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THE EXPRESS MOVIE

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You read all the stuff below, you'll be entitled to the red carpet for The Express II.

This much you probably know already: The Express, opening Friday, is the story of former Syracuse RB Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy. Cool, we're glad you're straight with the basics. To go more in-depth, here's what you do: read this piece by Sam Alipour in the new issue of ESPN The Magazine, where he talks with Rob Brown (he played Davis) about the six things you need to know about being in a sports movie. We've also got an interview with Omar Benson Miller, who plays Davis' best friend in the flick. Even more (!): if you click 'Read More,' we'll give you some snippets of Alipour's interview with Brown that were left out of the Magazine itself. By the time you get your medium popcorn and drink, you'll know more about this movie than Dennis Quaid.

The Magazine Alipour-Brown piece is here.

BONUS CONTENT:

GAME SHOOTS WEREN'T REALLY THAT BRUTAL FOR BROWN:
First of all, I'm playing the best running back ever, so if I flinch, people have to miss. That's fun, and good for the ego. But on the first day, coach Graf told me straight-up: You're not getting hit. Hey, it makes sense. If I pop a shoulder out, we can't shoot, and time is money. Don't get me wrong, I'd sneak a hit in now and then, but then coach would be like, "whoa, whoa!" By the end of it, I was scared to even sprint all out. Again, we're doing it 15 times, and even a cramp can risk the production.

THROWING CO-STARS UNDER THE BUS:
The worst player on set? That's easy: Laroyce Hawkins, who plays fullback Art Baker. Laroyce is 6-2, 220, so he looks the part, but he can't catch. Or throw. I spent most of my time teaching him the basics. A close second was Darrin Henson, who played Jim Brown. Darren's not a football player, he's a dancer. I wonder what Mr. Brown will think.

NO SET CAN BEAT A SPORTS MOVIE SET:
Typically, you spend downtime in your trailer playing Madden. But sports sets are like recess. When they're setting up the cameras, we're tanning on the grass, slapping each other around, talking trash, acting like kids and getting paid to do so. Some days, I'd come to the set just to play catch with Dennis Quaid. He plays coach Ben Schwartzwalder, and he was a great recourse for me because that dude's been in every sport movie ever made. But Dennis is one of them Texas lefties, so of course he was always trying to show off that arm of his. Have to admit, he wasn't bad. For his age.

THE TEAR DUCTS GET A WORKOUT AS WELL:
A lot of the best sports movies are tearjerkers. Now, this isn't Brian's Song—we wanted to celebrate Ernie's life, not focus on the tragedy of his death—but it is a bit of tearjerker. It's never easy to cry on cue, but understanding the adversity in Ernie's life made it easier. And the tears really flowed the last two days of the shoot when we finally shot in Syracuse. A lot of the locals who knew Ernie were on set. People were crying just meeting me—and I only play Ernie. I got a real sense of how important Ernie was to the community, and how he touched people's lives.

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