ComingSoon Senior Editor Spencer Legacy spoke with The Underdoggs director Charles Stone III about the new Prime Video comedy movie. The filmmaker discussed making an R-rated comedy and directing children. The film is now available to stream on Prime Video.
“Jaycen ‘Two Js’ Jennings is a washed-up ex-professional football star who has hit rock bottom,” reads the film‘s synopsis. “When Jaycen is sentenced to community service coaching the Underdoggs, an unruly pee-wee football team in his hometown of Long Beach, California, he sees it as an opportunity to rebuild his public image and turn his life around. As Jaycen works to transform the foul-mouthed Underdoggs into top-notch champions, he reconnects with his past, including an old flame and few of his ex-teammates and rediscovers his love of the game.”
Spencer Legacy: It feels like R-rated comedies are a little rarer than they used to be, and The Underdoggs is such an enjoyable entry into that genre. How fun was it to get to direct this type of comedy?
Charles Stone III: Well, directing The Underdoggs and it being an R-rated comedy with kids was something that was quite enticing. I was inspired that this movie was based a little bit on The Bad News Bears, which, in the ’70s, was quite revolutionary in terms of cussing children. Also just a real slice-of-life, grounded sports world with Little League Baseball. So here we are, doing it in Pee Wee football with 10-year-olds. So yeah, it was a great experience.
The cast is also really so great. When did George Lopez get involved, and what was working with him on this like?
You know, I’ve got to say, when first reading the script, the Coach Feis character … George Lopez came to mind instantly. I know that’s a line that people say all the time, “Oh, I was thinking of so-and-so.” I really was. George has a history in Southern California and being Latinx and connected to, again, that culture … It’s not just African American. So that was cool. And he’s just a funny guy. He’s older, he’s got a sense of living life, and he’s very wise. So he was the perfect candidate or person to play Coach Feis.
One of my favorite things about the movie is the kids act like real kids. How did you guide them into giving that very fun and natural performance?
In terms of the kids acting real, all those kids are quite real. Jonigan Booth, who plays the team leader superstar Tre, was super grounded. I mean, he’s definitely a diamond in the rough, as you could see. He really set the tone for the other actors in terms of them being grounded as well. The actor Alexander [Michael Gordon], who plays Drogon — the nerdy kid — he had actually auditioned for Dwayne, A.K.A. Pretty Boy, but as soon as I heard him and he had that classic lisp and the glasses, I was like, “He’s got to play Drogon.” So that worked out really well. But yeah, all the kids … that was one of the charms, and what was important is for the cast to feel grounded because our approach, and our major concern for Snoop Dogg, was that the cultural experience comes across as real.
Do you have a personal favorite scene from the film now that it’s coming out?
Oh, man, I should have been prepared for that. That’s a good question. There are a lot of them, but I would say the scene where Kareem [Mike Epps] carjacks two-J’s car comes in and realizes that it’s him. That scenario, the carjacking scenario, is just hilarious. Most of the scenes between Mike Epps and Snoop Dogg were just great. They’re like adult kids in their conversation, so I really enjoyed that.
