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As for the Italian boys, Alessandro Ruggiero and Francesco Liotti were ultimately selected out of a slew of talented young soccer enthusiasts to play brothers Massimo and Gian Piero.
“We couldn’t have done the movie without this prep time,” says coach Metcalfe. “The difference between how the boys started off and where they ended up was unbelievable. “For example,” Metcalfe recounts, “Dylan, who had played soccer before, had a real passion for the game, and a certain flair that I had to kind of take away from him. He couldn’t ‘stand out’ on the field since his character, Sam, is not supposed to be a very good player. “Josh, on the other hand, was not an accomplished soccer player before we began, even though his character, Bucky, is his team’s star,” Metcalfe continues. “But Josh, who’s inherently a strong athlete, was determined to become a good soccer player. With practice and hard work, he achieved his goal in a very short period of time.” The other young actors playing the Tigers began to improve so quickly that Metcalfe actually had to back off and give the guys more down time. “We didn’t want them to become so good that they’d suddenly have to fake being bad,” he affirms. The coach was also impressed by the adult actors’ soccer knowledge and ability. “Robert Duvall made me feel like an amateur,” Metcalfe confesses. “He was talking about coaches and players you wouldn’t know about unless you were deeply involved in the sport.” “I’ve followed soccer in my own way since probably the 1960s, so I guess I’ve picked up a thing or two,” says Duvall. The actor also wasn’t a complete stranger to his Kicking & Screaming role, as he played the manager of a second-tier Scottish football team in the 2000 film A Shot at Glory, which he produced as well. “Mr. Duvall also had a constant thirst to learn as much as he could about coaching, so he’d be prepared during production,” offers Metcalfe, who put together and coached an actual game so the actor could observe the job firsthand. “I think it helped inspire his performance,” says the coach. “He sure paid close attention.” Metcalfe was also wowed by Will Ferrell’s prowess on the soccer field. “When Will got there and started kicking the ball around, I was a little shocked...I didn’t expect him to be so good.” But once Metcalfe learned that Ferrell played the game through high school and for the Coast Soccer League in his hometown of Irvine, California, it made perfect sense. “CSL is arguably the best league of its kind in the U.S.,” confirms Metcalfe. With casting, script and soccer training in place, it was now up to director Jesse Dylan to bring it all into play. Once filming got underway, Dylan’s first request was that writers Rudnick and Benvenuti be on-set every day, a luxury that seemed to greatly benefit the actors and the production. Says Dylan, “I came from directing commercials where it’s pretty normal to have writers around all the time. I think it really works for films, too, because dialogue often needs to be adjusted, jokes punched up, and so on. It was great having Steve and Leo on set. They were true collaborators,” he enthuses. Ferrell wholeheartedly agrees: “Having Steve and Leo there during production was crucial. If Jesse would see that a scene wasn’t working perfectly, he’d immediately call for the writers and say ‘We need something better.’ The guys would then come up with great stuff on the fly.” Dylan was also a fan of improvisation and would often pitch out lines and see where the actors would go with them. “I like to give actors choices if the scene isn’t just right,” says Dylan. “And, of course, Will is just so good at taking a line and making it even funnier.” Robert Duvall was also a fan of this approach and adds, “I’ve always been into improvisation. I use it a lot when I direct movies. In this film, when Jesse would throw me a line, it gave me another option, something extra to use or not.” More Production NotesReturn to "Kicking and Sreaming" Index
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After all the players had been cast—and before filming began—Dylan McLaughlin, Josh Hutcherson and Team Tiger spent two rigorous weeks training at soccer camp, to perfect their skills...or lack thereof. 