr. T always knew he was destined for greatness, and that he never let his struggles define him. The film interweaves his early beginnings, his time as Chicago’s most sought after bodyguard, and his first major motion picture break as Clubber Lang in Rocky III, all while painting a picture of a man who never compromised on his ideals or his sense of self.

“They need to know the road, where I come from, how far I traveled to get to where I am, my dream, my desires, the love of my mother. Who am I really? Am I just this tough guy that came on the scene? But what was I? Who was I before all of that?”

The film itself packs a significant portion of his life into a tight 48 minutes, and while it does include his rise to stardom, his visit to the White House, and his fight against T-cell lymphoma, it does omit larger, and no less important, sections of his life, including his time in the United States Army, his NFL aspirations, and his work with Make-A-Wish. A documentary about a larger-than-life figure may have been better suited as a multipart series, as its shortness felt as if it did a disservice to its focal point.

Mr. T lived and breathed his persona, and he believes he was as successful as he was because he never compromised himself or his goals in pursuit of what he wanted. A man of deep faith and conviction who credits his pastor, Rev. Henry Hardy, for saving him, Mr. T never flinched at the opportunity to help, do good, and give back, all while focusing on his main goals.

“I had a plan to take care of my family, take care of my mother, do this here, do that, and I fulfilled that plan. I fulfilled those goals. I had a dream. Dr. King said, ‘I have a dream.’ I had a dream too. I want to take care of my mother. I want to feed the less fortunate. I want to be good in the community. I’ve achieved all that, and I’m achieving it now. So, I’m not crying foul over this and that. I think, ‘say, that’s all they got. They can’t hold me.’ You know, it might sound cocky, but they can’t hold me.”

Just like his preparation for the role of Clubber Lang, Mr. T says a big portion of his success is attributed to always being ready. If you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready. He says that approach has kept him ready for life, and that toughness helped him become who he is today.

“I used the line that Denzel Washington used. He said, ‘King Kong ain’t got nothing on me’,” he says, as we both laugh and agree this line is absolutely something Clubber Lang would have said to Rocky Balboa.

“It don’t fit Denzel Washington, you know. He’s a good guy, we like him, you know, but that’s me! Step aside, Denzel! I got this, Denzel!”

Untold Mr. T: I Pity The Fool is streaming exclusively on Netflix.