Tim McGraw Takes On Familiar Role for New Movie

Tim McGraw is no stranger to football; just look at his experience playing the role "Dad" in the TV show Friday Night Lights. And after looking over the script for The Blind Side, McGraw decided he was okay playing a similar role in the new movie.
"I had a stack of scripts to read," he told GAC. "I was on vacation. I knew I had this window of opportunity to do a movie, so I was looking through all these scripts. I got to this movie, and I knew the story because I knew about the book, but I didn't know all of it. My first reaction after reading the script was 'I have to do it.' It's such a great human story and a story about heart. Once I got past being the dad and it being about football [like Lights], I got to the heart of the story, and I was sold on it."
McGraw was looking forward to working on this movie not just because of the story, but also for the opportunity to work with Sandra Bullock and Kathy Bates. He did admit that there was some pressure on him to act on par with the cast, as Bates has won an Oscar for her role in the movie Misery.
"You don't want to be the guy who goes in there and messes the movie up," he said. "There are some heavyweights in there. You don't want to be the guy who gets hired to come in and do a part and be the one who's the weak link in the movie."
The Blind Side is based on the true story of a kid who grew up in Memphis and is now playing for the Baltimore Ravens as a rookie.
"He's a left side tackle which is 'the blind side' of the quarterback, and that's where the name [of the movie] came from," McGraw explained. "He protects the quarterback's blind side. He was virtually homeless. He didn't really have a place to live. This family took him in under their wings and gave him a home, some hope, and opportunity. It's a story about heart and the heart that this family had to take this kid in and give him an opportunity, and it's about the heart that this kid had to take advantage of the opportunity."
The movie premiers Nov. 20, and there will be red-carpet premiers in Nashville and New York.