The minute Race star Stephan James heard about the film that chronicles the life story of Jesse James (that co-stars Jason Sudeikis) and his triumphant, world-changing, experiences at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, he did everything he could to be a part of the magic.
“When I first read the script, I said to my manager, ‘I gotta find a way to get into this film.’ I didn’t know where I would fit. I wanted to play Jesse, but I was fine with paying Jesse’s best friend or whoever,” James told The Movie Mensch and laughed. “For me, I just wanted to be a part of this story.”
He auditioned, met with director Stephen Hawkins, got the part… and then the hard part began. James admitted he knew “very little” about the icon beyond the racing prowess. He knew he had to dig much deeper, and that would be the tip of the iceberg.
“When I got the call to be in the Jesse Owens biopic, I kind of scratched my head a little bit. I had to research and remind myself about who he was and what he had done. Then obviously, I was blown away,” James said.
What most influenced the Race star in terms of the world of Owens was all the elements about the man that went beyond sport. “More than the athlete he was – the fastest man on the planet – and this big track star, I was attracted to him as a human being. I learned so many things about him as a man, as a father, the type of humanitarian he was. He was the type of person who treated everyone exactly how he wanted to be treated,” James said.
“He was a person who was color blind. He only saw the love of his sport. Through that he was able to transcend the sport. Everyone thinks of Jesse Owens and they think about this superstar. But, to me, how do I capture how he is as a human being and show people that? I wanted to bring a level of humanity to this hero.”
Capturing his persona was one part, the other important aspect of James’ task was to bring an overwhelming reality to Owens the athlete. “I was shooting Selma in Atlanta. Every off day I had on Selma, I went to George Tech and was training with the track and field coach there. I wanted to make sure I was getting my conditioning right,” James admitted.
“That was learning not only to run fast, but to run like Jesse, because of how particular his running style was. I had to pay attention to that. How he started. What was his stride like? What was his face like? Everything. The devil was in details and figuring out the little things and doing so much, running like him so much that I couldn’t run any other type of way. If you guys asked me to run right now, I’d run like Jesse.”
When shooting the film was complete, James felt an immense amount of pride for what he had done. Not only had he captured Owens and his humanity, but the part that was the fastest man alive.
“Ninety-nine percent of the running was me. As an actor, you want to go through that process if you’re playing the fastest man alive, you want to feel what that whole training regimen is like. You can’t fake that. You can’t fake being that world class athlete, and that is what he was,” James said.
It was intimidating process, but so worth it when the final result is as astounding as what James achieved in Race.
“I would remiss if I didn’t say I was a little intimated by the whole thing — you are playing someone who is that iconic. He’s larger than life, obviously there’s pressure there. I wanted to do justice to his life.”