SAMUEL L JACKSON CREATES THE CHAMP

Samuel L. Jackson talks about how he transformed into a homeless boxer.

Samuel L. Jackson stars as a former boxing champion turned homeless person who is believed to be dead when Josh Hartnett’s eager sports journalist finds him and writes his comeback story in Resurrecting The Champ.

Samuel says this is the first role where he resurrected and created a character completely different from himself.

“I guess the first time I actually looked at the completed character in the make-up trailer. This is like the most complete transformation I’ve ever been able to make in a movie in terms of losing myself and getting away from me. It’s a great story, great character on the inside of it on an interesting kind of journey from being a very famous and very skilled fighter at one point in his life to being a homeless individual. And kind of finding out how he got from one place to another and how he’s coping in the world right now.”

Samuel talks about what went into creating the Champ.

“I kept Champ in that mode thinking he was always staying in shape so he was constantly jogging doing his road work even though he was like 70 years old kind of moving. And finding the voice was kind of my grandfather’s voice. That was his kind of high pitched whisper that I had to use louder but it always made me lean forward ‘what are you saying?’ so it kind of pulls people in when they hear that voice and they kind of lean forward to listen to what Champ’s saying.”

Samuel’s decision to jog also came about when his cart of homeless possessions was heavier than he expected them to be. Resurrecting The Champ opens Friday, August 24th in theaters.