Thursday, March 28, 2024

Stephan James Takes On Jesse Owens So ‘People Don’t Forget Our Legends’ [EUR EXCLUSIVE]

RACE
Producer Will Packer and actors Erica Ash, Stephan James & Jessie Usher

*Stephan James wasn’t director Stephen Hopkins first choice to play African-American athlete Jesse Owens in the upcoming biopic “RACE.”

John Boyega was the frontrunner for the role but then he landed a major part in a little film called “Star Wars,” and James secured the role.

“He’s a great talent, and he reminds me so much of Jesse,” Hopkins said of James. “He comes off as a very sweet and saintly individually but inside, he’s made of steel, and he’s got the anger that you’d have if you’re an African American living in America in those days.”

“He has a grace around him,” Hopkins added. “We lucked out because the guy really understands honor and dignity and he’s willing to stick himself out there to play this story.”

“When I first read the script, I told my manager that I got to find a way to get in this film,” the 21-year-old budding star said during a recent RACE roundtable discussion. Stephan confessed that he knew “very little” about Owens prior to getting the call about the film.

“I had to research and remind myself about who he was and what he had done, and then obviously I was blown away to even have the opportunity to audition,” James added.

The sports-drama centers on Owen’s early life leading up to and including his triumph at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, where he won four gold medals. EUR/Electronic Urban Report sat down with James for an insightful discussion about his performance, and why artists and the audience must embrace important stories like Jesse’s so they don’t get lost in history.

While preparing for this role, what aspects of Owen’s life resonated with you that helped enhance your performance?

SJ: I was attracted to just him as a person. I learned so many things about him as a man, as a father. It just blew me away to learn about the type of humanitarian he was. He was a person who treated everyone exactly how he wanted to be treated. A person who was colorblind. All he saw was the love for his sport. Through that, he was able to transcend not only the sport but the world, and that’s what brought me to him mostly. Everyone thinks of Jesse Owens and they hear this big athlete, they think of this big superstar – fastest man alive. But to me I was like, ‘How do I capture him as a human being and show people a level a humanity to this hero?’.

RACE
RACE star Stephan James.

SJ: It’s always been about, telling the truth, no matter how ugly or pretty that truth was. The biggest thing for me was to try to be accurate and not only with the way he physically did things, running wise, but the whole story in general.

Did you use a running double for the race scenes?

SJ: 99% of the running was me. I wanted to make sure that the director could shoot from wherever he wanted to, and not feel limited. And then, as an actor, you want to go through that process. If you’re playing the best man alive, you want to feel what that whole training regimen is like. You can’t fake being this world class athlete.

James was filming “Selma” while he trained for his performance as Owens. During his off days from director Ava DuVernay’s set, he worked with Olympic track and field coaches at Georgia Tech. Stephan said he wanted “to make sure I was getting my conditioning right. That I was learning not only how to run fast but how to run like Jesse because of how particular his running style was, so I had to pay attention to the details.”

He also gained further insight about Owens from his daughters, who were “very instrumental in the filmmaking process from the beginning.”

Stephan James, Ny MaGee
RACE star Stephan Jame & EUR associate Ny MaGee. *filter used on image*

There’s so much rich history explored in this film, from the Nazi’s influence over American politics, to the U.S. government refusing to acknowledge Jesse’s Olympic win, simply because he was a black man. While doing your research on the man, did you learn certain truths that made you angry?

SJ: Of course there were angry moments. There were very sad moments. Things that you read and you see that are disheartening, but then as an artist, I had to drop all that and focus on telling the story. I couldn’t bring my own emotions into the film.

Why is the Jessee Owens story important to tell today?
SJ: Not only is it a story about one of the incredible moments in world history, but also it’s just a story of inspiration. It’s a story about a man who came from circumstances in which – what he did, we would almost think inconceivable. But when you look at Jesse and you look at his story, it’s really a testament to, it doesn’t matter what you look like, or where you come from – anyone can accomplish great things. So, when we look at this, we should feel inspired by a guy like Jesse Owens and what he did. It’s important to retell these stories so people don’t forget about our legends, and how far we’ve come and how we can’t afford to go backwards.

Speaking of how far we’ve come, what’s your take on the #OscarsSoWhite controversy?

SJ: I think important to raise the discussion. We can’t afford to not talk bout it. If it’s something that visible that it provokes people to really stand up and even mention the idea of going in to boycott, then it’s important to discuss it. I think that when people see this film, they’ll see why it really doesn’t matter what you look like or where you come from. You’re fully able to accomplish great things. There were so many barriers that Jesse broke down, simply because he loved running. He loved it so bad that he wasn’t going to let nothing or no one stop him.

Stephan James co-stars with Jason Sudeikis, Jeremy Irons, Carice van Houten, Shanice Banton, and William Hurt. RACE opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, February 19.

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