American Underdog - Special Edition with Kevin Downs & Jon Erwin - AlongTheWay

Kurt Warner is a went from bagging groceries to the NFL to winning the Superbowl with the greatest show on turf. His journey off the field led him to be a true success in life. His incredible story has been immortalized in the new film "American Underdog" starring Zachary Levi, Anna Paquin, and Dennis Quaid.
Producer Kevin Downes and Director Jon Erwin talked with John Matarazzo about making of the film for Charisma News and is featured on AlongTheWay!

https://americanunderdog.movie/

AlongTheWay

Transcript

John Matarazzo: 0:01

Welcome to along the way, I'm drawn matter as your host and fellow traveler. Thank you for joining me along my way as I try to become more like Jesus every day. The goal of along the way is to identify the moments in life that Jesus really is walking with us and trying to get our attention. Just like the disciples along the way to Emmaus, we are missing those moments that our hearts are burning within us. I want us to identify those moments, learn from others and apply those lessons to our lives, so that we don't miss the blessings God has for us along the way, in our life journey with him. I'm going to share a little bit about my along the way journey and the things that I've been doing recently 2021 has been a major life change for me, and it's honestly been hard to keep up. Moving to Orlando, Florida has been a great chapter in my life. And it's only just beginning. Working with charisma media has been a blessing. I can't believe that I've been in Florida almost seven months already. I have fallen a bit behind schedule trying to get new along the way episodes out every week. And there are lots of reasons for that. But I've also been doing podcast projects for charisma podcast network that I'm going to be sharing with you. I'm going to be releasing special charisma news podcasts and other special things that I've done with charisma in this podcast as well. And I plan to continue sharing those special along the way moments in my life with you. Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a preview screening of the movie American underdog which comes out on Christmas Day. The movie is a story about Kurt Warner, a true American underdog. He went from bagging groceries to playing in the NFL and even winning the Super Bowl. He is a Hall of Fame quarterback and he is a devout Christian. This movie stars Zachary Levi and Anna Paquin. It is a great movie, and I highly recommend it. I had the opportunity to talk to Kevin Downes, the producer, and John Irwin, one of the directors about this film, and why you should go see it. I'll get to that conversation in just a moment. But I want to thank you for listening to along the way. All of my episodes and social links are available at my website along the way dot media. And all the links from this episode are going to be in the show. Well, this is John Matarazzo, from the charisma news podcast. And I am here with John Irwin, one of the directors of the amazing movie American underdog, the Kurt Warner story starring Zachary Levi and Anna Paquin. And Dennis Quaid is in this as well, I had, I had the opportunity to see a screener of this movie. Early on, well, it was actually still there, we're still green screen for some of the crowd. But I'm grateful that I was able to still see that. But John, it is John Irwin, it is great to have you on this podcast to find out more about this amazing movie that everybody needs to see on Christmas Day, when it comes out. Make sure you're there. But John, thanks so much for being here.

Jon Erwin: 3:03

Thanks for having me, it's great to talk about the film, and I'm glad you got to see it. And yes, so many, especially at the end, you know, all the stadium and all the people, you know, are digital, and it's interesting to see it in that form. And then it's amazing to see when all the elements come together. But you know, ultimately, I love that. You know, it's a story. I believe in the timing of every of everything in the destiny of it and God's hand in it all. And, you know, the idea that this story is coming out now, I think there's that's a magical thing, I just think that we that we need to be inspired again, the whole idea of the movie is to rekindle the dreams of the audience, you know, right? To let to let everybody know that all things are possible. And for people to see the movie and say, if he can accomplish what life told him was impossible, maybe we can too. And they did it as a family. Maybe we can do it as a family. And and that's the theme and heartbeat of the movie. And so I just think it's a movie for its time. That's something that we need right now. And, and it was it was a wonderful story to tell. And I don't actually understand how this movie has not been made. I mean, this story has inspired so many people for so long. Yeah, you know, I can't believe it hasn't been made. I can't believe and I get to make it. And I'm just so glad it's coming out right now.

John Matarazzo: 4:18

That is so cool. I love the whole American underdog theme. I mean, just any underdog story is always one of I think I think us as people are just kind of programmed. You know, I think we're designed by God to love the underdog story. I mean, you've got David versus Goliath, you've got the ultimate underdog. Ultimate stuff. I mean, so you've got I love the journey that you guys take us on in Kurt Warner's life who's played by Zachary Levi, who I think he's a great pick for that role.

Unknown: 4:48

I was born to play the role. Yeah.

John Matarazzo: 4:51

Yeah. I do want to ask for you though, just in regards of filming this, I mean, because of the COVID stuff that we're We're all having to kind of navigate through life. We did talk about briefly the fact that you have crowds in this film. What were some of the challenges that you had in in creating this film and shooting it, then how did you guys overcome that? Because, you know, you're talking about the American underdog with Kurt Warner, but it's kind of like, you've had a little bit of an underdog story yourself getting to a place. Yeah, the

Unknown: 5:22

film was an underdog. I mean, you know, it was, it was we were almost about to make it and then was put on hiatus with the pandemic. And then Zach was going to do Shazam, to eventually we just really believed in the movie, we believed in the story, we believed in Zach, playing the role and, and we just took this massive leap of faith that we could go make the movie and figure out how to make this movie, in a pandemic, you know, and, which was an unreasonable belief, like the movie itself. And it was the most difficult thing that we've ever done. But I think you feel a lot of that, I mean, the story is about overcoming the odds and and doing the impossible. And, and, you know, it was just sort of a divine hand on the movie and and, and we never shut down because of COVID and, and we just had to figure out how to make it with with even reduced budget made it very fast and but you feel all of that there was a blizzard that struck me that we called the blizzard Demick. And it struck Oklahoma where we were and also Texas, and but you know, providentially was right, we were filming a blizzard sequence in the movie. So we were able to sort of put it on the screen. So I just think that, that, that it was it was definitely difficult, but but God provided for us in a pretty spectacular way. And, and I get I just feel like, it's a movie for its time. And I just think that it's an honor to tell stories that inspire. And, and I just think that, you know, each movie has its theme, and each movie has its purpose. And those are different. And so the idea to make a film, whose theme and purpose is to to just convince people to chase their dreams again, that's a cool thing. That's a magical thing. And that, you know, all things are possible, which is the title of Kurt's book. And if you just keep going, and you just keep if you hold to your faith, and you hold to your calling in life, and you just never quit. And so I love that about this story. And I think so many of us know this story. We know sort of this guy was bagging groceries at a supermarket, NFL MVP, Super Bowl MVP, five years later, but the story that we don't know is so inspiring. And it's such a family story. It's such a love story. And you don't have to be a football fan, to to enjoy it. Because everybody can relate to having an impossible dream and achieving it together. And really, Kurt Warner achieved his dream with the woman right beside him, which was Brenda. Yeah, I

John Matarazzo: 7:42

love how it's not just a football story. It's a great story. It's the journey that Kurt and Brenda were on together. And football just happens to be a big part of it. But it's not the only thing. So you don't need to be a football fan or a sports movie fan to love this movie. I mean, the relational aspect of it. I mean, there's several times in the movie, where I was tearing up. Yeah, you know, I had to wipe a few away just because it was so moving.

Unknown: 8:07

It'll make you laugh and cry and cheer. Oh, yeah. Yeah, hopefully multiple times. But yeah, it's, it's interesting when we, when we screened it first and early, like when you saw it, it tested higher than anything that we've ever done. And, but people called it an inspirational love story. That's how they described it much more so than a sports story. And certainly, if you're a sports fan, if you're a fan of the story, if you remember the story, you'll love the movie. But also it's it's just a love letter to dreamers everywhere. And I love the tagline of the film, which is no one wins alone. And even the in credit song by the original song that's giving me guidance, which is love changes everything. And the idea that Kurt Warner became a champion off the field first, you know, in his relationship with Brenda and her kids as a husband as a father. And then he brought all that on to the field. And that's a special thing. And and, you know, the faith that he he discovered and the relationship that Britain had with God and how that rubbed off on him and, and it really is the power of two people believing in each other. Believing in God and believing in a dream together. It's a movie to see with the important people in your life.

John Matarazzo: 9:14

Yeah, I would agree with that completely. You know, you said earlier that you had to scale back your budget and everything and then you ended up filming the scene of them in the blizzard in an actual blizzard? Yeah, it happened. Yeah, so did were you praying for that to happen? I had like there's it seems like God was God's hand was all over this even in a in a tempesta

Unknown: 9:34

way. And everything that we've done, God had his hand on us. And the fact that we didn't shut down with COVID and the fact that a blizzard hit Oklahoma while we were filming a blizzard, yeah, those things just kept happening. And it really was miraculous that this film was able to be made. I mean, it was really an act of faith making the film at all and just you could feel God's hand on it. And I think that that just the timing of it is also spectacular. Yeah. And so yeah, it's it's cool when you When you do something, and you just take a leap, and sometimes, I think that's the important thing is is to, I think, we don't pursue our calling in life or our dreams in life, or what we feel is our destiny, because there's so many unknown things, there's so many questions, there's so many fears. And I think one of the themes of the movie and certainly the making of the film, is just to not let that stop you from from taking each step, you know, and, and success is just long obedience in the same direction. And it's just a few steps every day and, and don't let life and anxiety and questions out in the future stop you from the progress that you can make today towards your dream, you know, and I think that's one of the themes. So so the film was, was that we just had to step out, even though you know, we couldn't have crowds and and because of the type films that we make lots of times, like with films like I can only imagine or even I still believe we would have 1000s of people come out and be X ray, right? We could have any that I mean, the most people could have was 100 people not including the players, or 100 150. And so all the stadium at the end is digital. It's amazing. It's unbelievable. You can't tell but but but you know, all the fans, you know, in the arena football games, we would have to film one by one to green screen. So we filmed all the fans, we'd filmed with nine cameras from different angles, and then we had to put them in digitally, you know, comp them in to the shots. And so and then everything's 3d, you know, in, you know, at the end with the Rams, and so, but we didn't exactly know if we'd be able to see, yeah, it's just cool to have a great team and and see that I don't think the movie would have been any better. I think that the the pressure of it actually made the movie The movie better. And sometimes the you know, your greatest performance and your best ideas come when the circumstances are pretty dire. And so that was certainly part of the making of the movie.

John Matarazzo: 11:50

Absolutely. And I can't wait to see it again, with family and friends on Christmas Day or that weekend. However, you know, however, you got to get there. I say just get there. It's a phenomenal story. And it's well portrayed. But you enjoy Oh yeah, I'm definitely glad that I had the chance to see that. And I will be taking people but it's at theaters all over the country. You can basically see it wherever you go to see your movies, and just make it a point to go see this movie, I highly recommend it. John Irwin, thank you so much for directing this film, and being on here to talk about this. And hopefully prayerfully everybody's gonna go see it and make it the number one film over Christmas weekend.

Unknown: 12:31

So much, man, I appreciate it. And I love the idea that you see it together. I love films that can bring the family together and and and that's what we do when my family does over Christmas and over the holidays, is we just see movies together and sort of tradition. So I'm glad to add one into the mix and, and one that will uplift and inspire. So I'm glad you enjoyed it. Can't wait to see it finished. And thanks for getting the word out.

John Matarazzo: 12:56

This is John Matarazzo from Charisma news, and I am here with Kevin Downes, who's in the car driving on the way to a premiere of a very powerful dynamic movie that I actually had the opportunity to see a screener of and it is American underdog. This movie is something that I believe that everybody has to go see it comes out on Christmas day nationwide. And it is the story of one of my favorite athletes, Kurt Warner and it's played by Zachary Levi. Anna Paquin is in that as well. And it is just a phenomenal story of a life that has been changed. And somebody that I grew up watching play, and I loved seeing, like knowing more about his story, and through this movie, and I just wanted to thank you, Kevin for producing this film. And I want to hear some kind of some behind the scenes stories and things that people can really be expecting to see as they go on as they go out to the movies on Christmas Day. So thank you for being here, Kevin.

Kevin Downes: 13:56

Yeah, no good to be here. Thanks for having me. Yeah, American underdog. I mean, Kurt Warner story. You know, for me, I was a fan of football below him and I was a fan of his ads. It was kind of unplayed is one of those too good to be true type stories as it played out. You know, here's this young man from Iowa and middle of America, who would not drafted was working at, you know, the ivy grocery store. And then next thing you know, he, he's all of a sudden playing for the Rams. And he's an NDP and a Super Bowl MVP, and he wins the Super Bowl by like a foot. It's incredible. And so, you know, the opportunity to tell his story came up after our last film, which was called not our last film, but the one before that was called I can only imagine we kind of jumped at the opportunity to meet Kurt and Brenda. And once we met each other and kind of went through that process of what kind of movie that they wanted to have made and what what we were interested in. It was kind of a no brainer. I mean, we kind of look And each other we're like, how can this movie has not been told? And we decided to embark on it and got a great cast together. I mean, Zachary Levi is hurt. I mean, he was our first choice. The only choice and he looks so much like Kurt and bodies embodies who Kurt is. Both of them have a lot of energy. They both like to talk a lot. So it wasn't really a stretch at all. And and Anna Paquin plays Brenda and she does a great job. It's really dove in headfirst into who Brenda is really captured her essence. And her enthusiastic energy of who Brenda is. And I did a fantastic job. We brought back tennis played again at such a good time with him. I can only imagine and the he said yes, in about four seconds. Really? You know, and play coach for meal, which was kind of a dream for him. And, and Coach Romeo actually, yeah, we wanted to make sure we captured him. Right. And, and so we got on the phone with him a few times, and then showed him the movie when it was done. And, and yeah, he had a quote, he goes, you know, Dennis Quaid laid me better than I played me. Which was really great. So really thrilled with the film. I mean, it was so tough to be able to put a film together. When we shot it, which was earlier this year, in January and February, especially one that required, you know, a lot of people and but I thought our cast and crew did a fantastic job and really pulling it off and given the baby a lot of energy, which the story definitely has and definitely needed.

John Matarazzo: 16:38

Yeah, I definitely thought that your pick for Zachary Levi being the main role with being Kurt Warner was a great choice. I've been a fan of Zachary Levi from his days on Chuck A while ago, but he there was definitely some show like Adam Baldwin did. I love seeing Adam Baldwin show up in there, too. I was like, oh, Casey is still picking on Chuck. It's still it's pretty funny. But what I wanted to say though, is that there's some angles and some shots that you were able to take kind of around Zachary Levi, that I forgot that it was Zachary Levi, I thought that this was really Kurt Warner for a second there. I mean, so I thought you guys did a good job picking him the way that you shot. It just made me forget that this was an actor playing a role. And so that was great job with that the whole way around. But you said something earlier that you had a question that you said, why wasn't this film made before? And so I want to ask you that, because you know, this is a tremendous story. I mean, it's really, he went from bagging groceries to winning the Super Bowl. I mean, not not quite as quickly as that. But why wasn't this told before?

Unknown: 17:48

I don't know. I mean, it kind of blows my mind. I mean, I can remember again, being at his final home game as an Arizona Cardinal, and he had stuck around and was talking to some of the fans. And just remember, I mean, it was, like, I had tears in my eyes kind of watching it unfold. And I remember thinking myself is gonna make an incredible movie. And not knowing that, you know, I'd be a part of it. And I, you know, I, I just for me, I like to think you know, and God had a plan and all that it's been on my heart while the while the movie was playing out in real life. And then all of a sudden, to be available when we had the opportunity to do it to meet Kurt, we all hit it off. I think it's just really a dream come true.

John Matarazzo: 18:27

Yeah. So this is it's a screenplay adapted from a book that he wrote, is that correct?

Unknown: 18:34

Yeah, so the book is basically a segment of their life. I mean, for the most part, John, you know, you know, he likes to interview the people that, you know, telling the movie about. And so, we did about three days of interviews with Kurt and Brenda, and wrote the screenplay from there as well, an adaptation from the book. And, you know, there's so much good content there that you got to really make a decision to strip a lot of it down and compact it into about an hour and 45 minute movie that's compelling early moves, and the story beats from the point that you want to get across and then of course, that's just enough for the right amount of football. Not too much, but not too little either. Right? Right. I thought that Irwin brothers did a really great job in balancing that line of getting it right to that point where he always want to kind of leave you wanting a little bit more just as the movie in

John Matarazzo: 19:26

Yeah, I definitely agree with that. Yeah, you definitely still want more from the from these guys. And you just want to see what happens next. And I think you guys did a phenomenal job of telling the story and pulling this all together. That's awesome that Kurt and Brenda interviewed you guys about making this film. You know, I think that's that shows their involvement with this, but what was their involvement of the actual creation of it other than them, you know, saying okay, you guys can make this film. What was their involvement beyond just giving

Unknown: 19:59

for for our apart, you know, we want to make sure that the people we're telling the story about are heavily involved. I mean, we don't, we have no desire to make the film, unless we're making the film, but they want to have told the story that they want to have told. And so, you know, that was critical. And once they realize that, and that was truthful on our side that they were all in. And, and we just started talking about what that story was what was really important to one another and, and what we wanted to get across and just kind of go into work. And, you know, Kurt is, you know, he's, he's an absolute professional, and he's a perfectionist, which I would expect nothing less, being who he is, and eight out of winning a Super Bowl, I guess you'd have to be a perfectionist to be able to pull that off. But he really is, and, and he wants things to be just right and just perfect. And so he's not afraid to hold out until he gets that moment. And you see that throughout his life, you know, he doesn't settle. And one of the things I love about him and so, you know, great, great people, I love what he's what he did with them, they're really a salt of the earth people and, and really fun to be around. And their story was worthy to be told.

John Matarazzo: 21:15

Yeah, it's definitely worthy to be told, and I didn't, I didn't understand beforehand, I didn't know much about his wife. And so I really appreciated how you guys told her side of the story. And, you know, it's it's not just a story about a guy that's good at throwing a football, you know, it's the the personal dynamic that the personal struggles that they went through to get to the place where he was able to actually finally make a team and just the scene where, and I don't want to give too much away. But you know, they're kind of stranded at one point. And you just see the care in their eyes and just knowing that they're going through this, but they're going through it together. It just gave me even a deeper appreciation for this man that I see throwing a football and you know, now he's commentating and doing all kinds of other things. And the actors did a great job depicting their characters.

Unknown: 22:07

Yeah, I mean, one of my favorite scenes, I mean, it's very relatable, where, you know, the two of them just have this moment where she's just assumed that is not going to work out. So why would we? Why should we even try to be real with each other, and like, every other guy out there, you're just gonna quit and give up and we're just gonna hurt each other. So let's just save each other the same. And he steps up, and he steps up? And he says, Yeah, but that's not. And, and, you know, she then allows them, okay, go ahead, if that's what you want to do, then, you know, back it up, don't just have the words to back it up and totally back it up. And, and he became a father to her children. Whereas, you know, he could have just kind of called it a day and said, that was too difficult. I don't want to get into the, but he really developed such a bond with her son back, and the two of them had such a relationship with one another. And you know, that part of it was undeniable. And so I that's probably one of my favorite parts of their story together, is how curtains back bonded from the very beginning. And how that bond kind of kept their family together throughout the entire thing. And then of course, they get married, and then have four more kids and really, really cool story of a man really stepping up and show not just saying I love you, but then showing it through.

John Matarazzo: 23:27

Yeah, primarily the audience for this charisma news podcast are Christians and believers. What kind of a faith connection can they expect to see in this movie?

Unknown: 23:37

Yeah, to me, the face connection is, you know, first of all, our goal was to make this very accessible, but you get into the film, and Brenda shares her testimony with heard about where she comes from. And he realized that her face is a very important piece of her life. And as you see their story play out, you know, he makes a concession to her. You know, during the proposal scene, it's like I want what you have, I want your safe. And how she lives her face out is something that was very attractive to him, was something that he was missing to each other, that he was missing out of his life. And one of the take on that piece, I love that about him where they each are able to serve one another in a way that was very unique to what each other's needs, were able to fill those holes.

John Matarazzo: 24:28

Yeah, I think that's just beautifully done. Because it wasn't like a over the top like an altar call thing that you could see it really played out in their lives that their faith became this really important thing, or it was important for Brenda already, but it became an important thing for Kurt. And I just really I felt like I went on this journey with him of faith. And it wasn't it wasn't an over the top thing but it was like, Oh, this is what's happening right now. This is where his life has changed. And this is where he finds purpose. Beyond throwing a football, I'd really appreciate how you guys did that. So

Unknown: 25:06

it was really discussed. It was discussed between, you know, all of us. Before we went into it, it's like, you know, they're very outspoken about their faith as it is. And we want to repeat that or did we did we want it to have it a little bit more nuanced, so that people could have be accessible to what their faces by watching the movie itself and so very careful how we did it. And a discussion that Kurt and Brenda wanted and John in India when the directors really delivered it, yeah.

John Matarazzo: 25:35

So this film opens up on Christmas day all over the place. Right? How many theaters is it opening on?

Unknown: 25:41

Yeah, it'll be out over 3000 screens, day. Lionsgate really they're going all in on it and and really appreciate that about him. Christmas is probably the biggest piece of real estate and the theatrical landscape and the movie that they're kind of putting their bed on. Christmas is our day. And they're doing it kind of unprecedented, you know?

John Matarazzo: 26:02

Yeah. What is the website for the movie so people can see the trailer and check it out and get their seats ready? Yeah, if

Unknown: 26:08

you just Google American underdog, you'll see it come up through a Lionsgate website. And also you can just go to online ticketing resources like Fandango, and grab your tickets. They're up on sale right now. We've got early access screenings December 17, and 18th. They're like one Showtime per night. You want to catch it before Christmas. I encourage you to check it out before Christmas and stubbing aired, and then over 3000 screens starting Christmas Day.

John Matarazzo: 26:35

Awesome, awesome. Kevin Downes, the producer of American underdog. Thank you so much for joining me on the charisma news podcast. And I want to encourage everybody to make sure that you go see American underdog in theaters and help this movie become the number one film over Christmas weekend. Thank you for listening to along the way. If you've enjoyed joining me along my way, please share this with a friend who you think will be encouraged by this podcast. Also, please rate and review along the way on iTunes that helps more people discover along the way and subscribe to this podcast wherever you're listening. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram and through my website along the way dot media. If you want to support me in this podcast, I have a Patreon page. The link to become a supporter is also in my show notes. I hope that you've enjoyed this part of my journey and may you realize when Jesus is walking with you along your way. Along the way is honored to be part of the charisma Podcast Network. You can find tons of spirit filled content from their vast catalogue of podcasts including my Monday through Friday news stories for the charisma news podcast. Go to CPN shows.com To see the full list and latest episodes