Former Chippendales dancer and then entertainer/owner of 54 nightclubs, Niko Foster is now making it big in the movies, both in Hollywood and internationally. Foster started out producing or executive-producing and writing films, then moved into acting after he’d studied and worked to hone this craft.
Niko starred in the international hit movie MR-9: Do or Die, which is in theaters now in the US and, at 10 weeks, is still strong in theaters in Bangladesh. The spy thriller has an international cast and is based on a best-selling 540-book series about the character Massud Rana, also known as MR-9, a Bangladeshi spy. The movie was jointly developed by American and Bangladeshi producers.
His starring role in The Wrecker will really showcase Foster’s talents. This movie, of which he was a producer, also stars Harvey Keitel and Tyrese Gibson. Even though it won’t be released until early 2024, The Wrecker made a splash at Cannes recently, Foster says.
“That was the highlight of the Cannes Film Festival for us, that it made the cover of the distributor’s promotional magazine out of all 50 of their films. And we were like, wow, this is awesome.”
Also awesome is that Niko has more movies coming out rapidly as 2023 ends and 2024 begins. Out this month will be Due Justice, a film he’s also executive-producing. One of his co-stars is Kellan Lutz, who’s best known for playing Emmett Cullen (the famous vampire’s brother) in The Twilight Saga film series.
Then there’s Ruthless, which will be out in early 2024, with big-name star Dermot Mahoney. Foster is also an executive producer of this film.
As a large, muscular man (six-foot-two and 205 pounds), you might see some parallels between Niko Foster and John Cena or Jason Momoa.
“I’m not a professional wrestler, by any means. But, you know, I’m kind of in that size range,” Niko says. “And people say, ‘You know, he’s one of these bigger guys in Hollywood now.’ In my movie The Wrecker, where I’m the lead, we showed a lot of skin, a lot of shirtless workout scenes, to attract the female audience to like the character as well.”
Foster also points to the fact that many of the action-adventure leading men from the 1980s and ’90s aren’t making as many movies anymore, so there’s a gap there that needs filling.
“There’s a big depletion of real leading men in Hollywood because Bruce Willis is gone. Sylvester Stallone is pretty much gone, Schwarzenegger’s pretty much gone. Dolph Lundgren is pretty much gone. Van Damme, too. All these major ’80s and ’90s iconic leading men are now no longer there. So it’s pretty much Tom Cruise and then everybody else.”
Niko is willing to heroically step in and fill this role. And if you look into the films he’s been in lately (and will be seen in soon), they’re all action-adventure or drama, as well as thrillers and mysteries. In other words, the exciting movies. Niko Foster is definitely not just another pretty face; he’s an actor worth keeping an eye on.