{"id":73023,"date":"2015-08-26T15:17:44","date_gmt":"2015-08-26T15:17:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/0de2709a84.nxcli.net\/0-kjasnb\/2015\/08\/26\/exclusive-former-nfl-player-simeon-rice-on-his-directorial-debut-unsullied\/"},"modified":"2018-12-18T03:41:20","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T03:41:20","slug":"exclusive-former-nfl-player-simeon-rice-on-his-directorial-debut-unsullied","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/exclusive-former-nfl-player-simeon-rice-on-his-directorial-debut-unsullied\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive: Former NFL Player Simeon Rice On His Directorial Debut, “Unsullied”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exclusive: Former NFL Player Simeon Rice On His Directorial Debut, “Unsullied”<\/strong>Posted by Brad Balfour<\/p>\n

August 26, 2015<\/p>\n

\"Unsullied<\/a><\/p>\n

Though 42 year old Simeon Rice<\/strong> might have been an awesome defensive end for theTampa Bay Buccaneers who knew he\u2019d directed such a sure-handed and well-paced suspense thriller as his debut feature release, Unsullied<\/strong> coming out the end of this month. After leaving football, Rice could have followed a more conventional path as a sports professional but instead went to film school, found a production and writing partner in John Nodilo and has seriously worked at the craft of indie filmmaking.<\/p>\n

As a result the former football player \u2014 who has a Superbowl win as part of his resume \u2014 has created this feature which tells the harrowing tale of beautiful track star, Reagan Farrow (starring Murray Gray in her feature film debut), who is kidnapped by a pair of sociopaths (veteran actors Rusty Joiner and James Gaudioso) after her car breaks down on a deserted road out in the countryside.<\/p>\n

\"Simeon<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Though trapped and afraid, Reagan soon exploits her captors love of the hunt and foils their attempts to hunt. Using her wits and physical prowess in escaping these sickos, she frees herself and ultimately another captive woman they hold. In turn, she comprehends the pieces of a horrifying puzzle, while showing a strength of character as the female lead.<\/p>\n

In advance of this release, Rice gave this exclusive one on one interview offering a glimpse at his working methods and rationale at make this unique career turn.<\/p>\n

Most people think of sports figures going into acting, but not usually directing. Was this something you always wanted to do or is it something your partner John Nodilio guided you into?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Simeon Rice:<\/strong> I\u2019ve been wanting to direct. I felt directing is where I wanted to be, I wanted to create my own stories. I wanted to put my name in the annals of great directors of our time.<\/p>\n

Where did you get your training as a director? I know your partner John went to the Film Academy. Is that where you met?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Unsullied<\/a><\/p>\n

SR:<\/strong> I went to the Film Academy as well. That\u2019s how we met. He was working the school and I was in school. We hit it off and had a good relationship and I told him what I wanted to do and he said why don\u2019t we work together? I was meeting a lot of people at the school, professors, students, and everyone was pitching me their ideas and scripts and starting production companies with them. I just wanted to do my own thing, I don\u2019t understand how all that other stuff works.<\/p>\n

John and I were already talking every day and he showed me how I could start my own production company and come out with my own content instead of buying people\u2019s content we should make our own content.<\/p>\n

\"Unsullied<\/a><\/p>\n

He said, \u201cI know how to write, you know how to write. We can come up with great film concepts and start working together.\u201d We showed a script to HBO and I met with Dugout and I hear three days later that HBO wants to buy the script.<\/p>\n

Your story draws on elements from sports stories, but isn\u2019t a sports story in and of itself. Tough your actress is incredibly athletic.<\/strong><\/p>\n

SR:<\/strong> She\u2019s a track player in the movie.<\/p>\n

\"Unsullied<\/a><\/p>\n

But you didn\u2019t focus on sports as part of your story. Did you consciously go against those expectations?<\/strong><\/p>\n

SR:<\/strong> I just wanted to tell the sort of story I would watch. I wanted to tell a tale that would encompass a lot of layers. I wanted to tell a story about family. I knew telling her story might be anticlimactic, but I wanted to tell a story that would be uplifting in the end. So prior to making this film I watched films that I liked that were similar such as The Grade, No Country For Old Men, Deliverance, and Apocalypto.<\/p>\n

\"Unsullied<\/a><\/p>\n

We did that before we started the writing process to figure out the tone and how we would tell this story that\u2019s near and dear to my heart. If you like any of those films, you\u2019ll like this film, it\u2019s in the same circumference of those films, but it\u2019s an original story that I like.<\/p>\n

Does being a football player prepare you for the ups and downs of the film world like if the movie received negative press or it doesn\u2019t sell?<\/strong><\/p>\n

SR:<\/strong> If anything, the NFL is brutal but honest<\/p>\n

\"Simeon<\/a><\/p>\n

The film industry isn\u2019t all that honest.<\/strong><\/p>\n

SR:<\/strong> But sports are very honest. You can talk shit all day, but then you get knocked out. Fighter goes into the ring, gets knocked out in the fifth round, and that\u2019s the game. You see who the better fighter is. In sports you know who the best teams are, period. You know who the best players are, period. It\u2019s a matter of fact.<\/p>\n

Film is very subjective. People watch art and they all take something different from it. I believe all films have an audience and I\u2019m hoping that if I have an audience that this film resonates with, that they\u2019ll give me a chance as a director and that they participate with me on this journey I\u2019m on.<\/p>\n

People see films that they want to see and that they truly believe in. I truly believe this film is the sort of film people will want to see and spread that word. I\u2019m hoping that momentum build. It\u2019s a lot of speculation about how to drive an audience.<\/p>\n

\"Simeon<\/a><\/p>\n

You\u2019re are seem as a testosterone filled football player, yet you make this film from a woman\u2019s perspective and address issues of abuse that come from this culture that is a part of this testosterone filled sports culture. Were you consciously addressing things you heard about on the news?<\/strong><\/p>\n

SR:<\/strong> The stuff on the news, the Ray Rice situation, all those things happened after I wrote this film. I wrote the film first, it\u2019s like Straight Outta Compton was written before Ferguson happened, but it ended up addressing it. They just looked at what happened and how things can spiral out of control.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what happened with me and this film, I can\u2019t create the news, but this film is close to it because it reflects life. I wanted to create the ultimate fish out of water concept, seeing this girl from the city and putting her in an environment unbeknownst to her because her car breaks down. I wanted to create something inspiring and thrilling where you follow her on this journey through it and leaving you at the edge of your seat.<\/p>\n

\"Unsullied<\/a><\/p>\n

Often this sort of story is told just through the sort of character I play, but if I\u2019m going to make the ultimate fish out of water concept, then I gotta put this African American girl from the city and put her in the dark woods of Florida. Who is she? How driven would she be? How vulnerable? It\u2019s like being a scientist and putting a lab rat through different situations. It\u2019s like a social experiment gone wrong and you\u2019re watching it take place.<\/p>\n

The film seems to be a commentary on economics, especially the two men who are rich guys who feel that they can get away with anything. Was that intentional too? Or did you build on it as you went?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Unsullied<\/a><\/p>\n

SR:<\/strong> It started out as\u2026 What if two New Yorkers come down to the country and moonlight as two good ol\u2019 boys? They fire up the town with hustling, but the town does\u2019t know what to do with them because they\u2019ve been hurt by tourism, so they\u2019re just happy to have someone stimulating their little economy.<\/p>\n

I wanted to create the ultimate wolf in sheep\u2019s clothing, and I thought of the Wolf of Wall Street moonlighting as country boys. It\u2019s about not judging a book by its cover, because they might be a boy you trust.<\/p>\n

\"Unsullied<\/a><\/p>\n

This film reminded me of a Steven Seagal film \u2014 where there is a social issue underlying the action. And we don\u2019t see a lot of black women actresses. Where did you find her and would you like to work with her again?<\/strong><\/p>\n

SR:<\/strong> I\u2019d love to work with her again, she was amazing. I found her at a UCLA acting program. Out of 2,000 kids that apply they only take 60 and she was one of them. She\u2019s a great young actress and her career is just getting started. We auditioned her with 300 other girls for this role.<\/p>\n

I thought that camaraderie between the two women who were held was interesting especially that they didn\u2019t try to get revenge \u2014 just get free. Was this about remaining civilized in an uncivilized situation?<\/strong><\/p>\n

SR:<\/strong> It\u2019s in the name of the movie, Unsullied. Despite it all, they weren\u2019t sullied by the situation, they didn\u2019t become like the guys, she cared for her civilness and wanted to do the right thing.<\/p>\n

Since you\u2019re older than a lot of the other film students, did that give you some valuable perspective?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Unsullied<\/a><\/p>\n

SR:<\/strong> I was 34 when I was in film school. I had perspective because of my lifestyle, I had the more interesting lifestyle. Believe it or not I thought I was going to be the oldest student, but there were older students than me. Everyone goes to film school I guess. Most film students in the program I was in were either just getting into college or fresh out of college. It was all sorts of ages. There was one student that was 56.<\/p>\n

You could have easily gotten a name actor, but you chose to use mostly unknowns. Why was that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Unsullied<\/a><\/p>\n

SR:<\/strong> I had a million people come and audition for the roles, but I felt more comfortable doing my directorial debut and working on a film for months with actors that want to use this as an opportunity for them, I want to break someone\u2019s career. I wanted to usher someone into the foray of film making. I like that story arc. I don\u2019t think Hollywood opens doors for those guys.<\/p>\n

When I was first working on this film and I was going around Hollywood and meeting certain companies and one company said they loved the film but would shoot it all over again with A list actors. But I said that takes away from what I wanted to do, it takes away from me as a director, and it takes away these people and their work.<\/p>\n

\"Unsullied<\/a><\/p>\n

They said nobody knows these actors and I said it doesn\u2019t matter if nobody knows them, they did a great job. Look at the numbers Straight Outta Compton did. Nobody knows those people, just Paul Giamatti. And that movie was the break out movie of the year. Based on that, then Slumdog Millionaire and City of God never get made. It\u2019s the story that matter. I believe these actors can carry this story better than anyone ever could.<\/p>\n

Would you ever do a film more about sports or growing up in Chicago?<\/strong><\/p>\n

SR:<\/strong> I have a script I wrote before this script called Blindside, not related to the Blind Sided that came out. It\u2019s loosely based on me, but it\u2019s told through the quarterback. It\u2019s similar to my life.<\/p>\n

\"Simeon<\/a><\/p>\n

What do you think of the football stories that have come out? Are there more stories there?<\/strong><\/p>\n

SR:<\/strong> I don\u2019t think much about the sports football movies. I love them, some of them I really like, but that was a chapter and we moved on. My mind isn\u2019t engaged in that realm, I don\u2019t think I gotta make a film or a horror movie, I just think of a story I want. I thought of a poker film called Full Tilt that I wanted to make. There was another film I wrote about the origins of zombies, I got a lot of films I wrote that are just more interesting to me. The filmmakers I learned from like Quentin Tarantino, and Guy Richie, F. Gary Grant, those guys are inspiring directors. As a writer, my mind is past the sports arena. I love sports, I love what I did, but that was just a chapter in my life, I need to be the creative part of this as a film maker. That level has no limits to it.<\/p>\n

\"Unsullied<\/a><\/p>\n

A lot of music films miss the mark, though Straight Outta Compton has hit it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

SR:<\/strong> I think a football film could be made if it needed to be done. There\u2019s not doubt I could tell a story about sports because I could take you into the dramatics of the little idiosyncrasies that people miss in most sports films because the people making those films haven\u2019t experienced them, but I have. To answer your question about sports films, there are some really good ones, I like The Program, Any Given Sunday was fine, but I feel like it\u2019s messy. The one with Mark Wahlberg was terrible, it was like a studio film, it had no depth to it.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t even remember what it was called, it doesn\u2019t resonate. None of those films resonate with me because they leave out the depth. They create the anxiety of it, but we miss how it looks, the smell of the barbecue on the bus during the drive over, we miss having the bus be pulled over by the police or walking into the arena and people are screaming at you and cussing you out and that visual picture of everybody face painted.<\/p>\n

\"Simeon<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s an amazing full array that I could take you into that aspect of sports, and I can do that because I understand what it looks like, what it smells like, what it is. There\u2019s such a great story that needs to be told that I could tell.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next? Are you going just focus on directing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

SR:<\/strong> I\u2019m focusing on directing. I want to grow my own company, Dreamline entertainment. I hope everyone sees this film, it\u2019s full of action, suspense, little nuggets in there, you see my work and my blood sweat and tears. I\u2019ve done something people said couldn\u2019t be done. Out of 25,000 films made, only five indies get a platform this big and this is one of them.<\/p>\n

Are you working on your next film now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

SR:<\/strong> I\u2019m waiting to see how this one goes.<\/p>\n