Champions
Champions
Gold Circle Entertainment, 7 Deuce Entertainment
Focus Features, Universal Pictures
Release date
March 10, 2023
Description
A temperamental minor-league basketball coach finds himself in legal trouble. In order to satisfy a community service requirement, he finds himself coaching a basketball team consisting of players with intellectual disabilities and works with them to compete in the Special Olympics.
Directed by
Bobby Farrelly
Screenplay by
Mark Rizzo
Based on
Campeones by Javier Fesser and David Marqués
Produced by
Paul Brooks, Scott Niemeyer, and Jeremy Plager
Starring
Woody Harrelson as Marcus
Kaitlin Olson as Alex
Ernie Hudson as Phil
Cheech Marin as Julio
Matt Cook as Sonny
Madison Tevlin as Cosentino
Joshua Felder as Darius
Kevin Iannucci as Johnny
Ashton Gunning as Cody
Matthew Von Der Ahe as Craig
Tom Sinclair as Blair
James Day Keith as Benny
Alex Hintz as Arthur
Casey Metcalfe as Marlon
Bradley Edens as Showtime
Champ Pederson as Peter the Ringer
Cinematography
C. Kim Miles
Edited by
Julie Garcés
Music by
Michael Franti
Harrelson discusses Champions
“Marcus is the kind of guy who really doesn’t connect with people. He’s very good at what he does and he has the ability and the chops to be an NBA coach, but he shoots himself in the foot in terms of sometimes being difficult, stubborn, and pigheaded and unable to make those connections with the players and develop those relationships.”
“I went in to audition for White Men Can’t Jump for director Ron Shelton, and quite frankly if I couldn’t play ball, I wouldn’t have been able to do the part. If I hadn’t gotten White Men Can’t Jump, I don’t know whether I’d have been able to make the jump from television to movies. Then later, I also made Semi-Pro with Will Ferrell. I still love basketball.”
“He comes to love this team in ways he never could or would have in his past positions or even if he was in the NBA. He is extremely fond of all these characters and really wants them to be and feel like champions.”
Kaitlin Olson discusses Champions
“Working with Woody was an absolute dream. Firstly, I was really honored to be asked to play this character. I get offered silly, fun, loud, screaming-at-men roles all the time, but what I don’t often get offered are roles where I get to be funny but also have real emotion. And I was really excited that I was going to be able to have those scenes with Woody. He is such a giving actor. When it’s not his shot, when the cameras are only on me, he’s still there with me, giving me all of the emotion that I need to see in his eyes to be able to respond to it. That’s really special, and surprisingly not every actor will do that for you.”
“Alex is in her 40s and still lives with her mother and her brother, Johnny. She feels very much responsible for taking care of him and certainly puts him first in her life. She is very happy to do so, but along this journey, she learns that he doesn’t need her to do that and that he doesn’t need a protector. I thought that was pretty cool.”
Cheech Marin discusses Champions
“It was really great to work with Woody again. I love his rhythm and I love the tone that he brings to the character. It’s really heartfelt and intelligent but his intelligence reveals itself in what he does, rather than what he says.”
“Ernie Hudson and I did a TV pilot for a sitcom together. It was really wonderful to work with him and I always remember that experience. So when I heard he was going to be in this movie, I knew it would be a lot of fun.”
Bobby Farrelly discusses Champions
“Cosentino is the character who’s always getting all the guys on the court to play their hardest, and Madison did that in real life as well. She always had somebody with her that she felt really comfortable with because that’s when she really would get to be her best self, feel the most comfortable and she would get to shine.”“We learned about Joshua because he’s an ambassador for Best Buddies [the non-profit that consists of volunteers that create opportunities for Disabled people]. He had an awesome tape and we knew instantly that he was our Darius. Joshua is the sweetest. He is so kind and he cares about everyone.”
“Kevin is a real thespian. He’s a real, true actor and he’s great at what he does. He has impeccable, natural acting instincts and he’s got great comedic timing. He’s an absolute star. It was unbelievable to watch him go up against legends like Kaitlin Olson and Woody Harrelson and be able to hold his own.”
“Ashton was our local Winnipegger and he was a lot of fun. But my favorite part about Ashton was that I could tell how shy he was when he first arrived. He wouldn’t really look up at you. Then when we got to the second week, he started hugging me, and it meant everything because he was breaking through and it was just beautiful. He also brought a lot of goofiness to the set and he always kept everyone laughing.”
“Matthew had acted before as well and he was another great actor. He’s from LA and in his auditions, he had all his lines down and he was really good. He would always get everyone laughing and he loves music and so was always performing. When the cameras weren’t rolling, he’d be in the green room with headphones on just drumming. I rarely saw that guy not smiling.”
“Tom Sinclair is also from Winnipeg and he’s First Nations. He was a real role model. He’s the most easy going guy and if we needed somebody to throw a line to, we’d throw it to Tom, because he’s just so quick and would always go with it. He’s also an aspiring filmmaker and so Bobby let him call ‘action,’ which was fun.”
“James is a real athlete and he’s a weightlifter. We knew he was a great basketball player as he’s played a lot with the Special Olympics, but he is also really funny and sweet. He would light everyone up. But for me, the best thing was that he’s a team player. He was the first one to go to Madison when she needed somebody. He would be there for them, give them a big hug and make them laugh.”
“Another local Winnipegger, Alex Hintz was awesome as Arthur. He was really great and so warm and welcoming. He did such a good job of finding himself within the team. We could throw a line to him and he’d be ready to go with it. He was so fast and quick.”
“Casey is so funny. Casey lives in Vermont with a bunch of chickens – he loves animals – and I loved that when he auditioned, he used a chicken in his audition. He always wanted to know how to make things better and how to do it better.”
“I knew that Brad loved to dance because in his audition he danced. Everyone knew immediately that he was our guy, just from him dancing. On set, he danced after every shot and it was just magic. Brad and Kevin also knew each other from North Carolina where they both played basketball for the Special Olympics.”
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