Interview with William Goldenberg
Sports dramas are foundational feel-good entertainment, many narratives centering around real-life events. Usually revolving around an underestimated athlete, true wholesome catharsis emerges as audiences finally see the protagonist succeed, conveying vicariously that we may too find fortune in the unpredictability of life. Even with the allure of a heartfelt story and compelling action, many sports dramas float away in a stream of familiar beats and recycled stories. The stories that stick with us, whether sports-themed or not, sustain a commanding presence and move us from within.
It’s this exact contingency that makes esteemed editor William Goldenberg’s directorial debut Unstoppable stand out. Following the true story of wrestler Anthony Robles who was born without a leg, the film climbs and descends through various pivotal moments in Robles’ family life and wrestling career. The film, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, and was featured at the 2024 edition of the Philadelphia Film Festival, for which it won the Student Choice Award, is featuring a short theatrical release starting December 6, and will be available to stream on Amazon Prime Video on January 16.
Photo Credit: Ana Careallosa
Q. This is your directorial debut but you’re not a newcomer to cinema as an Academy Award-winning editor. How does it feel to step out of the editing chair and take an active role behind the camera?
A. It was terrifying. By the way, I’m going to do both now. I’m not going to only direct. I’m editing a movie right now. I’m so used to working in a dark room by myself for huge chunks of time. Even when I’m working with just a director it’s two people. Now I’m on set with like 200 people. It was an incredibly calm and happy set, hopefully, because I was calm and happy. It was so fun to be around all those people, all those incredibly talented people. Every single person cared so much and brought so much to make the movie better. [Everyone was] always thinking and always coming up with ideas for the smallest thing and the largest thing.
It’s my job to use the ideas I want to and don’t use the ideas I’m not interested in. Everybody felt comfortable making suggestions. Every single person on the crew made this movie better, literally every person. That’s not how it works in editing. It’s a very solitary thing.
Although my assistants are great they’re not editors. They can help in certain ways. Where on the set the smallest thing, even a little piece of production design, can make a scene better, or the way the makeup artist did the blood or whatever. It was just so great to do, it was so fun to be around all those people. I spent a long time, like I said, by myself. Every day was really fun.
Q. The casting is crucial in this film with Jharell Jerome delivering a heartfelt performance as Anthony as well as Jennifer Lopez and Bobby Cannavale as his parents. How did you push these esteemed actors to give such gripping performances?
A. Judy and Anthony had a huge impact on this story. First of all, it’s about them so we had long interviews and discussions. Anthony and Jharrel got very, very close. Anthony taught Jharrel how to wrestle. Anthony and this gentleman named Brian Stith, who was an assistant coach at ASU when Anthony was there, taught Jharrel how to wrestle. They choreographed all the wrestling and Anthony, like I said earlier, we would call him constantly about stuff.
Judy and Jennifer immediately hit it off. The first thing Jennifer did when she took the part was call. Then she Zoomed with Anthony and Judy. She and Judy had multiple conversations and they really hit it off. They saw a lot of themselves in each other. I think they have had, in different ways, very similar life experiences in terms of domestic stuff. Judy shared a lot of stories with Jennifer that she hadn’t even shared with us. Jennifer got her permission to put some of those things in the film. So it made the film better.
I’m speaking for Jennifer now, who never said this to me, but I felt like Jennifer felt like a really large responsibility to get this right for Judy. They saw each other in Toronto when the film premiered and it was like two friends that hadn’t seen each other in 20 years, like threw their arms around each other. You can tell when people care about each other.
So that was beautiful to watch. They were on set quite often and it was just great to have them around. Anthony was on set a lot. The crew loved having him around. He watched everything and learned everything because he was doubling Jharrel for a lot of the wrestling and some of the more physical stuff. So he had to really pay attention. He wanted to be a pro because he’s great at everything.
I treated the actors the way I wanted directors to treat me as an editor. How does a director get the best stuff out of me? I’m interpreting the script, I’m trying to tell the story. It’s a similar thing. I felt like, I’ll do what I know and treat the actors and talk to the actors like I’d like a director to talk to me as an editor. It’s not like I have to tell Don Cheadle how to act, he’s pretty good on his own. That seemed to work for me.
Q. Many films that center around disability can dwell on the character’s disability or even exploit it. How does Unstoppable reject this trope and instead illustrate Anthony’s characterization?
A. [It was] Very intentional. We’re not making a movie about a guy with one leg, we’re making a movie about a guy that overcomes challenges and [his] relationship with his mom. It was never about let’s focus on that thing. It’s clear he has one leg, I don’t think we need to do anything else. But, yeah, that was intentional.
Jharell Jerome and Jennifer Lopez in Unstoppable
Q. Many sports movies fall into tropes that render them forgettable in a sea of similar stories how does Unstoppable make a lasting impression while utilizing familiar aspects of the sports drama genre?
A. Well, I think it’s different because it’s a movie about – ultimately at its core I felt like this is a story about a mother and a son and how they raise each other and how they grew up together. That, to me, differentiates it right away. Usually, it’s the coach and his prized athlete and stuff like that, the father-son thing.
I just thought their relationship and their story were so interesting to me. I thought that’s what the subject of the movie has to be. Like I said before, it’s not a movie about a guy with one leg. But just this mother and the son, how they overcome all these obstacles that are put in front of them.
I just felt like that really separates it from other sports movies that I know. Then making the drama and the challenges of that equal in weight in the story, they go together. You can’t overcome one without overcoming the other. [In terms of] camera style, we tried to differentiate it. But, at the same time, we wanted to make a movie that was true to Anthony. Some of those tropes are going to be in the movie because it’s the nature of that kind of film. That part I embraced.
Q. When thinking about your next film what are some genres you’d like to experiment with and expand upon?
A. I like true stories. If you look at my resume as an editor since I’ve had the ability to pick and choose a little bit what I do I’ve done a lot of true stories. I like movies, I like all movies. I don’t think I love romantic comedies, I don’t think that I could do one. [I like] crime thrillers, like Heat. Not that I’d ever make a movie that good. I like mysteries. I like horror movies, but I don’t feel comfortable making one. I am drawn to true stories. I don’t know, I see a movie, I like the movie and I go, “I wonder if that was true.” And then I find out it is and somehow I like it more because it actually happened.