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‘Warrior’ premiere: Nick Nolte lays out what keeps him fighting

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The Joel Edgerton-Tom Hardy movie ‘Warrior’ pits brother against brother in the world of mixed martial arts fighting. But at the film’s premiere Tuesday night, Nick Nolte was the one who had the fighting words.

Asked on the black carpet about ‘what he fights for,’ the 70-year-old actor replied: ‘Everything. Just about everything. For a breath, primarily. If I can get my breath, then I’m set. There’s not much more than that.’

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Photos: The ‘Warrior’ premiere

In ‘Warrior,’ Nolte plays a recovering alcoholic struggling to regain a relationship with his two sons — a supporting performance that’s garnering early awards buzz.

Edgerton and Hardy showed on the carpet outside the Cineramadome as well, joined by writer-director Gavin O’Connor and fellow cast members Jennifer Morrison, Frank Grillo, Kevin Dunn, Kurt Angle and Denzel Whitaker.

Whitaker, incidentally, is named after Denzel Washington though not related to Forest Whitaker — and at age 21 has already had the opportunity to work with both of those Oscar winners. In addition to the ‘Warrior’ actors, Brooke Burns, Rene Russo, Ana Alexander, Jesse Metcalfe and Ana Ayora were spotted.

Inside the theater, O’Connor gave a lengthy pre-screening speech, during which he became extremely emotional. Through tears, he expressed his gratitude to a number of people in the room, referring to the film and the studio behind it, Lionsgate, as ‘underdogs.’

Most audience members seemed to find the long introduction moving, though some — including comedian Joe Rogen — whispered that the speech was awkwardly personal and the kind of thing that would go viral on YouTube.

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‘Warrior’ opens Friday.

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— Amy Kaufman

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