Los Angeles ? Mark Zupan, the most recognizable star of “Murderball,” says he’s embracing the fame brought by the documentary.

“Well, when you get recognized walking down the street, it gets really kind of strange,” Zupan, with shaved head, goatee and tattoos, recently told AP Television News. “I’m still the same person.”

“I just take the time and when people say, ‘Oh! Loved the movie. I don’t want to take your time,’ I say, ‘No, take time. I want to hear what you think. I want to hear what you like. I want to hear why you’re curious.”‘

“Murderball,” now in theaters, is the story of quadriplegic athletes on the U.S. wheelchair rugby team. Wheelchair rugby – or “murderball” – is an intense, hard-nosed sport where players bash wheelchairs and flip each other while trying to carry the ball across the goal line in a gymnasium.

Zupan estimates that he’s been interviewed more than 400 times this year, including an appearance on NBC’s “Tonight Show.”

Directors Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro filmed consistently over three years, and the documentary has drawn rave reviews, in part, for its raw intimacy.