For a couple hours, it sure didn’t feel like the good ol’ Salt City. On May 9, the Mulroy Civic Center’s Crouse-Hinds Concert Theater in downtown Syracuse was the host of the world premiere of Crooked Arrows, not only the first mainstream movie concerning the Native American-created sport of lacrosse, but also an investment opportunity for the Onondaga Nation, with some local lacrosse players landing screen time on the project.
The independent flick, shot on a $6 million budget by veteran director Steve Rash (The Buddy Holly Story), lured a nearly packed house to the screening at the Civic Center, which was retrofitted for the evening with banks of Dolby stereo speakers and a high-end digital projector unit. And throughout the day, the film’s key stars—Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) as casino promoter Joe Logan, Chelsea Ricketts (AMC’s The Killing) as his younger sister Nadie and Gil Birmingham (The Twilight Saga) as their patriarch Ben, the tribal leader who disapproves of his son’s business methods—were in promotional mode with members of the local media. The actors managed to display an easygoing, spirited camaraderie during a battery of mostly softball questions, although they expressed good-natured annoyance that the grillers had preview access to the movie—even though they never saw the film’s final cut until that evening.
Q: What in the script drew you three actors to Crooked Arrows?
A: Gil Birmingham: What drew me to the script was {deadpan pause} the words. (Laughter among all three actors)
Brandon Routh: The movie had a lot to say, and had a lot of action and a lot of fun. It’s not just fluff, it’s really talking about the Native American people, their heritage, the history of lacrosse. And new and old coming together and making compromises: the traditionalist father (played by Birmingham) and his son (Routh) who wants to push the boundaries. But {Routh’s character} Joe has lost his way a little bit; in his push to move forward, he’s lost some important history and heritage.
Q: In several interviews Neal Powless {the former Onondaga
lacrosse star, who served as a co-producer} mentioned that the original
script wasn’t the way it is now, that some additions were made to make
it truer to Native culture. What script did you first see?
A: Routh: We got a script much later in the process, after a Native American expert from the Smithsonian Museum {folklife expert Thomas Vennum, author of Lacrosse Legends of the First Americans} years ago had looked at it and got it much better. And then Neal had become a part of it, and it was his participation that really cleaned it up and made it appropriate for everyone.
Birmingham: That’s not uncommon for scripts to go through first, second and third drafts, and oftentimes they’re making changes as you’re shooting, if it fits the story.
Q: An early sequence has Joe driving to the casino; he has “WAMPUM” as his car’s license plate, and the Cavalry charge sound effect is played when someone wins at the slot machine. It’s funny and almost satiric and yet it’s probably truer to life than people know.
A: Routh: There may have been more things like that {in the script}. But with Neal and the other people who took a look at the script, they judged what was in there was OK and what was not too far, but proved the point that Joe had lost his way and was pimping out his tribe a little bit too much and not honoring his people in the right way.
Q: What did director Steve Rash bring to the project? There are a lot of nice touches, such as the grandmother as comic relief and the snarky play-by-play radio announcer who gets his comeuppance.
A: Routh: Some of that was in the script, but some of it was Steve allowing us to breathe and to let whatever comes to mind to, at least, try it. Crooked Arrows is one of my most favorite acting experiences. We had extensive conversations before the film, and I talked about my process, how I liked to work. And Steve has a wealth of knowledge for how to work with actors and what they need to be successful and being OK with giving them maybe more power than somebody else would have. Because at the end of the day, he can cut it {from the movie} or put it in there. And that gave me a lot more freedom to be more real {with my character}.
Chelsea Ricketts: I thought Steve was great, too, because most of our cast was not actors. They were lacrosse players, so that was an added challenge that Steve probably wasn’t used to. And he had to be very patient—we all did—because they just stepped onto the set not knowing a thing. Steve was really, really good with the boys.
Q: Crooked Arrows also has a loose, relaxed atmosphere.
A: Birmingham: It does, but you’ve got a limited budget to try and get the shots you want to get in, and you want to bring out the best performances or the personalities of the individuals involved. And Steve was very influential, in that he facilitated, which is the best thing you can say about a director. He was able to not make you feel pressured, but kind of guide you in a certain way. And it initially starts with the casting, so that’s 90 percent of it. So if you’re casting right, then the other 10 percent is just the openest field to make the changes and shifts that the director would like to see.
Q: Looking at behind-the-scenes stills from the movie, does Steve Rash always wear a cowboy hat on the set?
A: Routh: {Laughs} He did outdoors because it was so hot in Boston {during last summer’s location shooting}, mostly for sun protection.
Ricketts: {Laughs} He can rock a cowboy hat.
Routh: And he had the boots some days, too.
(Editor’s note: Rash didn’t bring his cowboy hat to the premiere, either, although he did chuckle when he explained why he wears one while making movies: “That helps me be identified by the players. You know, ‘Where’s the guy in the black hat? I have to do what he says.’”)
Q: Did you have to step up a notch in terms of physical regimens before you made the movie?
A: Routh: I did because I have a little shirtless scene in the movie. (Laughter from his co-stars) Which is always a challenge, too, because you’re working all day and you still have to find time to work out, but it’s part of the deal.
Q: (To Ricketts) During the opening lacrosse game in which your character Nadie gets pressed into service to play and gets injured, did you do your own stunts?
A: Ricketts: I didn’t do the hit. . . .
Routh: That was actually me!
Ricketts: (Laughs) Yes, Brandon was my double. No, I didn’t do the hit but I did everything else. I was really adamant about wanting to do it all by myself. That’s why I worked so hard to learn the sport and actually attempt to look good doing it. But no, they wouldn’t let me do the hit. It was a girl named Cara, an amazing lacrosse player, who took the hit for me.
Q: Was there any horseplay with the non-actors?
A: Routh: Yes! You know, that’s what they do. (Laughter from co-stars) A lot of them knew each other and they’re still young men; some of them are older than others so not everyone was {horsing around} but there were a few who wanted to be the jokers. A lot of the time it was a good source of levity, but sometimes when we were ready to shoot, they weren’t. But they learned after awhile.
Birmingham: You want that kind of energy, and it’s kind of heightened, too, when you’re doing a sport, so it really served {the movie} well.
Routh: And it’s hard: They have to be out there running around the field and be on their game, and then have a dramatic scene at some point, too. So it’s hard to moderate all that, especially if you’ve never had to change emotional scenes like that and not being an actor.
Birmingham: And then doing take after take at the same time.
Q: Recent press conferences indicate that all these guys have been bitten by the acting bug. They all want to do it.
A: Birmingham: That’s all you need is to get bitten, and then you’ll be successful. . . I said sarcastically. (Laughter from co-stars) If you’re willing to pay the dues, it can always happen.
Routh: They got kind of a Cinderella moment to start out. . .
Ricketts: No kidding. . .
Routh: . . . and they’ll learn that not all movies are like {the experience of} Crooked Arrows. I tell anyone, “Just be cautious. Not every day’s like this.”
Birmingham: (Feigns a winsome voice) “This director’s not like Steve, he was nice to me.”
Q: Did you have to do any reshoots?
A: Routh: We did a few days in LA to bulk up Tyler Hill’s character {as Nadie’s boyfriend} because that was working so well and we wanted to strengthen that with a couple scenes to make his character pop a little more.
Q: (To Ricketts) When your character busts into the guys’ locker room during one scene. . .
A: Birmingham: We had to pull her back. (Laughter)
Q:. . . did Cree Cathers’ Chewy character have a butt-cheek double?
A: Ricketts: No, that was Cree. He was really embarrassed at first and then I think after everyone said, “Ah dude, it’s so funny,” then he was like lovin’ it a little too much. It was fun.
Birmingham: I gotta see this movie!
Q: Was it important to keep things light in this movie?
A: Routh: The movie has a lot of levity. I mean, that was one of the things that drew me to it as well as an opportunity to do more comedy, which is something I’m continually moving toward. And the more levity there is, the more poignancy when the drama hits, so you gotta have that contrast, and I think it works really well in this movie.
(Another editor’s note: Routh got his wish for more comedy. He’s part of the ensemble for the new sitcom ensemble for Partners, which CBS-TV announced last weekend as part of the network’s fall lineup.)
Q: What’s harder: Making movies or promoting the films and putting up with goofy questions from journalists like me?
A: Routh: They’re all different, I guess. (Laughs) This is not acting, but it’s a part of the job, it’s another aspect.
Birmingham: And it comes a year after, so you forget. “Really, am I in that movie?”
Recollections from the Crooked Arrows red carpet: Facing page, clockwise from top: in focus with Gil Birmingham; lighting up Montgomery Street; Syracuse University lacrosse coach John Desko, who also makes a movie cameo, is in the audience; funny lady Kanaionstha Betty Deer greets the media; Brandon Routh adjusts his hair during a windy night; and Chelsea Ricketts strikes a pose.
This page, clockwise from top left, lacrosse star and co-producer Neal Powless is all smiles; Tadadaho Sid Hill (right), spiritual leader of the Onondaga Nation Council of Chiefs, is given direction by union stagehand Jeff Meyer; scene-stealer Cree Cathers (left) meets a cretin behind the velvet rope; director Steve Rash enjoys the festivities; producers J. Todd Harris and Mitchell Peck, who spent years shepherding this project; and the packed Civic Center house, who laughed and cheered in all the right places.
