On February 20, the Disney movie “McFarland USA” will be released into theaters across the country. The movie is set in McFarland, California, a small, farming-based, economically challenged community in Central California and tells the story of an unlikely coach who decides to bring an unlikely sport to a community. Recently, I attended a press conference featuring Kevin Costner, the film’s director Niki Caro, the actors who play the team of runners, some of the original runners from the team and the “real life” Coach White to find out more about the making of “McFarland USA.”
The Story
Based on the 1987 true story, the movie follows Coach Jim White as he and a group of seven novice runners from McFarland give their all to build a cross-country team. White is a newcomer to the boys’ predominantly Latino high school and white has never coached cross-country–a relatively new sport to California high school athletics.
Although McFarland is a movie about a high school’s unlikely cross-country program, the sport aspect of the movie is really more of a vehicle for the movie’s more important goal.
“If you want to make a great sports movie,” said Costner, “don’t put too much sports in it. It’s the backdrop.”
“I was really inspired by the people, by how hard they work, by the commitment to their families, their faith, their community,” says Caro. “And it was great for me to be able to light that up.”
Casting the Movie
Filmmakers knew that without the right cast, McFarland USA would lose part of its heart. Although the director and casting directors put out a call for young Latino actors, they also decided to take a try at casting boys who might be able to fit the part a little closer to McFarland. A casting call went out and auditions were held in Bakersfield, California, about 30 miles from McFarland. Although casting for the film took about a year, in the end three of the actors were cast for the movie from those Bakersfield auditions.
“My cousin gave my mother a phone call saying that there’s a open casting call, and it was actually in Bakersfield, which is 30 miles south of McFarland,” said Sergio Avelar who plays runner Victor Puentas. Although Avelar had never acted before, he had one thing acting classes can’t provide–real-life experience running on the McFarland cross country team.
Speaking of his experience acting for the first time, Rafael Martinez, also a McFarland native, said, “I had Mr. Diaz, Danny Diaz as a counselor in high school. And it was – it was just amazing, like knowing him and like having conversations with him when I – when I got in trouble, like really helped me [sic]– really helped me portray him and everything. It was nice.”
How many kids get to play their high school guidance counselor in a movie?
Going The Extra Mile To Make It Authentic
A good deal of the movie McFarland USA was shot in the town of McFarland and through the state of California. Residents of McFarland opened up their homes and businesses to create the film, allowing the movie to feel completely authentic. In fact, most of the background actors in scenes like the quinceanera were actual people from the town.
Keeping the movie true to its core was about more than the look, however, it was about telling the town’s American story.
“Bending down to work and seeing a field go forever, understanding that this is forever, this is every week, this is every day in all kinds of weather, the appreciation,of who these people are, this is as American story as you can possibly have,” says Costner. “You think apple pie and baseball’s American? No. McFarland is way more American than any of those things.”
Learn more about the making of the movie in this great video:
True Life McFarland Today
Today, McFarland is a cross-country dynasty that other schools fear. They have 24 state championships and running has become such an important part of the community that a runner is even now part of the town’s official seal. The town has running programs for children starting at age 8. According to the real Coach White, “Through junior high, there’s probably over 100 kids into the high school, girls’ program, boys’ program, varsity and all of the above, there’s probably another 60 kids.” Two of the teammates in the morning have grown up to be McFarland coaches.
The movie McFarland USA comes out in theaters this Friday, February 20. Check back on Friday for a full review!
