Kurt Warner’s story is one of those things that when you listen to it you think, wow, this will be a movie.
It’s now. ” American Underdog” chronicles Warner’s adventure of a school football player who couldn’t make it to the NFL, worked shopping, got another chance, and won a Super Bowl with the St. Louis Rams. Es a two-time Most Valuable Player and is now inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. Perhaps his greatest achievement in leading the then-unfortunate Arizona Cardinals to the Super Bowl.
But it’s also the story of Warner’s life with his wife Brenda and their family. When they met, he was still in college. She was a divorced former Marine with a son with special needs. A lasting relationship at the time seemed most likely. like, well, Warner in the Hall of Fame.
The film opens in theaters on Christmas Day. Zachary Levi plays Warner; Anna Paquin plays Brenda; Andrew and Jon Erwin direct; Warner spoke about the film in The Arizona Republic.
Question: You have been watching videos of yourself for decades, what does it feel like to see yourself in these kinds of movies?
Answer: The most difficult component is that it is not you who describes it. Most of the other stories you’ve done that are documentaries or plays they’ve done about you, it’s you at the center of it all. video of you or an interview, you know it’s original to you.
So, the hardest thing about this procedure is to let that go and understand.
Q: Yes, it is not an accurate reproduction of genuine life.
A: You automatically think it’s like a documentary. I need them to have the same facial expressions, I need them to walk the same way, I need them to say exactly what I said, and often they had to remind us that they weren’t coming out to make a documentary. they try to make a story that is true to the essence of who we are, and they check the percentage of the message we need.
And they will do it their way. They will do it with their gifts and their abilities, which is a big part, but it’s also the hardest part.
Q: Of course, you also have to be realistic on the front.
A: A lot of other people might perceive the football component well, because everyone knows the story by the maximum component. Perceiving the rest of the story and perceiving that I am not who I am from a football attitude without all those other elements. .
Q: What does this entail?
A: As much as the name is “American Underdog” and everyone sees it directly as the story of my supermarket in the Super Bowl, this is not the story I was trying to tell. I think we have a family circle of outsiders and each of us had our own way of triumphing over things individually, but more importantly, it was we who got here in combination and how each of us shaped the other to allow us to be where we are today.
Q: Anyone who knows your story knows the massive role your religion plays in your life. It’s present in the film, of course, but not as much as you think. How did it go?
A: We knew that religion had to be a component, faith was going to be the underlying theme because it’s the underlying theme of our lives, but at the same time, we sought to make a story and a film that could just touch other people where they are. This may simply introduce them to this religion or allow them to see this religion, depending on where they are on their journey. So it was vital for us to have a movie that never turned anyone off.
Q: Yes, it’s more subtle.
A: It’s vital for us because we believe our story is for everyone. It’s not just for those who have religion right now. Because a big component of the film, it’s me suffering with my religion, I’m looking to get to where I am now, and I’m still developing.
Q: Were you informed to dance online to impress Brenda?
A: I did, yes. They would do line dancing at the bar
But yes, I did everything I could, because that’s the thing: you’re going over to flirt with a girl, you’re a school guy, the first thing you know is that you can’t be embarrassed. I look and look like an idiot, I just lost.
Q: The Rams groups have been great, but I think what they did with the Cardinals is even more impressive. However, none of this story is in the film.
A: It was a wrestling match. We had other people come and take a look to sell us the movie and sell us what the story was, and they saw it that way and others saw it that way. the Arizona part?” And it was hard to juggle that.
Q: You communicate it as a chapter at the moment. The Cardinals lost (to the Pittsburgh Steelers), however, it was a wonderful and unexpected career.
A: I’ve told other people that what I like about the bankruptcy moment is that you win without winning, right?Because for me, it’s a wonderful message. So, every once in a while, in those sports movies, you finish and win at the end. Sure, that’s wonderful, and that was clearly true in this case (with the Rams), but I think the hardest message is that you can really win. without having more problems on a board.
That would have been a facet of the film for me, so I keep telling the Erwin brothers that we have to do a component for the moment if it works well, because I think there are some big themes in the component at the moment that are not in the component at the moment. first component.
Q: Do you plan to make more films or go into production?
A: As for long-term productions, I have no idea, I would say that the center of what I love in this procedure is the story, every time I see a movie I don’t want bells and whistles, I don’t want big virtual production. I don’t even care what acting looks like. For me, give me a smart story. You tell me a smart story, they gave it to me, because for me that’s what videos are, it’s giving me anything I leave the theater thinking about moving forward.
Contact Goodykoontz in bill. goodykoontz@arizonarepublic. com. Facebook: facebook. com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: @goodyk. Subscribe to the weekly movie newsletter.
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