Title: Leatherheads, feature film
Cast: George Clooney, Renee Zellweger
Extra: Vince Fields
Producers: Grant Heslov, George Clooney, Casey Silver
Director: George Clooney
Script: George Clooney, Stephen Schiff, Duncan Brantley, Rick Reilly
About Vince
Role: Football player
Sets: Ware Shoals High School, Hughes Academy in Greenville, Warehouse Studio in Greer, at Charlotte Memorial Stadium at the “Chicago Game”
Born: Portsmouth, Ohio
Hometown: Greenville, South Carolina
Education: Miami University of Ohio, 1998
Employment: Technical Manager with Caraustar Industries in Taylors, South Carolina.
All in the family: I am married to my beautiful wife, Katie. We have been married for nine years and have no children yet. We don’t believe in rushing into things so it may be a couple more years before we add that responsibility. After all, making movies takes time.
Rough first day of practice didn’t keep Vince off the team
Describe when you decided to appear at the casting call and your reaction to being selected. Did you dress up for a particular part?
I first read about the open casting call for football players in the Greenville News and I fit the description of what they were describing in the article. I had never been in a movie before so I thought this would be a fun experience. I told Katie about it and she encouraged me to try out.
So on one Saturday morning Katie and I drove over to the Carolina First Center and got in line. The line was extremely long and had extended outside wrapping around a couple long sidewalks. I am not much for standing in line, especially for something that I had very little chance of getting. We stood, and stood, moved a few feet forward, and stood for a while longer. I actually wanted to leave but Katie told me I had to stay since we had already waited over an hour. And of course, like any smart husband, I did what she told me to do. We waited a total of about two and a half hours to finally get in and do nothing but fill out some paper work and get my picture taken.
About a month later I got a call from one of the production assistants informing me that I had been chosen to participate in a tryout being held at Furman’s Paladin Stadium. I was very excited that I was called back. They must have liked my picture, or maybe it was my penmanship. Either way, I was going to try out for a football team. Yikes, I hadn’t played football since high school roughly 15 years ago. This will be interesting.
I showed up for tryouts ready to go. There were a lot of guys there. Things started out a little slow, most of the time standing in line waiting to do a football drill. Not a whole lot to it. Throw a ball, catch a ball, pull a muscle, get some ibuprofen, get back in line, do it again. By the end of the day I had pulled both quadriceps, my right groin, and thought that I had broken my collarbone. Oh yeah, that was from a tackling drill. I was lucky enough be in line between a Clemson football player and a player from the University of North Carolina.
At the end of Day 1 Coach TJ Troup chose a few players to be on the “team” and some players to come back tomorrow to continue to try out. Well, I was fortunate enough to be selected for a second day of festivities. I came back the next day with ace bandages on both legs and both groins, and a lot of anti-inflammatories in me. Day 2 was easier on me and I was ecstatic when TJ called my number to be on the team.
Who was your first call to and what was the conversation when you learned you were going to be in a George Clooney produced movie with the No. 1 male box office star?
My first call was of course to my wife, Katie. She was very excited for me and actually felt sorry me because I had been in so much pain.
What was your first experience like on the movie set? Was it what you expected?
Being on a movie set was a very enlightening experience. In some ways it was very much what I had expected but in other ways it was nothing like I had expected. There were a lot of “lights, camera, action, rolling,” commands just like one could stereotype. However, I did not expect to be sitting around for hours on end waiting to be called into a scene. This was sometimes very discouraging, especially when we had to stay in holding. But when we got to stay on set and watch the filming, I found movie making intriguing.
What was the role(s) you were cast and describe what you did? Include how wardrobe dressed you.
All of my roles were a background football player on the opposing team. Most of the filming I did was in the “Chicago” game that was filmed in Charlotte. I was on the Chicago Buffaloes, mostly on offense. My morning started with going to the players’ tent and putting all of the equipment and uniform on. Then I would go to hair and makeup. Our hair had to be greased and parted. Our makeup consisted of hand and face paint that resembled dark dirt. To this day I am not certain why we needed any of that. As soon as we got on the field, we had to cover ourselves in mud, face and all, and then put on our helmets. Real dirt covered all of the fake dirt. Oh well, we all did it every day anyway. The worst part of costume was showing up on day two, three, four, five, six, and seven putting on the same dirty and wet uniforms that we used the day before. It didn’t matter. We had to play in the mud all day everyday. Drew, from costume did a great job of giving us as many dry clothes as he could.
Did you do anything to maneuver yourself closer to the camera or into a scene?
Yes, I did do some things that I thought would put me in a better position to be on film. I tried to anticipate where the camera angles would be and then I attempted, not always successfully, to be in the right spot. I’ll find out if it worked after the movie is released.
How close did you get to George Clooney? Renee Zellwegger or other actors?
I talked to George Clooney a couple times during filming, mainly while he was directing a few scenes that I was in. But one time I did ask him if he would join us for a team photo after the filming in Charlotte was complete. He did agree to do it and his publicist took the photo and mailed it to everyone in it. I was very impressed with Clooney and the way he treated everyone on set. He seemed to be a very respectful and humble person.
I talked in depth at times with a few of the other actors in the movie. I probably learned the most about Matt Bushell, “Curly” in the movie. He was very personable and willing to discuss life as an actor. He really enlightened me about what he does for a career.
What surprised you the most about how a movie was produced?
The most surprising thing to me was the sheer number of times it takes to do a scene in order to be certain that it is right.
Outside from your participation: What is the best memory you take away from your experience.
My best memory from the experience was meeting a lot of good people. I still see people around town that I stop and talk to. I still e-mail a few people that I met. I am sure that I will stay in contact with many of the “extras” long after the movie is forgotten.
George Clooney is noted for making movies with people he has worked with before. Would you work with Clooney again if his company called you?
Yes, I would work with Clooney again if given the opportunity. Although I would ask to audition for a speaking part this time. After all, there is only one thing better than being an extra in a Clooney movie. It is having a speaking part in a Clooney movie. Come on George, one line would suffice!
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