Cole Hauser stars in the inspiring The Last Champion, which finds his disgraced former Gold Medal winning Olympian returning to his rural Washington state hometown when his mother dies. Seems there is a lot more that needs to be mourned (and mended) than a family matriarch.
The Movie Mensch spoke to Hauser in a video interview where the actor revealed what it was about the film that pulled all the right heartstrings. He also dished what it was about his character’s rich and vast story arc that most appealed to him and made it a must-make for the actor who we first met in School Ties and Dazed and Confused and have since marveled in Olympus Has Fallen and Yellowstone opposite Kevin Costner.
He phoned from Puerto Rico, where he is making Panama and we got his two cents as to what it is about the sports movie that makes it such a popular and powerful milieu within the art of the cinema.
The Last Champion finds Hauser inhabiting John Wright, the Garfield, Washington born and raised wrestler who won locally, state-wide, and then on the biggest sporting stage in the world—the Olympics.
Then, it was revealed he used steroids and he drifted off into oblivion in disgrace.
The film finds Wright coming home to bury his mother, and to confront a hometown that feels he not only disgraced himself but the entire community.
Meanwhile, the local wrestling team, that he led to greatness, is in dire need of some help.
Perhaps, there could be some hard-earned redemption in the cards?
Check out our video interview with Hauser above, and don’t miss The Last Champion On Demand on December 8.