With his new film, former Green Beret and NFL participant Nate Boyer tackles real-world points affecting many members of each communities.
The ex-Seattle Seahawk directed and stars in “MVP” with the mission of exhibiting there’s hope for navy veterans and former athletes who battle with psychological well being and discovering goal in society after retiring from their “glory days.”
“I hope it really helps us spread this narrative that you’re never alone, and you’re not broken just because you’ve gone through some tough stuff,” Boyer advised the Daily News.
“Yeah, survivor’s guilt absolutely exists, but so does survivor’s responsibility. We have a lot of work to do. It’s up to us to live out those American Dreams of the men and women who didn’t come back from overseas, and we need to do that in an honorable way. And also, from the athlete’s side, bucking this narrative that they’re all just rich crybabies and they don’t know what it’s really like in the world.”
Premiering Wednesday in 35 cities, together with all the NFL markets, “MVP” stars Boyer as a former Marine and Mo McCrae as a newly retired NFL star who type an unlikely bond by way of their shared expertise of feeling misplaced after leaving the one jobs they know.
The movie attracts inspiration from Boyer’s real-life nonprofit group, Merging Vets & Players (MVP), which he created with Fox Sports analyst Jay Glazer in 2015 to attach ex-military members {and professional} athletes going through challenges with their transitions.
Boyer, 41, served a number of excursions with the U.S. Army earlier than enjoying faculty soccer with the Texas Longhorns as a protracted snapper. He had a brief stint with the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in 2015.
“When that ended, I came back to L.A. and I didn’t know what I was going to do,” Boyer mentioned. “Was I going to return within the navy? I simply felt type of misplaced, and Jay approached me with this concept. He mentioned, ‘Hey, I want to start an organization that brings vets and athletes together.’
“I’d be on the phone talking to a buddy of mine from Special Forces, and he’d be talking to a former player on the phone, and they’d both be struggling, lost, asking us for advice, ‘What do we do next?’ The biggest thing they were missing was the locker room.”
Their MVP group began in Los Angeles, with Glazer opening his Unbreakable Performance gymnasium to athletes and veterans as soon as per week to coach collectively and speak by way of their frequent points. It’s since expanded to incorporate eight U.S. chapters, together with New York City.
Boyer had appeared in a number of movie and TV roles, usually enjoying a navy member or soccer participant, however didn’t have a lot expertise behind the digital camera earlier than making his directorial debut with “MVP.”
He says each navy character within the film is performed by a veteran, and that the experiences detailed within the script are based mostly on actual tales.
“Most of that stuff was said on the mat during an MVP session,” Boyer mentioned. “They wrote the story. They dictated and we wrote it down, and obviously made it into a cohesive script, but those are all real stories, real people.”
The movie is govt produced by Sylvester Stallone and options appearances by former NFL stars together with Michael Strahan, Tony Gonzalez and Howie Long.
Boyer has regularly served as a conduit between the NFL and navy worlds, together with advising Colin Kaepernick that kneeling throughout the National Anthem in his social justice protests earlier than video games could be extra respectful than sitting.
He hopes “MVP” helps viewers perceive athletes and veterans higher.
“I just want people to relate a little bit with someone they may feel they have nothing in common with,” Boyer mentioned. “That could be a viewer interested by what they’re seeing on display, a fight vet, a former skilled athlete. Do I perceive these folks? Do I’ve some misconceptions about who they’re?
“Outside of the movie, in the world, can you sit across from somebody, have a conversation, be respectful, and then maybe grow together and help one another, even if you have very little in common or believe very different things? I think it’s possible.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com