The writer, actor and director talked to ET about working with the retired NFL player and his role in 'WeCrashed.'
Earlier in March, ET confirmed that seven-time Super Bowl champion and former NFL player Tom Brady will appear in and produce through his production company, 199 Productions, the upcoming film 80 for Brady.
Inspired by a true story, the movie stars Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Rita Moreno and Sally Field as four best friends and New England Patriots fans who go on a life-changing trip to the 2017 Super Bowl to see their hero play.
“Brady is sort of the golden statue that they are trying to find in this journey,” says Kyle Marvin, who co-wrote and will direct the film from a script originally penned by Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins, the duo behind Booksmart. “It’s really just sort of a magical thing that happened.”
He adds, “All the women are incredible in their roles… We are in rehearsals and they are bringing this incredible energy and power to the table. All of them, in their own ways. So, I am looking forward to shooting and I’m looking forward to sharing it when we’re done.”
Of course, for many sports fans, the excitement is surrounding Brady, who officially retired from the NFL after 22 seasons in February. Since then, all eyes have been on his next moves, which includes growing his many companies, Autograph.io, the Brady brand and TB12 Sports.
That also includes 199 Productions, which has produced the ESPN docuseries Man in the Arena, which ran for nine episodes during the winter. The upcoming movie, meanwhile, will mark Brady’s feature film producing debut as well as see him return to the screen in his first appearance since 2015’s Ted 2.
“He is just a great guy. You know, he is just the best. Whether you hate him or love him as a football player, he is a great human being,” Marvin says, noting that “he really does” have a great sense of humor.
While 80 for Brady is still in production, fans of Marvin can see him portraying WeWork co-founder Miguel McKelvey in the Apple TV+’s WeCrashed. Premiering March 18, the limited series stars Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway as married couple and co-founders Adam and Rebekah Neumann.
When it comes to channeling his real-life counterpart, Marvin says he tried to live in his shoes as much as possible. “I read the biographies of the architects that he respected. I learned to draw floor plans. I tried to walk the streets where he walked. I went to his coffee shop,” he recalls, before explaining that this is still a character and not an exact replica of the real thing. “So, I had to distill down the things that I found most interesting and dramatic and try to bring those to life.”
“What we tried to do is make a really interesting, compelling human story about what was behind the headlines of the WeWork story,” Marvin says of the series, which is adapted from the Wondery podcast WeCrashed: The Rise and Fall of WeWork, and chronicles the decisions the led to the company’s valuation of $47 billion before it all went bust.
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