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Interview by Pattee Mak | March 2, 2014
Photo by La Pedra Films
He is a household name and he has a new movie coming out soon about his incredible life, but who is he, what is his name you would ask.
Enter now the legendary “Hands of Stone” aka “Manos de Piedra” or just simply Roberto Duran from Panama.
You might never have guessed, but you would be hard pressed if you are a boxing fan not to get excited about this movie and if you have not heard of him, check this out.
Courtesy La Piedra Films
He first entered the squared circle for his pro debut in 1968 and went on to fight for 33 years amassing an amazing record of 103 wins, 70 of them by knockout with only 16 losses, that altogether adds up to 119 fights, simply incredible. During his career he fought many opponents now already in the Hall of Fame. Needless to say, he fought in different weight classes. He fought for titles. He won titles. He is a superstar no doubt and we will soon have the pleasure of watching The Story of Roberto Duran “Hands of Stone” unfold before our eyes. I caught up with Jay Weisleder the producer of the movie and President of Witch’s Rock Entertainment, Inc to discuss the movie.
Pattee Mak: Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions. I can only imagine how busy you are. I must say in the boxing community, we are likened to a brotherhood and everyone seems to be excited about this movie. The one question that is on everyone’s mind is when will this movie be released?
Weisleder: Filming just wrapped this month; we are aiming for a 2015 release.
Pattee Mak: As of this very moment, can you share with me where the movie is at in production?
Weisleder: We are currently in post-production.
Pattee Mak: Al Pacino was at one point casted to play Duran’s legendary boxing trainer Ray Arcel and now Robert De Niro has taken over his role. What happened with Pacino and how did De Niro come about?
Weisleder: Scheduling conflicts are always part of putting films together. We always wanted a legend for the role of Arcel. After Pacino dropped off we approached Mr. De Niro and he came on board making this project a passion project for him. Bob was very patient with us, and told us he was not going to go anywhere until we made the film. I am eternally grateful to him for that.
Pattee Mak: Besides De Niro appearing in the film, you have Ellen Barkin, who portrays Stephanie Arcel, the wife of Ray Arcel and Usher who plays Sugar Ray Leonard. Who else is casted in the film?
Weisleder: We have the amazing Edgar Ramirez who did an incredible and breath taking performance as the legendary Roberto Duran. We also have John Turturro, Ruben Blades and Jurnee Smollett-Bell.
Pattee Mak: Usher’s role is Sugar Ray Leonard who fought Duran 3x in his pro career, Duran was victorious once and Leonard twice. I’m sure there are going to be a ton of females out there who would love to see the blood, sweat and tears of Usher in the ring? Any such scenes in the movie?
Weisleder: Plenty of that and more. Usher made an amazing transformation; I believe people will be blown away by his performance.
Pattee Mak: Some will say boxing is dead but it seems that boxing films show the real struggle, hustle and expose the trials and humbling experiences of a fighter and life experiences. What will make this film stand out from all the rest?
Weisleder: I don’t think boxing is dead, more and more networks are showing boxing fights, tv specials, and a lot of the big names in boxing have deals with the HBO’s and Showtime’s on cable tv. I think boxing is being re-positioned in the masses. Boxing films always stand out due the journey each boxer travels to achieve greatness, sometimes just winning a belt is not enough, and that’s why films are that interesting, it shows the level of commitment not only on an athletic level, but most importantly, a commitment with their lives and the people who surround them.
Hands of Stone is a multi layered film that tells the journey of Roberto Duran, the boxer, but more importantly his connection with the people of Panama, and what it was like growing up there during the 60’s as a poor kid from the slums of El Chorrilo. This film also tells the story of one of the greatest trainers in the history of boxing, Ray Arcel. It shows the motivations each had to achieve their own greatness, in and out of the ring.
Pattee Mak: How much of original footage, if any, will be shown in the movie?
Weisleder: We have a few things with archive footage but only as reference, all the fights have been recreated, and all the actors playing boxers, did their own boxing.
Pattee Mak: Out off all your actors playing boxing roles, which ones had boxing backgrounds?
Weisleder: Only John Duddy who plays Ken Buchanan.
Pattee Mak: Yes “Ireland’s” John Duddy (29-2-0 , 18 Kos). He last fought June 26, 2010 against Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. in San Antonio, Texas.
Pattee Mak: Was it hard to teach the actors that didn’t have any boxing experience the ropes of boxing?
Weisleder: Passion drives everything. Edgar trained for about 6 months (between films) and became one heavy right-handed puncher; I wouldn’t want to be in front of him on the ring. Usher on the other hand, had been attached way longer on the film, and he took it upon himself to train for a long time. I got on the ring once with him…big mistake. At the end of their sessions, they both sounded like boxers, always concerned about making weight.
Pattee Mak: As long as you didn’t get hurt that’s all that matters.
Pattee Mak: How much hands on touch did Duran have during the production of the film?
Weisleder: Duran was very involved during the development process and met with Edgar many times to provide technical advise for his boxing and mental state. He visited the set on a few occasions to make sure we were depicting the story accurately.
Pattee Mak: Has any of the actual boxing participants participated in any roles? Say commentaries, referees, judges, etc etc or given their experience during any fights?
Weisleder: No. Sugar Ray Leonard became a friend of the project, and provided one on one support to Usher. We are grateful for that.
Pattee Mak: When does the story line begin and end?
Weisleder: We begin in the 1960’s and end in the mid 80’s. We covered a 20 year span in the life of these legends.
Pattee Mak: Is Duran appearing in the film?
Weisleder: We have appearances from many members of his family, his children appear playing versions of their own uncles in the film, as well as Duran’s wife who has a very cool cameo…Regarding Duran, I guess you will have to go watch the film to find out.
Pattee Mak: Hmmm I’ll be looking forward to that. Tell me a little bit about your production company and would you consider doing another boxing movie in the future?
Weisleder: I love boxing, it’s one of the reasons I thought of making this film. There are plenty of other stories to tell in that world, so yes, I would love to find another project that resonates with the world of boxing. This film is even more special to me, I was born and raised in Costa Rica and I wanted to make a film to bring audiences from all sorts to watch a film that shows a Latin American hero in the center of it all, Duran is that and more.
From the perspective of my own production company, I will continue to make not only films that bridges cultures and resonates with general market, but I intend on bringing stories that have elements that show the greatness of my Latino heritage.
Pattee Mak: Thank you so much for taking the time for this interview. Once this movie will be released my popcorn will be in hand.
Weisleder: Thank you for the opportunity to share a little bit of what Hands of Stone will be. I hope everyone comes to the theater and watch this amazing story and remember the greatness of true boxing legends.
NOTES: A special thanks to Mr. Michael K. Snyder of Crash Films, Inc. for arranging this interview.
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As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
This is going to be a disappointing film with lousy choreography. Mark my words.