McFarland, USA Fun Facts!
In case you are looking for a great activity for the whole family this weekend, McFARLAND, USA is now playing in theatres everywhere!!! And in celebration, I wanted to send around some fun facts on the movie!
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McFarland, USA - Trailer
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McFARLAND, USA is rated PG and is now playing in theatres everywhere!
Fun Facts
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“McFarland, USA” is inspired by a 1987 true
story, in which an unlikely band of inexperienced, under-equipped, young Latino
runners with exceptional determination rise to become cross-country state
champions under the leadership of their coach, Jim White. Over the years since
then, the McFarland High School cross-country teams have won nine state
championships and the small school is considered a powerhouse in the sport.
§
Coach Jim White is retired now, but if you go to
McFarland, chances are you will see him out there on his bike, keeping up with
the kids every evening with a lot of his original team running alongside as
well. White retired in 2002 after teaching in McFarland schools for 40 years and
coaching for 25 years.
§
A number of the original runners on the
championship 1987 cross-country team became educators in the McFarland school
district. The former teammates are not only working in their hometown, but also
raising their families there and actively supporting the cross-country teams of
today by coaching, helping out with the meets and practices and donating goods
or money so the teams have what they need.
§
Three out of the seven young actors on the team in
the movie are from the McFarland area—Sergio Avelar who plays Victor Puentes
and Michael Aguero, cast as Damacio Diaz, are actual runners and Ramiro
Rodriguez, as Danny Diaz, was a champion soccer player.
§
Ramiro Rodriguez had no intention of auditioning
when he agreed to drive his cousin to the casting tryouts for “McFarland, USA.”
He landed the role of Danny Diaz after being pestered repeatedly by executive
producer Mario Iscovich to audition.
§
Sergio Avelar is a bona fide runner and a member of the
McFarland Track Club. He has been running since 2001 and considers himself a
“decent runner.” One of his coaches in middle school was actually Thomas
Valles, the real-life person represented
by the role that Carlos Pratts plays.
§
Actor Rafael Martinez, who is by nature soft-spoken and polite, admits that he
cut school in order to audition for the movie. Needless to say, having won a
role, he has no regrets.
§ Prior
to the start of principal photography, director Niki Caro organized an informal gathering for the on-screen
White clan that proved insightful for her and the actors. In pre-production she
assembled the actors together—Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Morgan Saylor and
Elsie Fisher—and had them play Monopoly as a family unit. The interesting
exercise kick-started a family dynamic that lasted for the entire shoot.
§
Kevin Costner, who plays Coach White, was a
great hit with the young actors. He quietly mentored them and offered advice if
they wanted it but for the boys, listening to Costner’s stories and watching
movies with him in his trailer was a highlight. They felt so comfortable with
the famous movie star that they even nicknamed him “KC.”
§
Like the real McFarland team, all seven young actors
had to train to become champion runners. Although some had more track and field
experience than others, all of them took their drills very seriously. Mark
Ellis, the coach hired to train them for the film, would have it no other way
and the team evolved over time. But training them wasn’t as simple as merely
putting shoes on their feet. Every morning at 8 a.m. the runners showed up for
practice, which was literally running and more running to build up endurance.
§
In the script, the character Thomas Valles,
played by Carlos Pratts, is a natural runner with prodigious talent. But the reverse
was true for Pratts, who zealously prepared for the cross-country scenes and in
the process, became a runner. In addition to drills with the film’s running
coach, Mark Ellis, Pratts worked out with personal trainer Brian Nguyen. Nguyen
famously got Mark Wahlberg into boxing shape for “The Fighter” and did likewise
for Pratts.
§
The production took the cast and crew to some of
the most beautiful spots in Southern and Central California, from Lake Castaic
to Malibu to the Griffith Park Observatory, in addition to the fields and
neighborhoods of Bakersfield and McFarland.
§
There were some unique cinematic opportunities
in the filming of the movie, especially the embankments of almonds covered in
protective plastic that served as training hills for the team. The expanse of
these weird mounds across the landscape was visually arresting and certainly
emblematic of McFarland, home to Blue Diamond Almonds.
§
Classic lowriders are featured in “McFarland,
USA” in several scenes. Lowriders are custom cars fitted with hydraulic jacks
that allow the chassis to be lowered almost all the way to the road. Lowriding
was very big in California’s Central Valley in the mid-’80s with Bakersfield being
one of the lowriding epicenters of the area. Lowriding is often stereotypically
depicted as gangster-related in film but the reality is that these car clubs
are essentially about family and community and the cars are lovingly treasured.
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