Jharrel Jerome and Jennifer Lopez’s Unstoppable impressed Anthony Robles, the real-life subject of the film, at its TIFF premiere on Friday, September 6. The film also wowed the Toronto International Film Festival audience, who gave it a standing ovation once the credits rolled out.
Robles, a wrestler born with one leg who went on to win an NCAA national championship in 2011 while competing for Arizona State University, whose character Jerome portrays in the film, spoke to People during the film’s showcase, sharing the experience of watching his inspiring life journey depicted on screen.
He, who served as a producer on the production and is credited as a stunt double for Jerome, told the publication that he feels the Unstoppable team “nailed” the message, “Which is no matter what you’re wrestling, you can overcome it. You can be unstoppable.” Although there were “a couple of things here and there that [we] weren’t able to fit in the film,” Anthony expressed he is pleased with “the overall message.”
Sharing the most difficult part about letting his life story be adapted into a feature, the combatant said that it certainly was sharing the uncomfortable details of his life with the production team, but he also acknowledged that, to effectively tell his story, that was the most crucial part. “They had to know the scars that I went through and what I dealt with. I think that was tough for me, but it was also therapeutic,” Robles remarked.
Lopez, who plays his character’s on-screen mother, Judy, thanked Robles and his mother in real life for trusting the filmmakers with the sensitive information about their lives and knowing that the team wouldn’t misuse it but only use it to tell their story in a well-deserved way.
“It is one of the most beautiful, most inspiring stories I think I’ve ever seen on screen,” Lopez said of the film.
She attended the Unstoppable premiere amid much buzz around her recent separation from Ben Affleck, the co-producer of the film. The Argo star, understandably, sat the showcase out, trusting his Artists Equity partner and friend Matt Damon to take care of the business.
In addition to Lopez and Jerome, Unstoppable stars Michael Peña, Don Cheadle, and Bobby Cannavale. William Goldenberg—who previously worked with Affleck as an editor on his earlier mentioned film and 2023’s Air—made his directorial debut with the movie.
Unstoppable will be in select theaters in December and will soon debut on Prime Video.
