When it comes to making sports films, actor Wood Harris enjoys those times when the cameras are off. That’s when members of the cast can really test their athletic abilities. Shooting a movie with a basketball theme? Time to get up some shots. A football flick? A chance for the actors to toss around the ball.
Harris’ latest venture is playing Coach Dru Joyce II in “Shooting Stars,” which is now available for view on Peacock. The film is based on the 2009 book by LeBron James and Buzz Bissinger about James’ high school basketball career at St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron, Ohio.
The 2023 NBA Draft takes place Thursday, and G League Ignite’s Scoot Henderson is expected to be a top-three pick. Harris, as Joyce in the movie, worked with Henderson, who played James’ teammate, Romeo Travis, as well as Oregon signee Mookie Cook, who played James. Joyce coached James, Travis and St. Vincent-St. Mary not only to an Ohio state title but also a national championship in 2003.
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Mookie Cook (as LeBron James), Scoot Henderson discuss roles in ‘Shooting Stars’
Harris has been in several sports films since debuting in the film “Above the Rim” in 1994, where he played gang member and star basketball player Motaw. He’s also been in the “Creed” trilogy as Tony “Little Duke” Evers, “Remember the Titans” as Julius Campbell and HBO’s “Winning Time” series, based on the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers, as Spencer Haywood. He’s worked with numerous iconic stars throughout his career spanning three decades, including Denzel Washington, Tupac Shakur, Laurence Fishburne, Michael B. Jordan, Bruce Willis, Jack Nicholson, Leon, Marlon Wayans, Bernie Mac and Don Cheadle — and even James (he played Coach C in “Space Jam: A New Legacy”).
Basketball isn’t unfamiliar to Harris. He played in college at Northern Illinois University and in high school at St. Joseph’s in Westchester, Ill. — the school that was the focus of the 1994 documentary “Hoop Dreams.” That was all before he became known for his notorious portrayals of Avon Barksdale in “The Wire” or Ace in “Paid in Full.”
As basketball fans prepare for Thursday’s draft, Harris spoke to The Athletic about “Shooting Stars,” working with potential NBA stars like Henderson and Cook and his successful acting career. He also offered some of his own NBA observations.
(Editor’s note: The following has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.)
“Shooting Stars” director Chris Robinson said you were his first choice to play Coach Joyce. He also said your presence was important as a veteran working with athletes who were inexperienced with acting. Did you go into the project assuming the role as someone who needed to help Scoot and Mookie?
I can’t say I went in thinking that way, but as a veteran, I kind of have that going on, somewhat. When you’re working with younger talent, you want to be available for them so they can be free, in a sense, so they can really explore what they’re doing and be free to make mistakes and see their own route. Be there for them, as a listener and as a person who could provide them with real easy support. Because I’ve been doing it for so long, I was able to fit in.
Sometimes when you’re a familiar face, you come on a movie set with people who, maybe, their aspirations might be to be actors, or, nevertheless, they know who you are. I’m a real person, so I think when I work with younger talent, they realize I’m not going to be some kind of pretentious person. I like young talent, and I like working with them. A lot of actors might not feel that way. You’d be surprised.
I remember being a young talent and coming on a scene with certain veterans. They used to look at it like the young lion’s trying to take the prize. I was enamored of the successful actors that I was working with before I started as I continued growing in the field.
Chris is such a great mediator. As a director, he creates the temperament on a set. If you have a director that’s on the set, and let’s say he’s disappointed about something in his life, doesn’t even have to be the movie, you feel it. A director’s temperament becomes the set’s temperament. Everybody was poised, calm. We felt like Chris was perfect. He’s very decisive. Also, he was flexible. He allowed people to bring what they bring.
But also, when you’re dealing with younger people, you know, they can get into that lane where they’re playing and kidding around and stuff. He was able to bring back the reins a little bit. Movie making can feel like a hobby until you’re working with somebody you recognize. You can feel like you’re just sort of toying around until some pro shows up — like, “Oh s—, we’re really working now.”
So it’s different for them when they see a vet on the set?
That’s how it was for me when I did “Remember the Titans.” That was (more than) 20 years ago, and it was the first time I worked with somebody like Denzel. I remember being totally enamored. You see Denzel, you’re like, “Oh, s—. Like, that’s Denzel.” I was just watching him. That’s how they (young actors) feel (about me) — maybe not exactly like that; obviously, I’m not like Denzel in terms of he just has such an illustrious career, a lot of awards and stuff. I’m inspired by Denzel and others in his class.
Mookie and Scoot spoke highly of you. How familiar were you with them before filming?
When I first came in, I didn’t know about their basketball prowess at all. I was looking at them as actors. Then I learned what was going on. Mook is, like, 6-7, and Scoot is a little bit shorter, but I started to understand these dudes are really about that life, about to go pro and all that. With that in mind, you realize that this could be like Spike’s (Lee) movie with Ray Allen (“He Got Game”), how they might just do a film and then get in the NBA and do their thing and maybe do films every so often and whatnot.
LeBron James’ high school teammate Romeo Travis (left) connecting with Scoot Henderson, who played Travis in the “Shooting Stars” movie. (Michael Buckner / Variety via Getty Images)
In “Winning Time,” with you in costume, I almost didn’t realize it was you playing Spencer Haywood. How was that experience?
The makeup was so dope. They added the beard, and in real life, I’m 6-3, but they had these shoes with five-inch lifts but look like gym shoes. I was running around at 6-8, 6-9. I grew up playing ball, so I was like damn, if I was 6-8, there’s no way I wouldn’t have made it in the league.
How much do you enjoy making sports films?
I’m big on sports, man. I grew up doing it a lot, but now I mainly watch documentary stuff, sports stuff. In a sense, I’m very fortunate to be in the sports movies because I just love sports a lot. Music and sports are really what I love so much. To be able to do a bunch of sports joints is a blessing. Even “Above the Rim,” if you think about it, even though it’s more like street, it’s got basketball. It kind of just follows me around.
What are your thoughts when you reflect on your film debut in “Above the Rim?”
No. 1, Tupac wasn’t what he is now. Marlon Wayans … none of us were really the star. The star of that movie was Leon; he was the one who got that movie made. But me, Marlon, Bernie Mac, Tupac … I just thought, “Oh, s—, I’m in a movie.” That means I’m, like, a movie star. I was in school at the time, so you don’t really realize there’s more to it. You have to really go out there and do a lot more work. You know, some people get the one-off thing. That’s not my story. My story is to just work. I like to try to show excellence in the craft and just be that dude.
That was a stacked cast, too. Leon, Tupac Shakur, Marlon Wayans, Bernie Mac, Duane Martin …
Everybody was in it. Same with “The Wire.” I’m super blessed to be in so many iconic things, things that won’t go away. TV shows go away, but 20 years later, if people still talk about it, that’s super fortunate. In that (“The Wire”) cast, it’s me, Michael B. (Jordan), Idris (Elba), Andre Royo, Hassan Johnson … some bad m——f——, bro. Sonja Sohn, Dominic West, Wendell Pierce, Lance Reddick, Michael K. Williams …
I’ve read so much about Tupac as an actor and how he might have been a better actor than he was a rapper. What was it like to work with him on set and to have fans see him in that space?
I don’t know if he would’ve been better. The guy was a pretty amazing rapper, like amazing. I don’t know if we can assess if he would have been better. But he was free, a free thinker, so that works in the arts extremely well. He was a disagreeable person; that also works for successful people. Having a lot of talent works for you, and believe it or not, being disagreeable works for you as long as you’re disagreeing about something passionate connected to you and you can make sense out of it.
Disagreeable personalities do the best. Tupac on the set was professional. To a certain extent, he still was like a rock star. He had people lined up outside his trailer every day. Literally, a line of fans. Actors usually don’t have that on the set; that’s a major distraction. Tupac, in my opinion, was very distracted at that time in his life. He died young, but he left a lot of messages that people can learn from. I know as an actor, one thing I took from Tupac was about being disagreeable. From that point on, from seeing Tupac on the set, I realized how much power the actor has in a movie or a TV program.
Is there a different approach to playing in sports films as opposed to roles in projects like “Paid in Full” or “BMF?”
I was Jimi Hendrix, too. I think what’s unique about me is that these are all real-life people. Some would argue it’s more difficult to do real-life people because it’s under the microscope. I don’t really know the answer to that, but my preparation is contingent on who the character is or whatever the role is.
If I’m doing something like Coach Dru, he’s a real person who talks and thinks a certain way. The approach is to try to be into the ideology of the person. At least understand it a little bit, because you’re not going to have some kind of full spectrum of understanding. You want to understand enough to accomplish each scene you do at a bare minimum.
I take a lot of things into consideration. Sports is the least of it, you know, in terms of what I’m thinking about. I like the sports (movies) because when they say “Cut,” I’m putting up shots. When you make a basketball movie, that’s what’s cool about it; everybody’s hooping. Even “Remember the Titans,” that was football, but when they say “Cut,” we’re seeing who can run the fastest, like kids.
It’s enjoyable to do those kind of movies because of everything about it. This particular thing, “Shooting Stars,” it being associated with LeBron James made it almost just a classic straightaway, because it’s associated with a figure that’s pretty much historical. LeBron is a sports figure, but he’s a historical sports figure. After he got the No. 1 scoring mark, come on … nobody thought that was going to happen, right?
He’s also top three in assists all-time.
What I don’t like is how much hate he gets. I’ll be honest with you, part of that’s got to be (because) people are jealous, just because. He was the ultimate underdog. He didn’t come from a nuclear family. He wasn’t supposed to make it. He’s a very unique person. … LeBron married his high school sweetheart. Cats are jealous, bro. He’s got a billion (dollars) before he could leave the league. They’re jealous.
(Top photo: Michael Buckner / Variety via Getty Images)
