Original-Cin Q&A: NFL great Kurt Warner and His Screen Self Zachary Levi on American Underdog
NFL great Kurt Warner is a legend on and off the field. Warner overcame years of challenges and setbacks to become a two-time NFL MVP, Super Bowl champion, and Hall of Fame quarterback.
Considered the greatest undrafted player in NFL history, he stocked shelves in a grocery store and played arena and European league football while grabbing any and every opportunity to show what he could do on an NFL roster.
His amazing success story can now be seen on the big screen in American Underdog with Zachary Levi playing Warner and Anna Paquin as his devoted wife Brenda.
Our Bonnie Laufer spoke with Kurt Warner and Zachary Levi about bringing Kurt’s story to life.
American Underdog is in theaters now.
Zachary Levi and NFL Hall of Famer Kurt Warner. Or is it the other way around?
ORIGINAL-CIN: Well gentlemen, I didn't know I would need 18 boxes of Kleenex to watch this film. So thank you, kindly. I appreciate it!
Kurt, most of us know you as a phenomenal football player, but many do not know how you got there. You are a shining example of going for your dreams and never giving up. What has it been like for you, not just to watch Zachary Levi play you, but to relive this whole experience?
KURT WARNER: Well it’s funny that you say relive it, because I feel like I talk about it all the time and after all these years everybody brings up the story and you relive a lot of it.
But when you're going through life, and I've got seven kids, and you're chasing the next thing, you don't really have that opportunity to just kind of sit back in it.
It brought me back to remembering what it felt like when I met Brenda for the first time, spending time with her son Zach, and listening to the radio, and going through some of those emotions or some of those moments along the journey that were really tough.
O-C: I can only imagine the flood of emotions you felt while going through this process.
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WARNER: That to me was something that kind of amazed me when I watched the movie. It’s just like when you go to a movie in the theater, right? You lose everything for two hours and you get locked into what's going on and then all the emotions came back to me.
I remembered seeing my wife after we watched one of the early cuts of the film and just saying, “Thank you for being you,” because it reminded me of what I've learned from her, what she showed me, how she brought out the best in me and challenged me in new ways.
I also realized that I should probably say that to her more often! (Laughs)
The movie gave me an opportunity to stop for a second and remember some of those things and I think that's really a cool part of it.
O-C: Having all of your family, including your kids, seeing what you went through had to have been quite special.
WARNER: I think one of the coolest parts of the process has been my kids watching the movie, because they've heard all the stories too but as you saw in the movie. There's only two of them featured in the movie.
The other five really didn't live through that and they've watched the movie with tears in their eyes, or they'll turn around and go, “Dad, Mom, I have a better understanding and greater appreciation for you after watching the movie.” Those are the kinds of things that were really, really cool and most important to me.
ORIGINAL-CIN: Zachary to have this legend next to you throughout the entire process has to have been a gift. But what kind of pressure was it, and what was harder learning to throw the football or learning how to line dance?
ZACHARY LEVI: (Laughs) Well, I'm a pretty good dancer, so that's a given!!
WARNER: He told us that numerous times! ( laughs)
LEVI: Picked it up like that. They were saying that we were going to have days and days of choreography and I was like, ‘What? I got that done in half a day!”
Throwing the ball was a whole different story. It was far more difficult to figure that out, particularly since I had never really learned to do that before I took this on.
I threw baseballs growing up so it was learning a whole new skill. I was throwing footballs so much for this film and it's a whole different mechanic, a whole different process. You've got that pointed cylindrical ball and trying to find that airstream so that was a challenge.
There's absolutely an inherent built-in pressure when you are doing a biopic about a person who is also very much alive and very much still famous and on television, because there's a constant comparison that people can make.
But I will say that I never ever felt any kind of intimidation or extra pressure, from Kurt or Brenda at all. They were so supportive of Anna Paquin (who plays Brenda) and I, they were there with us for a lot of the filming and they were a great resource.
We got to go to them and ask questions about pretty much anything and everything. I remember constantly asking Kurt what would you do in this situation?
I remember in particular when we were shooting Kurt and Brenda’s wedding. I watched the actual footage to capture the moments when their son Zach was singing to Kurt and watching the intense love between them. We would watch together. And then we talked about it and we made it happen. So it was truly invaluable to have him by my side and have his support throughout the entire process. It's so great to know you have those extra eyes and ears, who lived the moments, to help guide you through and always have your back.