While one-legged wrestler Anthony Robles and his mother Judy, the subjects of the sports drama Unstoppable, knew turning their story into a film could inspire audiences to overcome their own obstacles, they also had to overcome their own trepidation about revealing the pain of their personal struggles on a massive platform.
“As we thought about it more, we’re like, ‘Wow, the world’s going to see our story,’” Anthony revealed during the Unstoppable panel at Deadline Contenders Film event on Saturday. “We realized that it wouldn’t just be the victory moments, it wouldn’t just be the happy times. It’d be those painful moments and the things that we weren’t really sure about how we wanted to open up discussing and sharing.”
“I was terrified, truthfully,” Judy Robles, who’s portrayed by Jennifer Lopez in the film, agreed. “It’s scary because you see the messes that you had made in your life and you see all the things that you did wrong, and then now a lot of more people are going to be seeing that.”
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But after director William Goldenberg reassured the Robles that he intended to make a film they could be proud of, the family agreed exposing the darker side of their life would make their triumphs all the more affecting. “We knew that in order for this to be relatable to as many people as possible, we had to share that pain,” Anthony said. “We had to share those vulnerable moments because that’s what was going to inspire people to overcome their challenges.”
“The pain has helped me heal and my son heal,” said Judy. “And if we can share that with others who might find inspiration in it, then that is the whole point of this.”
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Actor Jharrel Jerome explained that bonding with Anthony, who also performed many of the wrestling sequences in the film, was crucial to his dedication in getting his portrayal of the wrestler right.
“I knew it was something where, ‘All right, I’m not just the actor playing some guy. This is a friendship, a brotherhood, and this is something that I want to make sure I get done the right way,’” said Jerome. “It’s one thing to have a YouTube clip or a 20-minute interview with the guy you’re playing, but it’s another thing to spend months training and on the mat and wrestling and learning from him and then watching him experience and grow as well as me.”
Judy was also pleased with the commitment to emotional honesty she saw in Lopez’s performance. “I think Jen did an amazing job throughout every single part: the sadness, the joy, and the pain,” she said. “That showed me a lot of you don’t look back and see the right things that you did – you usually look at the things you did wrong…But the way Jen showed more of me than just this battered and sad woman, so I appreciate that about her a lot.”
“We all wrestle with a challenge in life,” added Anthony. “You can’t let your challenge become an excuse. You’ve got to say, ‘Okay, this is what I can do. This is what I’m blessed with. These are my opportunities. And you move forward.’…And that’s what ‘unstoppable’ is: just pushing yourself one step at a time and figuring out, ‘You know what? I can do more than I think I can right now.”
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Check back Monday for the panel video.
The presenting sponsor for this year’s Contenders Film: Los Angeles is United for Business. Sponsors are Eyeptizer Eyewear, Final Draft + ScreenCraft, and partners are Four Seasons Maui, 11 Ravens and Robina Benson Design House.
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