Former pass rusher Simeon Rice wrote, directed new feature film ‘Unsullied’
Former NFL pass rusher Simeon Rice, who is 17th on the league’s all-time sack list with 122, has transitioned quite nicely to his post-playing career.
In fact, he’s now a movie director, and his first feature-length film, “Unsullied,” for which Rice also co-wrote the script, opens nationwide on August 28. Here’s the heart-pounding trailer for this action thriller, which you should definitely check out.
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Rice recently sat down with 120 Sports to talk about the film and his burgeoning film career, which has really taken off since he last played in the NFL in 2007. Rice spoke about his inspiration for making the film and what he looks for in a great movie:
“I want to tell the best stories. I want to entertain people,” he said. “I don’t really care about winning Academy Awards. I’m an artist, but not in that sense. I want to [be able to] tell if you like it or if Joe Blow likes it. If the average American likes it, I appreciate that film.”
Rice first got the itch to get into the movie business during his days with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with whom he played from 2001 to 2006 and won Super Bowl XXXVII. During the offseasons, he started studying up on movies and even went to film school, carrying that love forward when he left the NFL. Rice wrote his first script with a friend from Chicago, where they grew up, and knew he wanted to be a director.
With his hands all over “Unsullied,” it’s almost as if the former player has turned into Hollywood’s version of a coach in directing the film.
“It’s like a coach; you’re the coach, the GM,” Rice said. “Especially an indie project — you have to put on a lot of hats. You’re casting people. You’re putting together your own team. … You literally are in charge of the groceries, as Bill Parcells would say.”
But Rice said he’s not a Parcells-like director to use intimidation as a method of getting the best performance from his players.
“You don’t want to lose your actors. You want them to be in their head space where they can perform. You want them to feel free and where they can work with you,” Rice said.
Although Rice had certain doors open for him after an NFL career that at least put him in the Hall of Fame discussion, he also said that it was hard not to be typecast as a former jock.
“When you have the type of career that I had, people see you as a one-note person,” he said. “But you have to define yourself and find that value in yourself.”
The movie was inspired by a true story about the character Reagan Farrow (Murray Gray), a track star who is kidnapped but escapes her captors and must fight for her survival in the wilderness. It’s as much a pyschological thriller as anything, Rice says, and sounds like a heck of a ride over its 93 minutes running time.
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm
