American actor George Clooney utilized his new film to transform a group of actors into professional rowers in "The Boys in the Boat." The sports drama tells the true story of the novice rowing team from the University of Washington in 1936, which insisted on defeating Ivy League teams and competing for the gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Berlin.
The film, directed by Clooney, is inspired by the bestselling nonfiction book by Daniel James Brown. In an interview during the film's premiere in London yesterday, Clooney stated, "When we started casting, we contacted them and asked: Are you an athletic person? We said you have to be honest, because if you’re not, we will kick you out." He added, "All participants with us said they were honest, and they were. The training took about three months, but we got them to the required level."
The film is set during the peak of the Great Depression, focusing on a poor student, Joe Rantz, played by Callum Turner, who tried to join an eight-man team after discovering they would offer him pay and a place to sleep. Coach Al Ulbrichson, portrayed by Joel Edgerton, was tasked with turning the aspiring actors into a professional team that could row in perfect harmony and compete against the top teams.
Former British Olympic rowing team coach Terry O'Neill trained the actors for about eight weeks. The film will be released in theaters in the United States and Canada on December 25, and worldwide in January.
