That's awesome. Can I have it? Thank you. Uh, I wouldn't. I think this looks really good on me.

Now, it does. You're right.

From the movie Race, Stefan James, hanging out with me on the couch. Congratulations on this movie. You are portraying one of the most important people in Olympics history, American Olympics history. So, you know, no small task for you. What drew you to this project and and wanting to make this story come alive?

You got to be crazy to say no to playing Jesse Owens, you know, for me, uh, when I, you know, when I read the script and I realized just the incredible life that he lived and what he was able to accomplish, um, just through his love for running, uh, you know, I was ecstatic to even have the opportunity. We want to win a gold medal, sure. Wanna do it in Berlin? Mr. Owens, how can you justify taking part in Germany when there's so much discrimination here at home? You know, for me, he was so much bigger than just a, uh, you know, a black hero or an American hero. He was a world hero. So, uh, you know, to step into those shoes, that's something that, uh, you know, I sort of rose to the challenge.

Now, how much of his story did you know before stepping into this role?

Yeah, very little. Very, very little. You know, I say it all the time when I first got that call, like they're making a Jesse Owens biopic. I kind of had to scratch my head a little bit like, hmm, what what did he do again? So. Yeah. Not at all.

Yeah. For sure. Okay. Like on the Google.

Yeah, let's Google this real quick and figure it out. But, um, no, after I, you know, I reminded myself about just his incredible incredible winnings in Berlin in 1936. And not only that, how he got there, you know? Um, you know, that to me was just insane.

Do you share that love for running? Because I will admit, I just I got tired just watching you. There's only fast and slow. Running's a whole different beast.

It's a whole another thing. You know, I just remember when I first started training, I went down to Georgia Tech and was training at training at the the school there with the coaches and they just made me run laps and laps and laps just for conditioning. Uh, just to make sure I was able to play this guy, this world-class.

Like a test almost.

Yeah, yeah, basically. Like, just see how many times you can do that. So, yeah. And then you kill over, then you got the, yeah, exactly.

And then we'll tell you if you get a part again.

Exactly. For sure. For sure. Yeah. You can for as long as you can. You'll run five minutes and you go home. Basically. Basically. So, um, yeah, for me, you know, it wasn't only about running fast but running how Jesse ran because, uh, you know, he was such a specific type of runner, the way he did things. Now, he's just showing off.

While you are running and and, you know, literally working, uh, Jason Sudeikis, your co-star. He only had to run like one time in the movie.

He laughed at me a lot for having for having to run so much. You know, he would just sit there like, "Yes, I'm going to go on lunch now. You just you keep doing your thing." Yeah, yeah. You want me to do it again? Yeah. Wow. It was funny. We had some funny days for sure.

I would like to see a movie where the roles are reversed. I would like to wouldn't you? Now, and get your, you know, skin.

Yeah. Totally. Exactly. Exactly. For sure. For sure.

You are Canadian? You're from Toronto. First of all, okay, if you say it Toronto, people know that you're not from exactly. We were just talking about this. Okay, so so if I say, "Oh, I'm from Toronto," everybody would believe me. Um, no. You like, "No." What's how that again.

Well, after this, I'll teach you how to say it a little better but it's more like Toronto. Toronto. Yeah, you got to be natural, Toronto.

All right. I feel like I haven't spent enough time there. So, how how do I do Toronto right? Like what what are your favorite places as a local?

Well, you know what, for me, I love the west side of the city. You know, it's it's real cool. It's young.

West side. Okay. All right. West side. I'm going to pretend I'm going to pretend like I know what that is but like you say west side,

Don't worry. You just give me a call. I'll I'll bring you there.

Okay, sweet. We have that on camera. So, now it's I think you're bound by contract. This is an oral contract.

Okay. I guess so. Yes, I promise.

So, you like the west side? What what's like what what do you do?

West Toronto, you know, I go to a lot of pool bars. I love to play pool. Okay. That's that's always fun. Um, but there's also a lot of cool like thrift shopping and stuff if you're into that.

Oh, really? Are you a guy? You like to go thrifting?

Yeah, I like to find cool things, you know. I found this hat on the on the west side of the city somewhere.

Wow. Let me let me see that. Yeah, sure. Check it out. That's awesome. Can I have it? Thank you. Uh, I wouldn't. Okay. I think this looks really good on me.

Well, now it does. You're right.

Yeah. I'll give it back to you. I'll be nice. I'll be generous. You are no stranger to playing important figures in American history. There you were, uh, you played a civil rights leader in Selma.

Yeah. Yeah.

And and now you have this movie. And, you know, given some of the changes that are happening in Hollywood, you know, at the Academy, you know, as an actor, what goes through your head?

I mean, to me, I think it's it's great. It's incredible that so many people are talking about these sort of issues and and, you know, that they're bringing them up. You know, if it it bothers enough people for it to be spoken about on this level, I think that that's great. You know, that's amazing. I think it's important that we continue to have that discussion and and figure out ways to sort of, uh, you know, better the whole system. But, you know, for me, I look at this film. This film and and Jesse really embodies what it means to to be colorblind. You know, to not really see, um, you know, where somebody comes from or what somebody looks like, but to judge them based on who they are as people. And, uh, that's what this film is about and that's what Jesse is about.

And you got to go to Berlin to shoot this as well. Did you actually get to go to the stadium and what was that like stepping out onto the to the field?

Of course. Oh, man, it it gave me chills. It gave me chills walking up to that stadium for the first time. And Berlin is such a beautiful beautiful place and a a city that really preserves so much of it of its history. You know, it has so much art and and things you can draw from from that specific time that they don't shy away from speaking about or or acknowledging. So, it's really cool to go back there and see um, how much love they still have for Jesse. You know, I walked into the stadium and and the stadium is on a street now called Jesse Owens Alley. So, they named it after him. And then you go into it and there's a Jesse Owens lounge inside the stadium and his photo is all over the place. So, it's an incredible moment for me to just, um, to be there 80 years later and to feel um, maybe a fraction of what he felt.