CNN
—
The brand new movie “Fantasy Soccer” capitalizes on a few of its stars pure expertise.
Marsai Martin channels numerous girl-boss vitality taking part in Callie Coleman, a tech-savvy younger girl whose father’s lengthy profession within the NFL lands him with the Atlanta Falcons crew.
Her manufacturing firm is behind the family-friendly movie. (Martin, 18, set a Guinness World Document in 2020 because the youngest Hollywood government producer to work on a serious manufacturing.)
She and costars Omari Hardwick (Bobby Coleman), Rome Flynn (Anderson Fisher), together with the movie’s director Anton Cropper, lately spoke with CNN after they appeared at a Falcons recreation held at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.
It was acquainted environment because the group shot loads of scenes for his or her film there.
The plot facilities round Callie’s father, performed by Hardwick, seemingly on the finish of his profession when his daughter discovers she will management his strikes through taking part in the Madden soccer online game.
Martin sees the position through which her character additionally makes buddies with the robotics membership crew members at her new faculty as extra than simply enjoyable with its constructive message about range in know-how.
“I’ve met so many women who’re in to know-how and STEM (science, know-how, engineering, and arithmetic) or are all about Black ladies coding,” she mentioned. “It’s necessary to shine a light-weight on it as a result of it’s a really large deal. It’s all about illustration.”
For Hardwick, the mission gave him the chance to lean into his soccer roots.
Earlier than he grew to become well-known for his work in roles like James “Ghost” St. Patrick on “Energy,” the Savannah, Georgia native performed as a defensive again on the College of Georgia and later tried out with the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted free agent.
“It feels unbelievable to be proper again right here at dwelling,” Hardwick mentioned. “That is clearly my hometown crew…however I by no means acquired to play for the Falcons. With this movie, I acquired to do my factor.”
Hardwick additionally identified that it was acceptable that they had been attending a recreation through which the Atlanta Falcons had been taking part in the Chicago Bears on condition that Rome Flynn, who performs Bobby Coleman’s rival, the hotshot younger quarterback Anderson Fisher, grew up in Chicago.
Flynn instructed CNN that not like their characters, he and Hardwick had no competitors between them as main males.
“It’s all love,” he mentioned smiling. “We respect one another and we introduced out the perfect in one another.”
“Fantasy Soccer” debuts Friday on Paramount+.