Video:The Express - Dennis Quaid, Darrin Dewitt Henson Interviews

Transcript:The Express - Dennis Quaid, Darrin Dewitt Henson Interviews

Rebecca Murray from About.com Hollywood Movies at the Hollywood Premiere of The Express.

Dennis Quaid ('Ben Schwartzwalder') and Kimberly Quaid

What do you think it is that grabs audiences? You don't have to be a football fan to like this.

Dennis Quaid: "What, honey? What is it if you're not a football fan that you would like it?"

Kimberly Quaid: "Well, I mean, it's just a beautiful story. It's a tearjerker, and you're full of emotions. I just think there's so many things about that film. I was expecting it to be a football movie, and then when I started reading the script it was just like I was crying throughout the whole thing. It's beautiful, you know? Women like that. They like stories like that. And then all the racial controversy that he had to overcome. It's a whole different segment that was really interesting and sad, and important to be talked about."

Were you familiar with that era of football?

Dennis Quaid: "Oh sure. Well, I wasn't familiar with Ernie Davis, but I grew up in the late '50s and early '60s in Houston, Texas, and I remember separate restrooms and drinking fountains, and places for people to eat. Black people sat in the balcony in movie theaters and there was always one simple sign that said 'Colored' but what that sign represented was huge."

Darrin Dewitt Henson ('Jim Brown')

Playing Jim Brown, those are huge shoes to fill. How tough was that for you?

Darrin Dewitt Henson: "It was probably one of the most difficult and empowering things that I've ever done in my life. Jim Brown is such a dynamic individual. He's one of the great humanitarians still alive. He's the best running back of all time, and he's one of my greatest mentors and one of my best friends."

Did that an extra weight to your shoulders, knowing Jim Brown?

Darrin Dewitt Henson: "Absolutely. You know, Jim Brown and I are, again, very good friends. I'm friends with his wife and they're friends with my family. And you know Jim Brown was actually very, very key to me getting this role. He called the director and said, 'Have you found the guy that's going to play me?' And he said, 'No, not yet. We've seen everybody.' He said, 'Well, there's somebody that I think you need to look for.' I auditioned for the role and Gary said, 'Yeah, I want to see this guy,' after looking at the tape. And he flew me to Chicago and then I screen-tested with Rob Brown, and the rest is history."

"I'm very thankful to Jim Brown for what he did on and off the football [field] – the Amer-I-Can program that he is president of and leader of. He has great leadership qualities that I myself follow. And he's just set a precedent in my life and I think the lives of a great many people. One of the things that Jim Brown stands for is excellence. And what he does, he doesn't give up on who society gives up on. What he does is he goes into the jail system, he goes into the inner cities and he talks to these people. He found a way to interact with these men, and he found a way to make these men better men. And what he does is he's lent himself to affording them an opportunity to not only learn and to grow, but now these men who were cast out in society are now helping other people gain access to better lives – gang members, drug abusers, and what have you."

"He's just a very dynamic individual that took on the segregated society that he lived in at that time. Nothing he did was easy. Nothing he did as a football player was easy. They used to bite him. They used to kick him in his groin on that football field. There were very unfair things that happened on and off the field, but he knew what he wanted to do. He knew what he had to do. And what he sought for in society was nothing more than equality. He didn't ask for something that was not due to him. It was equality that he fought for."

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The Express Cast Interviews, Poster, Trailer, and Video Clips