Synopsis
Based on Matt de la Pena's novel, "Ball Don't Lie" is an urban basketball coming-of-age drama, which follows the story of 17-year-old foster care kid named Sticky (Grayson “The Professor” Boucher). Living in Venice, California, Sticky has bounced from one foster home after another and lived on the street in between. Still, he discovers that his incredible talent at basketball opens doors for him to get out of his dead-end life.
It is in Lincoln Rec Center, a legendary gym run by the quirky, temperamental Jimmy (Harold Perrineau) and known as a birthplace to great players, where Sticky hones his hoops skills as the lone white face on the court. It’s a dangerous environment filled with shattered dreams, deluded life-visions and frustrated egos. There are no shortcuts here and fisticuffs are often the norm. On the surface, Sticky has no business at Lincoln, but his immense heart keeps driving him back to improve his game. Over time, he has gone from suspicious stranger to family member on this seasoned hardwood.
A series of the day’s manhood-testing pick-up games spawn flashbacks to defining moments from Sticky’s past. He struggles with painful early memories of an unhinged, prostitute mother (Emilie de Ravin) and her abusive boyfriend (Nick Cannon), a situation that forced him into the foster system. He recalls a nurturing time with kind and wealthy Francine (Rosanna Arquette), only to have this mother figure snatched away by cancer. He dredges up his rejection by a barren couple (Ricardo Chavira and Dania Ramirez) that caused him to begin to wall himself off from any kind of human contact.
While Sticky navigated one unfair and untenable situation after another, he did manage to locate a few mentors in highly unlikely places. Julius (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges), a social worker at his group home introduces him to basketball and accidentally creates a potential star. As Sticky’s game improves, he discovers Lincoln Rec and meets Dante (Cress Williams) who helps him transcend his troubled past.
Cast
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Sticky
Grayson "The Professor" Boucher
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Mico
Nick Cannon -
Julious
Chris "Ludacris" Bridges -
Francine
Rosanna Arquette -
Baby
Emilie de Ravin -
Jimmy
Harold Perrineau -
Ruben
Ricardo Chavira -
Carmen
Dania Ramirez -
Anh-thu
Kim Hidalgo -
Roberto
James Pickens Jr. -
Georgia
Melissa Leo
Getting the role
Brin Hill, director and co-producer of “Ball Don’t Lie,” first gave me the script at an AND1 game in Los Angeles at the Great Western Forum. He came right up and handed it to me on the court! I thought he was a crazy fan, lol! But AND 1 assured me that he was legit and that he wanted me to play the lead in this movie that he was trying to get funded.
“Ball Don’t Lie” is based on the book of the same name that was released in late 2007. Brin wanted a basketball player first/actor second for the role as opposed to having an actor first/basketball player second, because he thought it would make the movie way more authentic. His views on basketball films are parallel to mine in the sense that he believes the movies always lack in the basketball scenes because the actors are terrible! (There are some exceptions, such as such as “He Got Game” or “Blue Chips”...)
Anyway, I stayed in touch with Brin for three years and studied the script a ton. At one point in 2006, I asked him, “Is this movie really going to get filmed?!” because I definitely didn’t think it would. But when he gave me the heads up that it was set to be filmed in May of 2007, I decided to go all in and take acting lessons to prepare myself.
It was challenging for me acting-wise to show certain emotions, because my normal facial expressions and mannerisms are somewhat flat. I was never an emotional person, nor am I today. So once I learned how to trigger certain emotions and facial expressions, and not care what anyone thinks, or who is watching. I got a lot better. I still work with an acting coach and continue to improve.
Life on set
To be honest, I adapted to being the lead of a movie pretty naturally. I’ve been on sets a few times before in commercials and in “Semi-Pro,” so I knew how things worked. Plus I’ve always been in a position of pressure being an athlete. When I say pressure, I’m referring to the pressure the lead character has to perform and do his or her part so that the movie can be as successful as possible. I have yet to see if this movie will affect my “real life,” since the movie hasn’t been released yet. The producers are in the final stages of working out a distribution deal to have the movie released in mid-2009.
It was pretty cool one day when this big guy and I played 2-on-2 vs. Delonte West of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Al Jefferson of the Minnesota Timberwolves. I guess the NBA guys didn’t know what to expect at first because they came out a little slow, lol. My team came out of the gates on fire and we zipped them in the first game. I think I scored about five or six straight on Delonte West and my dude hit two jumpers. Then the second game-- they busted our ass. I think we only scored 1 bucket, lol! After the two games, I was looking for a tiebreaker but they called cut and that was that. In those two games they captured enough action to create the scene. And the worst part of the story is that none of that footage made the movie! They had to cut that scene out because the movie was too long. But for everyone that was on set that day, it was definitely something to remember.
