Winner of four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Jesse Owens is the definition of a sports icon. The fastest man in the world at the time not only broke track records, but he broke cultural barriers as well. 

     The new film “Race,” due out in theaters Feb. 19, tells his incredible true story. As an African American student-athlete during the Great Depression, Owens — played by Stephan James in the film — dealt with adversity both on and off the track. His talents were noticed by Ohio State University track and field coach Larry Snyder (Jason Sudeikis), who helped him not only become a sports legend, but an inspiration to millions as well.

     Directed by Stephen Hopkins, “Race” tells the story of Jesse Owens that is not as well known. With the blessing of the Owens’ daughters, who had final script approval and were on set for some of the film’s biggest moments, the Owens family feels that their father’s legacy is honored with this film.

Becoming Jesse Owens

      Stephan James has been no stranger to playing real life inspirational figures. In 2014’s Academy Award nominated “Selma,” James played John Lewis, who was a student activist and helped with Martin Luther King Jr.’s protest marches in Selma, Ala. James received a Black Reel nomination for Breakthrough Performance, and the cast won the Black Film Critics Circle for Best Ensemble.

     The young actor talked about playing such important figures in American history, which he said he’s been deeply honored to do so. He believes these are stories that are important to be out in the world, especially in a time like this.

     James wanted to do more than just research Owens — he wanted to become him and live like him. A month before the film started shooting, James cut his hair like Owens so he could see Owens in the mirror every morning. He also had many conversations with Owens’ actual daughters, who were very involved with the movie.

     “Obviously there is a little bit of added pressure when you’re dealing with real life people, you can’t fake things,” James said. “You want to make sure that when [their loved ones] see the film that you’re being accurate and that all of the people who adore those people, feel proud of what you’ve done.”

     James also went through extensive training at Georgia Tech in order to get in shape for the movie. He said that 99 percent of the running that is seen in the movie is him, and although the races only last 10 seconds, he still had to run like Owens. 

     More than just the records he broke, James realized how important Owens was not only during the Depression era, but even today. He felt a huge responsibility of showing modern audiences his story and hopes Owens can inspire a new generation.

     “It’s so much bigger than race, it was more about the way he transcended the world with his love for sport,” James said. “Everyone knows him as an athlete, I wanted to show him as a human being. I wanted to bring a level of humanity to this great hero.”

Transitioning from comedy to Drama

  Former “Saturday Night Live” cast member and comedy blockbuster star, Jason Sudeikis, plays the role of Ohio State track and field Coach Larry Snyder. In his first dramatic role, Sudeikis said that he connected with coach Snyder because of the sports he played growing up. This connection helped him with the dramatic moments he normally does not portray in his films.

     Unlike Stephan James who had numerous archive videos, interviews and family members  to consult, Sudeikis did not have a lot to go on for Snyder. He said that he had to go off of books he read about Jesse Owens, but he did have a lot of freedom with the character.

     “The biggest gift outside of the script and the story itself was Jesse saying that Larry Snyder was an ‘accidental non-racist’ and he walks that walk,” Sudeikis said. “It was through that how I attacked the character outside of bringing my own human exposition to the character.”

     Even though Sudeikis is a huge sports nut, he admitted that he did not know the whole Jesse Owens story before reading the script. There are a lot of details that he hopes audiences appreciate and can add to his legacy.

     “I couldn’t have ever empathized with the struggle that his talents brought him, being politicized,” Sudeikis said. “Along with his missteps and personal struggle, that makes him very human. I’m very proud to be in a movie that shares warts and all with an icon that has the blessing of his daughters.”

     The film might take place in the 1930s, but Sudeikis thinks Owens’ story can relate to modern audiences in multiple ways.

     “If you find something you love, you work really hard, you take your natural gifts and you allow yourself to be opened to be mentored or coached, you can change the world. Whether that be on the global stage like an Olympic athlete has, or even within your campus or home or inner person relationship, I do believe that allowing yourself to be open and following your bliss can make a profound impact,” Sudeikis said. 

Capturing the sports icon

 While perhaps most well known for his television work on hit shows like “24” and “House of Lies,” director Stephen Hopkins has been involved with a wide range of films. His filmography includes “A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child,” “Predator 2” and “The Reaping.”

     “Race” is Hopkins’ first theatrically-released movie since 2007, but when the first draft of the script was shown to him over three years ago, he felt he needed to tell this story. He said that he became fascinated with finding out why Jesse Owens ran despite all of the pressure that was on him and how he was able to break those records on the world stage.

     One of his first tasks was finding the right guy to play Jesse Owens. Originally, John Boyega was signed to play Owens, but he was cast in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” so they had to find someone new. 

     The filmmakers went through hundreds of auditions before they hit Stephan James, and they knew they had their Jesse Owens. They were impressed by his physicality, but more so by the sensitivity he brought to the scenes.

      “He’s a gentle and laid-back guy on the outside, but there’s a lot going on the inside,” Hopkins said. “He reminded me of Jesse, on the outside he was sweet and gentle, but inside he was made of steel from his childhood.”

     The film was mostly shot in Montreal, but part of the Olympic Games portion of the film was actually shot on location in Berlin. It was important to Hopkins for the film to have that on-location feel for the film’s big Olympic Games moments. 

     Much like Sudeikis did, Hopkins sees many modern ties in Owens’ story. Race issues continue to be a nationwide controversy, and although Owens’ life can teach more than that, Hopkins hopes his story speaks to the younger generation.

     “Nowadays, it seems like people only want to get famous, and Jesse didn’t care about that. He was a reluctant hero, so I wanted to make a story about a hero like that,” Hopkins said.

Making sure the legacy is honored

      Jesse Owens’ life story has been made into a TV miniseries and multiple attempts have been made to make a movie, but none of those projects have had the blessing of the Owens family. “Race” is the first movie to have that blessing.

     Jesse Owens’ daughters — Marlene, Beverly and Gloria — were given script approval for this film. Even though the first draft of the script had a lot of errors, the sisters worked on it and gave it back to the studio, who worked with them on the changes.

     The sisters agree that the film accurately depicts their father and that he would be proud of the finished product. 

     “I think they did a phenomenal job of embracing his character and projecting it,” Marlene Owens said. “They really wanted to make an impactful, important and accurate film and I think they did that.”

     The Owens daughters were on set for select scenes, including when they shot in Berlin for the Olympic Games scenes. As mentioned before, Stephan James and the three sisters spent a lot of time together just talking. They did not go over every detail of their father’s life, but rather just spent time together so he could see the impact their father had on them. 

     “We met Stephan in Berlin and it was an instant click because of his personality. He was really easy to work with and smart as heck. He portrays our father in the way we wanted it done,” Beverly Owens said