Thursday, July 17, 2003
It's no act, Stevens can
By Kenny Rice
Special to ESPN.com
Athletes in movies are as old as movies themselves.
Maybe it's their cheekbones or jaw lines (natural traits for most), or their physical presence, that poise and confidence within their own skin that comes through years of practice. And they are already performers who thrive in the pressure of another stage.
Heavyweight boxing champ James Corbett was the subject of an 1893 short film made by Thomas Edison (who patented talking motion pictures in 1913).
Johnny Weissmuller swam to five gold medals in the 1924 and 1928 Olympics and became a movie star as Tarzan.
Another gold medal swimmer Buster Crabbe went on to big screen fame as Flash Gordon.
Sonja Henie parlayed a pair of Olympic gold figure skating medals into a successful career in 1930's and 1940's films.
Paul Robeson, a Rutgers All-American football player, broke the color barrier, succeeding in movies and Broadway, and his powerful bass rendition of "Ol' Man River" in ShowBoat remains a classic musical moment.
Now, out of the cinematic starting gate now comes jockey Gary Stevens, who plays jockey George Woolf in "Seabiscuit." It's an auspicious debut for an acting novice, tantamount to a non-starter beginning in a Grade 1 stakes race. Stevens isn't doing some sort of Eddie Arcaro or Bill Shoemaker cameo with Bob Hope or Lucille Ball. Stevens is a co-star, with billing under Hollywood royalty Jeff Bridges, Oscar winner Chris Cooper, red-hot Tobey Maguire and the always terrific William H. Macy.
"Yeah I didn't know what I was doing and still think they were nuts to cast me," Stevens laughs over the phone from his hotel room in New York City. He flew there from the Hollywood premiere of the movie to do a promotional appearance on the Charlie Rose Show.
"The best advice was going into this when (writer/director Gary Ross) told me 'Don't act. Be yourself.' Gary is so great, he knew me so well after our early meetings, and learned about my personal background, that he could get out of me whatever emotion he needed. He pushed the right buttons."
Ross' approach not unlike an outstanding trainer relaying just enough information in the paddock before the race? "Very, very similar to that," Gary replies. "I have special relationships with certain trainers who just need a comment or two for me to know how the horse has been doing, what works. I had that with Gary."
It's a testament to an innate talent that landed Stevens the role. The Hall-of-Fame jockey has been widely known and respected in racing circles for decades, but that's not the same thing as the mass-audience appeal of gridiron greats who got big, if not top, billing in their early movie tries. Joe Namath and O.J. Simpson were icons after all. Dick Butkus and Bubba Smith fit easily into musclemen roles. But Jim Brown and Alex Karras proved they really had acting abilities aside from football skills. All had the advantage of being household names, seen each week by millions on TV before the stepped on the set.
Being a jockey isn't the reason Stevens is in the film with a significant part. After all, Maguire is playing Seabiscuit's jockey Red Pollard and thorough research shows Tobey has never won a Kentucky Derby or a Breeders' Cup event. Stevens is handsome, articulate and carries a movie star air about him. That quality was obvious through during an initial meeting in April 2002 with the powerhouse triumvirate of Ross, producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall (a group whose movie credits range from " E.T." The Indiana Jones and Back to the Future trilogies, "Big," "Pleasantville" and "Schindler's List").
They brought him into to read, not audition, and he was virtually cast on the spot. "Basically, Gary readjusted this role for me.
"A couple of executives from Spyglass and Universal were curious with all the money behind this project and everyone wanted to know what was going on. So, Robin Bissell (executive producer of Seabiscuit) and I improvised a hospital scene that happens in the movie. About twenty minutes after I entered the room, I signed a deal," Stevens recalls with pride. "There were some tears in the room after that scene."
Early reviews of Stevens' performance have been favorable. Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood have interviewed him. His movie family -- the elite management firm, ICM, now represents him, complete with an agent, manager and publicist -- is continuing to cultivate his thespian-related prospects. After Stevens leaves New York, he'll go home to Idaho for the "Seabiscuit" premiere in Boise, then to the White House for the screening at the personal request of President Bush. "My life has changed in the last seventy-two hours. That was something to get a direct call from the White House," Stevens admits.
"Frank, Kathy, Gary, Tobey have all encouraged me to pursue this. There is another project in mind for me that looks very, very interesting. If it works&"
Promoting the movie has meant he missed closing day at Hollywood Park and he'll have to skip the Delaware Handicap this weekend. He is riding less and could be approaching the biggest move of tack in his career at an age, 40, where professional athletes rarely make changes.
"I am used to focusing 110 percent. I don't like breaking commitments and I've never chased an empty wagon. But I am having fun with it and there are opportunities beyond "Seabiscuit." It's been a wild week and I certainly have to consider pursuing it as much as I have anything."
Listening to him, as well as the critics, it's probably a good bet that it's not yet time to wrap the budding career of Gary Stevens, actor.
