The Story Behind Showtime’s New Russell Westbrook Documentary: ‘This Is Russell Claiming His Own Narrative’

(CBS) — Even earlier donning an NBA jersey, Russell Westbrook radiated strength connected the court. As his fame and nationalist persona matured, truthful did the contention surrounding his name. However, arsenic filmmakers Erik LeDrew and Meg Cirillo privation to expose, determination are discrepancies betwixt the “Beastbrook” you spot successful explosive interviews and the household antheral astatine home, moving to springiness backmost to his Los Angeles community.

CBS‘ Katie Johnston spoke to Passion Play‘s Co-Director and Producer to sermon the originative process down the caller SHOWTIME documentary Passion Play: Russell Westbrook and moving alongside 1 of the fiercest characters successful the NBA.

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KJ- I’m honored contiguous to beryllium speaking contiguous with 2 important radical down the caller documentary “Passion Play: Russell Westbrook.” Meg Cirillo, she’s the supervising shaper and Erik LeDrew he’s the co-director. This movie follows the NBA star, his life, talking astir grief and emotion and everything successful between.

I truly privation to speech astir your roles successful making this movie happen. Erik we’ll commencement with you.

EL- I conjecture I tin benignant of instrumentality recognition for coming up with the idea. Obviously, Russell is his ain antheral and has lived his story. The thought benignant of came to america similar — who would you — if you had to prime 1 jock to enactment connected a documentary for, for your adjacent project, who would it be? We were coming disconnected a drawstring of projects and what we were looking for was idiosyncratic with a small spot of contention to their name, conscionable a small bit, but a batch of endowment and charisma. We were looking for idiosyncratic who would conscionable airy up the surface and truly invigorate the project, conscionable bring a batch of vigor to is basically. Russell was astatine similar the apical of the list. It was a precise abbreviated list, but Russell was A1.

This was similar successful a vacuum, by the way. No 1 was proposing thing with Russell to us, it was conscionable similar — immoderate athlete, immoderate sport, who would it be? A week later, possibly not adjacent a week, a communal cause came to america and was like, “What bash you deliberation astir Russell Westbrook?” And we’re like, “We got an idea, we’re acceptable to go!” Pretty overmuch from the get-go, it did not instrumentality agelong astatine all.

A batch of clip connected these projects, originative tin instrumentality a agelong clip to fastener into place. Honestly, successful this place, I would accidental the halfway concept, the rubric “Passion Play,” the conception of investigating an athlete’s overwhelming passionateness benignant of done the prism of a clump of antithetic emotions and the root communicative down each emotion — that came unneurotic precise quickly, virtually wrong days. From there, it was truly a agelong production. He was connected the Thunder erstwhile we started, got traded to the Rockets, got traded again and again. We had the pandemic, NBA bubble, present he’s backmost successful LA. We didn’t adjacent cognize this was his travel home, but that’s fundamentally what the communicative is. It’s benignant of the prodigal lad coming backmost home. I conjecture that’s my role.

KJ- Meg, what astir you?

MC- I’m Erik’s originative spouse successful crime. With everything that went down, my occupation was to beryllium the person of logistics and marque definite from accumulation to station to transportation that we were capable to seizure each these things with Russell. Every trade. Through the pandemic. And everything other successful between.

KJ- I didn’t recognize you guys had followed him for truthful agelong successful filming this documentary. I’ve seen a small spot of the film. It’s retired close present connected Showtime. What I truly thought was amusive was to spot those videos of Russell playing arsenic a kid, arsenic you mentioned, successful LA with his dada and different important radical successful his beingness talking implicit those videos. What was it similar trying to way down those videos from Russell Westbrook’s younker and past besides pulling successful unneurotic each these elements of the trades helium went done present successful his nonrecreational career?

EL- I’ll instrumentality the archetypal one, but Meg should truly chime successful connected the tracking down facet of it. I’ll conscionable say, for a agelong time, those sections covering Russell’s puerility had similar achromatic surface and “childhood video” successful large letters connected it. We’re like, it’s got to beryllium retired there. Someone was filming it. We were conscionable hoping and praying, benignant of gathering the communicative with the interviews we constructed past hoping and praying that we were going to find bully footage and Meg was the 1 who spearheaded that effort truthful each recognition there.

MC- Huge shoutout to Chris Young from Russell’s puerility who fundamentally had been filming this worldly each along. Thankfully, we had the enactment from Russ’s household and squad astir him that they were each truly anxious to get this worldly with america and enactment with america to get each this footage. Thank goodness they were filming due to the fact that it’s astonishing and cipher has seen this before.

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KJ- It’s genuinely unthinkable and I deliberation it besides truly gets the connection crossed successful this film. It’s truthful almighty and it has to beryllium erstwhile discussing 1 of the astir passionate players of the game. What’s the originative reasoning down this task and however overmuch was Russell progressive successful that?

EL- I mean, obviously, helium lived the story. All helium has to bash is enactment and beryllium and the communicative is coming to us. In presumption of literal collaboration, I would accidental it was a process of pitching him ideas and seeing however helium responded to them and however they resonated with him and past getting his feedback. It was a loop, a benignant of originative speech that continued implicit time. He decidedly had his priorities.

Frankly helium would beryllium like, “I don’t truly attraction astir XYZ, you guys are the storytellers, you deliberation that’s important? Go for it. But I’m telling you this is important.”

Number one, helium truly felt it was important to speech astir the Genesis of his nationalist representation and the disparity betwixt his backstage beingness and nationalist beingness and however that evolved. that was the crushed for him to bash this project, not conscionable to archer his story, but to speech astir wherefore the cognition of him is truthful antithetic than the reality. Number two, it was a truly large precedence for him to grant his assemblage successful LA. LA is Russell. In his mind, helium is LA, you know? There is simply a captious portion of the narrative, a spot of a fulcrum successful his improvement erstwhile helium becomes much engaged with his assemblage and realizes helium benignant of has a batch to beryllium to the public.

We speech astir the Genesis of his faith. We built a four-part communicative arch arsenic a portion of the larger events happening successful his life. We woody with the Genesis of his family’s faith, which truly comes from his father. That’s benignant of the root of the Westbrook household faith. Then however that gets activated successful Russell’s puerility erstwhile helium decided to effort retired for the freshmen squad alternatively of varsity due to the fact that helium was acrophobic of failure. The acquisition that taught him and however that grew implicit time. You’ll spot it’s benignant of similar a thread that truly ties everything unneurotic beautifully. That was a precedence for Russell arsenic well. This is the story, we consciousness similar the assemblage is going to truly link with these things successful this way. Then Russell is like, “Alright, but you got to marque definite you deed these things successful this mode due to the fact that that’s what’s important to me.” It was truly a gathering of the minds to necktie that each together.

KJ- It seems similar helium was a truly proactive dependable successful marque this each happen, and you guys were each benignant of bouncing ideas backmost and distant and past besides getting large feedback from him successful making the task travel to fruition. I privation to inquire you now, what bash you deliberation is the astir important takeaway for your assemblage erstwhile watching this documentary?

EL- There’s benignant of similar what I anticipation arsenic the filmmaker and what Russell personally wants to communicate. I deliberation those priorities we talked astir for him — the value of his community, improvement of his faith, and disparity betwixt backstage and nationalist perceptions.

Then for us, the constituent of presumption we bring arsenic filmmakers — fig one, constituent of presumption is everything. We are ever like, “What is the constituent of view?” connected a project, virtually the archetypal question. Secondly, you can’t assistance but bring your ain constituent of presumption to it. What we crafted was a communicative astir a feline who believes successful being existent to himself supra conscionable astir everything else. When he’s not existent to himself, helium can’t bash the things helium does, helium can’t beryllium the antheral helium is to his family.

The communicative is simply a small spot of a conflict particularly erstwhile his nationalist cognition begins to crook a small antagonistic and grows beyond his control–how that pulls him distant from being himself and makes him consciousness similar helium has things to prove. You’ll spot helium goes connected rather a travel of self-discovery. My hope, successful the end, arsenic a takeaway, archetypal off, conscionable sheer respect for what Russell has accomplished, but besides an appreciation of him arsenic a quality being. Very simply, I anticipation everyone tin spot the value of being existent to yourself nary substance what radical are saying astir you. I would say, astatine its core, that the precise elemental communicative of Russell’s communicative and putting it retired into the world.

KJ- Meg, bash you person thing to adhd to that?

MC- No, I deliberation that’s perfectly right. I besides believe, successful a way, this is Russell claiming his ain narrative. The media has specified a heavy cognition of who Russell is. I think, for us, it was truly important to amusement the satellite who Russell is inside, disconnected the court, who helium is with his family: being capable to amusement the satellite he’s conscionable not this media cognition that everybody has.

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Passion Play: Russell Westbrook is disposable to watercourse unrecorded and on-demand present with SHOWTIME.