With Tom Brady making his biggest leap to the big screen with 80 for Brady, the history of athletes who turn to acting is getting another evaluation.
While some athletes don’t exactly make the leap to movies and television with much success, there have been some who have transcended their sport to really make a name for themselves in the acting world.
Some athletes have turned in amazing performances in classic films and T.V. shows, while others have really impressed by just playing a heightened version of themselves.
While a phenomenal actor like Kurt Russell played baseball for some time, we include actors below who got their start on a sports field before making jump to acting. Russell was a child star for Disney before making his debut on the baseball diamond.
Let’s break down 10 of the most successful athletes who have flipped over their talents into acting. (Sorry, Patriots faithful, TB12 didn’t make the cut.)
If you want to understand the unbeatable charm of 80 for Brady, watch Sally Field chow down on hot wings in a contest hosted by Guy Fieri.
In a world where we’ve lost touch with how to build consistent studio comedies for theaters, it seems strange to imagine that there aren’t 500 more movies like this. You know, just watching an elderly screen icon doing something silly can bring forth laughter you never know you had in you.
That’s the fun of 80 for Brady, a sports-centric comedy with four undisputed entertainment legends who just want to have a good time watching Tom Brady play football. If you can’t find at least something enjoyable in watching a stoned Rita Moreno walk around a mansion in a Venetian mask to discover a room full of Guy Fieris playing poker, you need to loosen up a bit.
What’s refreshing about 80 for Brady is the commitment to the concept. It’s easy to get a bunch of hyper-talented comedic actors like Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda together and let them just do their thing. Tomlin and Fonda have been doing that together for decades, going all the way back to 1980’s 9 to 5. It’d have been easy to just throw these four ladies in any sort of situational comedy and let it all just work itself out. However, the feisty screenplay from Sarah Haskins and Emily Halpern helps the broader humor all blend in together with the Super Bowl-related shenanigans.
They do have a real-life story to kinda-sorta consider, even though there are clear fantastical licenses the writers had to take with what inspired this. You can’t really make that much of a movie just about four seniors heading to Houston to watch Brady and the New England Patriots take on the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl 51. You can, however, delightfully embellish just how that might’ve gone down.
There isn’t a nuanced bone in this movie’s body, and it’s all the better for it. Playing it as broad as possible allows 80 for Brady to maximize its loonier plot developments, and it gives the primary quartet plenty of room to just let their organic comedic chops take over whatever scene is going on. Moreno has been doing this since the 1950s, and she’s still as spry as ever. You could argue, even though Tomlin and Fonda are the comedic titans here, that Moreno and Field get the biggest laughs.
While any Falcons fan attending might want to excuse themselves for a bathroom break during the film’s actual Super Bowl sequences, there’s enough for even the most begrudged Dirty Bird fan to find something pleasant in a lighthearted comedy that’s very sure of itself.
How is Brady, you might wonder? While he’s certainly not going to have an acting career like the one former NFL cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha has built for himself, he holds his own with what he’s asked to do. He and Tomlin share one sweet moment toward the end of the movie that does make you wonder if Brady does have something in him for acting, but more than likely, he won’t grace the screen with any movie that doesn’t have his name in the title.
Watching 80 for Brady is a bit like joining in for a game night at your grandma’s retirement village. There’s just something nice about watching an entire room of elderly people crack jokes and sip the bubbly on a Saturday afternoon. If you have a grandma, take her to see this one. The smile on her face will undoubtedly make the one on yours grow even bigger.
80 For Brady is coming out this week, so NFL fans are worried Tom Brady retiring is a marketing ploy.
Tom Brady is officially retiring from the NFL, “for good” this time, and now he gets to focus on what’s next.
That will include joining FOX Sports as a lead analyst at some point — Super Bowl 57, perhaps?? — but first, he’s got a big movie coming out that’s all about him: 80 For Brady, in which Brady will appear alongside Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno and Sally Field. It’s the story of a group of Brady fans who travel to watch the GOAT play in a Super Bowl.
It premieres later this week, so everyone’s a little nervous this is some kind of marketing ploy:
That’s an All-Star cast to go along with the greatest quarterback in NFL history.
Per the article:
In his first post-retirement move, Brady is making a blitz into Hollywood and will produce and, yes, act, in a football-themed road trip movie titled 80 for Brady.
… Brady, the movie, not the player, will be directed by Kyle Marvin, who also co-wrote the script with Michael Covino.
,,, Inspired by a true story, Brady tells of four best-friends and New England Patriots fans who take a life-changing trip to the 2017 Super Bowl LI to see their quarterback hero, Tom Brady play, and the chaos that ensues as they navigate the wilds of the biggest sporting event in the country. Tomlin, Fonda, Moreno and Field will play the quartet.
