Woody Harrelson can run. And jump. And coach basketball.
But what heβs really good at, says director Bobby Farrelly, is βdoing something under pressure.β
In βChampions,β a new comedy in which Harrelson plays the coach of a Special Olympics team, he had to keep the interest of extras in several scenes. βWeβd have hundreds of people in the stands and weβd say something like, βDoes anyone think he can he can hit this shot?β And heβd make it. Heβs that guy who comes through in the clutch.β
Friends for years, Harrelson encouraged Farrelly to direct βChampionsβ because he loved the Spanish version, βCampeones,β upon which it was based. βWhen I saw his passion and read the script, it was just the right thing to do.β
Woody Harrelson, right, plays the coach of a rec league bound for glory in "Champions."
Among his first duties: assembling a team of athletes who could act.
βWe had an open casting call all over the country and all over Canada,β Farrelly says. βWe wanted to have people who played at some kind of Special Olympics (event) or directly for disabled athletes. Hundreds and hundreds of people sent us their videos. We found these 10 that we ended up casting. We got the right 10 because there isnβt a one of them who didnβt nail it.β
To make sure the roles fit, writer Mark Rizzo tweaked the characters so they were more like the actors playing them. βIt was much easier for them to do and that was a big help to us.β
Kevin Iannucci, who plays Kaitlin Olsonβs brother, βnever skipped a beat. By actor standards, he hadnβt done too much but he held his own in every single scene we put him in.β
Bobby Farrelly, right, directors his actor/athetes James Day Keith, Tom Sinclair, Kevin Iannucci, Matthew von der Ahe, Ashton Gunning, Casey M…
Harrelson, meanwhile, had such rapport with the disabled athletes, heβd re-run a scene if they made a mistake. βHe was doing a lot of the work that I would have had to do (as director). They loved Woody and listened to him. Heβs a remarkable athlete for his age.β
In the film, the 61-year-old Harrelsonβs character has been dropped as coach of a minor league basketball team and assigned to helm a rec league. He resists, discovers thereβs no real alternative and tries to figure out how he can turn his team, called the Friends, into winners.
Set in Des Moines, Iowa (though filmed in Winnipeg, Manitoba), βChampionsβ was shot in freezing weather. The reason? Rizzo wanted it to feel like it was set in middle America. βHe didnβt want it to be in L.A. or New York or one of the coastal cities,β Farrelly says. βSo he picked Des Moines.β
βCampeones" was more exaggerated. βThey took the liberty β as we do in our other movies β where itβs just a little bit broader, a little bit zanier and funnier, if you go that way,β Farrelly explains. βBut itβs more real if you believe these are people you might meet.β
From left, Casey Metcalfe as Marlon, James Day Keith as Benny, Woody Harrelson as Marcus, Ashton Gunning as Cody, and Tom Sinclair as Blair in…
In Farrellyβs other comedies β βThereβs Something About Mary,β βDumb and Dumber Toβ and βMe, Myself and Ireneβ β broad humor is key.
Today, βI donβt think we could make βThereβs Something About Mary,ββ he says. βThe whole world has changed and itβs a little harder to joke about a lot of things. Hopefully this will find its audience. But I think comedies will come back. Itβs kind of a cyclical thing. Society just went through a phase where it became more serious, but people love to laugh.β
Farrelly, who has collaborated several times with his Oscar-winning brother Peter, found working alone a bit daunting. βYouβve got to make a lot of decisions on your own. (Working together) gives you certainty and strength and confidence. If weβre both on the same page itβs like, βOK, we got it. Letβs do it. Letβs move on.ββ
Peter Farrelly was working on a different film when Harrelson made his pitch. Now, Bobby Farrelly is eager to see how βChampionsβ performs. βI loved working with the cast,β he says. βIt was so enjoyable I would work with them again in a minute.β
From left, Matt Cook, Kaitlin Olson, Woody Harrelson and Cheech Marin in "Champions."Β
Bobby Farrelly directed "Champions," his latest comedy with Woody Harrelson.Β
