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Gracie tells the unexpected true story of Elisabeth Shue
By BRUCE WESTBROOK
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
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Premiere photos Andrew Shue searched for years for the title star of Gracie. When a character is based on your sister, you tend to be picky.
But Carly Schroeder could have saved him the trouble.
"I had the script two years before they cast the movie," she said. "And as soon as I read it, I thought, 'This is the perfect girl part for me.' "
By the time she was cast, she'd even grown to the character's age of 15. It's at that age that fictional Gracie tries joining an all-boys soccer team at a New Jersey high school in 1978.
The same course was taken as a teen by Shue's sister, Oscar-nominated actress Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas). Gracie, opening Friday, is inspired by her story, and also by the accidental death of their soccer-star brother William in 1986.
Indeed, the film is a family affair. Alongside Dermot Mulroney as Gracie's father, Elisabeth plays her mother. Her husband, Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth), directed. He, Elisabeth and Andrew also served as producers, and Andrew played a soccer coach.
"It was a therapeutic experience for us," Andrew said when he and Schroeder visited Houston recently. "My sister and I wanted to honor our brother. All of us have had different tragedies, and we want everyone to relate to our film."
Its first concept was "an underdog soccer movie about our brother, who made us realize life is short, so you have to find meaningful things and work for people you love."
But Andrew then realized his sister was the real underdog of the story.
"She was the only girl in a male-dominated, sports-obsessed family," he said. "She was that fierce, spirited girl in the film who constantly surprised us with her desire to be counted."
Thanks to Title IX initiatives — efforts to enforce federal gender-equality laws in education — and to Elisabeth "breaking down the barriers," her school soon formed its first girls soccer team. Gracie ends by stating that 5 million girls play soccer in the United States.
With that spirit in mind, Andrew asked a favor of a friend in New Jersey, where he's lived since leaving Hollywood after a six-year run on Melrose Place. (An online entrepreneur, he's a co-founder, along with Meredith Vieira, of social network Cafe Mom.)
Bruce Springsteen, who has let few of his songs be in movies, let the film use Growin' Up, from his 1973 debut disc, Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. "He had the perfect song for this," Andrew said.
Infusing Gracie with its rebellious spirit, it includes the lyrics, "When they said sit down, I stood up."
Schroeder's own gumption helped make her ideal to play Gracie.
"I'm a very competitive person," said Schroeder, 16. "As the only girl on an all-boys wrestling team in school, I had guys say the rudest, nastiest things to me, just because I was a girl.
"Well, when someone mocks me or says something infuriating, it's over. They had no chance. At age 13 I beat guys up to age 18. Forget about it."
An Indiana native, Schroeder moved with her family to Los Angeles when she was 6 and for the next five years played Serena Baldwin on daytime soaps General Hospital and Port Charles. She then joined Lizzie McGuire, starring Houston-born Hilary Duff.
"Hilary was one of the first people I met when I came to Hollywood," Schroeder said. "She was so sweet to me — like a big sister."
While on Lizzie Maguire, "we were a little bad sometimes," she said. " We'd write our names in rubber cement behind the stage, and between takes we'd go out and throw matches at it, and it'd catch on fire, and our names would go up in flames."
Since Lizzie, Schroeder has moved into films. She played Harrison Ford's kidnapped daughter in Firewall and was top-billed in Eye of the Dolphin. (Younger brother Hunter plays her brother in Gracie.)
Being a working actress while growing up "is like a sport or a hobby for me," Schroeder said. "I'm just a normal kid. I'm not trapped by it."
Similarly, Andrew wanted "a normal life" after feeling trapped by his six-year contract on Melrose Place. "I wanted to raise our three boys in a normal environment, so I moved back to New Jersey (in 2000) and went into business.
"I don't know if I'll produce more, but that's cool, too, because you call the shots, control the spending and can work from your own house. We shot Gracie in New Jersey. It's a homegrown project."
Besides family, soccer is a big part of the film's passion.
"Naysayers think it's not exciting — that it's a wussy sport," Andrew said. "But it's incredibly physical. So in Gracie we broke it down to dramatic moments, to show the skill and speed."
Schroeder had played "a little soccer, but I didn't realize how hard and intense it was till I started training for Gracie."
At first Andrew sought a strong soccer player who also could act. "But we wound up looking for an experienced actress who had athletic ability as well."
They also were swayed by Schroeder. Perhaps she was Gracie, after all.
"Carly didn't just audition," Andrew said. "She made it clear. She came in and said, 'I'm doing this part, and I'll tell you why.' "
That's Carly — and that's Gracie and Elisabeth. When someone says sit down, they stand up.
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INSIDE TRACK ; Teen actress a Shue-in for new flick;
GAYLE FEE, LAURA RAPOSA, ERIN HAYES. Boston Herald. Boston, Mass.:
May 8, 2007. pg. 14
Sixteen-year-old actress Carly Schroeder never set foot on a soccer field before she tried out for the title role in "Gracie" - a new flick
loosely based on the real-life story of Oscar winner Elisabeth Shue and her soccer-obsessed brothers.
"I started training before I knew I got the part," Carly told the Track. "I wanted to make sure I was as believable (an athlete) as possible."
But the Shues - Elisabeth and her actor-brother, Andrew - needed no convincing. Once the petite blonde walked into the room and told them
she'd wrestled on an all-boys wrestling team - and won - they knew they had their star.
"We all knew she was the one," said Andrew, a "Melrose Place" veteran who plays the a boys' soccer coach in the flick.
"Gracie" is the story of a girl who joins her school's all-boys soccer team after the death of her big brother. It is loosely based on the Shues'
real-life story.
Elisabeth, a Harvard alum, was raised with three soccer-obsessed brothers (Andrew played professionally for the L.A. Galaxy). But, unlike Gracie,
she gave up the sport at age 13 because there wasn't a girls' team in her high school.
On the screen, Gracie's family suffers the loss of oldest brother and their brood's biggest soccer star, played by Jesse Lee Soffer, which makes
Gracie determined to play in his honor.
In real life, Andrew and Elisabeth lost their older brother, William, in 1988 and the movie, which just screened in Boston, is dedicated to him.
Once Schroeder got word she landed the role, she started working with trainers from the Wilmington-based CATZ gym. And, like her character,
she took it upon herself to play pick-up games in the park - on all-boy teams - on Saturdays.
"I scored a goal in the first game I played, and after that the boys were like, `Blondie's got game. Let's not go easy on her' " she laughed.
"Yeah, I got kicked in the face a few times."
But while Schroeder has developed a love for soccer, baseball is still her No. 1 sport - especially the Red Sox.
"I LOOOVE the Boston Red Sox," Schroeder asserted, adding that David Ortiz and J.D. Drew are her favorite players.
While the Sox' road trip made it impossible for her to catch a Boston game, she was able to make the trek to Fenway Park where she "got to touch
the bricks."
More
http://film-stars.suite101.com/article.cfm/carly_schroeder_scores_as_gracie
http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2007/05/15/news/top_news/doc2eebe381295a25b0862572dc001103e8.txt
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Nigeria: Nigeria, 11 Others for Commonwealth Wrestling Tournament
29 May 2007
Lagos
Nigeria and 11 other countries are to compete for honours in this years Commonwealth Wrestling Championships holding from June 16-17 in Canada.
The other countries include Australia, India, South Africa, Wales, Namibia, Scotland, Pakistan, Samoa, New Zealand, England, and host Canada.
Organizer of the Wrestling Championships, Josip Mrkoci is already looking forward to successful and well attended championships compared to the 2003 edition that recorded a lot of last minute withdrawal by member countries
"We don't anticipate the same problems we had before.
"It was unbelievable what happened four years ago. Whatever could've gone wrong, did go wrong - we had some of the visas arrive a week after the competition -- but we got a jump on the paperwork this time. We won't have any problems with immigration" Mrkoci said
Nigeria was unable to come to London last time after a nationwide strike protesting rising fuel prices left the 15-member team stuck at home. The event went from an expected 14-country, 140 wrestler to just 70 competitors. There was, however, a talented contingent from India.
"We had three brothers from Pakistan (Umar, Usman and Ali Muhammad) who had all kinds of travel nightmares to get here," Mrkoci said. "They finally arrived after the event was over so we brought them to Guelph the following week to wrestle in the Canada Cup. There's three brothers coming back again this time, although the oldest (Umar) isn't wrestling this time but a fourth brother will be here."
The championships will feature men's freestyle, Greco-Roman and women's freestyle wrestling.