duncan228
09-19-2007, 11:31 AM
http://www.wral.com/news/local/blogpost/1832173/
There's more to the article, this is just the Duncan story.
Barry Jacobs' Fans Guide to the ACC
Hardwood to Hollywood
By Barry Jacobs
ACC basketball fans are not the target audience for The Jane Austen Book Club, described by one show business magazine as “a chick-lit flick with a vengeance.”
But the movie, which opens Friday in 800 theaters nationwide, features a familiar face if you happened to watch Wake Forest basketball return to prominence during the mid-90s. The handsome fellow in the sports bar -- tie loosened, hand grasping the neck of a beer bottle, portraying an “oaf of a spouse” according to a reviewer -- is Marc Blucas, a guard at Wake from 1991 through 1994.
“He reminds me a lot of some of the guys I grew up with, a little of that small-town mentality,” Blucas says of “Dean.” Blucas is from Girard, Pa., a working-class community of about 3,000 in the northwestern corner of the state.
Blucas, a chatty mix of enthusiasm, thoughtfulness, and self-examination, knew he was right for the part as soon as he read the script. Not simply because he empathized with the character, or because he meshed with Emily Blunt, the actress who plays his wife, a high school French teacher and member of the book club.
Rather, Blucas knew he belonged because the bit of dialogue he read at his audition involved Tim Duncan, a former Demon Deacon teammate. The character spouts off regarding San Antonio’s prospects in the NBA finals, predicting a four-game sweep, five games if the Spurs grow overconfident. “It isn’t going to go seven unless Tim Duncan gets hit by an asteroid,” he says.
Blucas laughed when he read the line, and laughs again as he recalls it. “Tim is my best friend, so I called him immediately," he says. "I’m like, ‘You can’t believe this stuff. You’re mentioned in this script. I have to get this job.’”
Mission accomplished. Blucas not only got the part in his 21st film -- the fourth to be released in 2007 following After Sex, Thr3e and The Killing Floor – but convinced writer/director Robin Swicord to film a practical joke aimed at Duncan.
After delivering the line about the asteroid, Blucas, portraying a Spurs fan, inserted dialogue intended for his one-man audience. “I went on about a 2-minute rant where I completely dismantle his game,” Blucas says with relish. His voice takes on a slightly higher, lilting tone: “’Yo, I’m 6-11, but I just want to dribble through my legs and shoot jumpshots like a guard.’”
Later, Duncan came west to play against the L.A. Lakers and dropped by the set to watch the bogus clip. When Blucas’ character began swearing, Duncan, a laconic sort in public, looked questioningly at his friend. The room full of film folks burst into laughter.
“It was the greatest gag ever,” says Blucas. “It was hilarious.” He says the out-take is included on the DVD of the film.
There's more to the article, this is just the Duncan story.
Barry Jacobs' Fans Guide to the ACC
Hardwood to Hollywood
By Barry Jacobs
ACC basketball fans are not the target audience for The Jane Austen Book Club, described by one show business magazine as “a chick-lit flick with a vengeance.”
But the movie, which opens Friday in 800 theaters nationwide, features a familiar face if you happened to watch Wake Forest basketball return to prominence during the mid-90s. The handsome fellow in the sports bar -- tie loosened, hand grasping the neck of a beer bottle, portraying an “oaf of a spouse” according to a reviewer -- is Marc Blucas, a guard at Wake from 1991 through 1994.
“He reminds me a lot of some of the guys I grew up with, a little of that small-town mentality,” Blucas says of “Dean.” Blucas is from Girard, Pa., a working-class community of about 3,000 in the northwestern corner of the state.
Blucas, a chatty mix of enthusiasm, thoughtfulness, and self-examination, knew he was right for the part as soon as he read the script. Not simply because he empathized with the character, or because he meshed with Emily Blunt, the actress who plays his wife, a high school French teacher and member of the book club.
Rather, Blucas knew he belonged because the bit of dialogue he read at his audition involved Tim Duncan, a former Demon Deacon teammate. The character spouts off regarding San Antonio’s prospects in the NBA finals, predicting a four-game sweep, five games if the Spurs grow overconfident. “It isn’t going to go seven unless Tim Duncan gets hit by an asteroid,” he says.
Blucas laughed when he read the line, and laughs again as he recalls it. “Tim is my best friend, so I called him immediately," he says. "I’m like, ‘You can’t believe this stuff. You’re mentioned in this script. I have to get this job.’”
Mission accomplished. Blucas not only got the part in his 21st film -- the fourth to be released in 2007 following After Sex, Thr3e and The Killing Floor – but convinced writer/director Robin Swicord to film a practical joke aimed at Duncan.
After delivering the line about the asteroid, Blucas, portraying a Spurs fan, inserted dialogue intended for his one-man audience. “I went on about a 2-minute rant where I completely dismantle his game,” Blucas says with relish. His voice takes on a slightly higher, lilting tone: “’Yo, I’m 6-11, but I just want to dribble through my legs and shoot jumpshots like a guard.’”
Later, Duncan came west to play against the L.A. Lakers and dropped by the set to watch the bogus clip. When Blucas’ character began swearing, Duncan, a laconic sort in public, looked questioningly at his friend. The room full of film folks burst into laughter.
“It was the greatest gag ever,” says Blucas. “It was hilarious.” He says the out-take is included on the DVD of the film.