Cary Elwes on Portraying Ned Irish in Sweetwater

How are you? I'm good. How are you? I'm good. Thanks. So you play Ned Irish in this film. How much did you know about him before you read the script? Took the part. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing at all. And I came in completely fresh. Yeah, I there wasn't a lot of footage of him available, but there were lots of interviews from his contemporaries, from friends, from colleagues and from folks who were not big fans of his.

So he had a wide range of reviews, as it were. And so I drew on a lot of that. And, you know, from what I could gather, he was a guy who had a bit of a tough exterior, but he was a big softy at heart. So I kind of, and he was a contemporary of Damon Runyon, so I kind of thought I should, you know, that made sense to me. You know, I watched "Guys and Dolls" a lot as a kid, So I kind of brought that kind of, you know, Runyon-esque vibe to him.

And I think, yeah, between that and the research of finding out about his past, I kind of felt like I knew the guy a little bit, you know? - He is described as being cold and unapproachable, but I feel- - I think that was an unfair justification by Holtzman. I know the reviewer, I know the interview you're talking about. I think that was Red being a little bit, yeah.

Like I said, he had many fans and he had many detractors. So, you know, there's gonna be a bit of both. There was certainly, you know, if you're a sports promoter and the owner of the Knicks and the president of Madison Square, you're gonna find enemies along the way. There's no question about that, you know? - Yeah, absolutely. - But I found that he, I think that he was more of a promoter, you know, than he was an owner or president.

I think that was really promotion and ticket sales and making money through advertising and all of that. That was really what was his giddy up, you know? - Yes. And I feel almost in some ways, he was a little conflicted about the subject of this whole film, integrating the NBA and at least the way you played him or portrayed him, because there was that softness at times, but you also, in those meetings, didn't necessarily push and fight as hard.

You kind of sat back a little bit, I kind of felt like. Did you feel that way about it? - Well, I think, don't forget that we're talking about a time where people were operating out of fear, yeah? And fear is a great motivation for making wrong decisions. And courage is when people step up to the plate against their better judgment to do something outside of themselves, altruistic.

And I think it wasn't until he'd spoken to Lapchick about "Sweetwater" and then got to watch him play and really met the guy that he realized that this man was more than just a Harlem Globetrotter. He was a real serious basketball player and passionate about the game. And I think that Ned realized that not only would this guy was potentially gonna change basketball as we know it, which he did, but there was a lot of money to be had.

So I think that Ned was fascinated by the color green. That was the color that really interested Ned Irish. But I think also he realized, like I said, he realized that Sweetwater was going to be a game changer. And so he then it took a while, you know, as it did for a lot of people back then to take that brave step. But in the end, he made it. So we have to acknowledge that.

However long it took him on the journey to get to that decision, at least he made the right one. Very true. And once he did, it seemed like, at least in your portrayal, he embraced it. Had to. Had to because he could either be, I think there's a great line in this script where he says to Mo, the commissioner, played wonderfully by Richard Dreyfuss, he says, you know, we can either be part of history or we can be left behind.

And I think he realized that this was a moment to step up to the plate, you know? - Yes, absolutely. I wanna talk a little bit about working with Martin because the man does everything and does it all so well. What kind of feedback did he give you or was he a little hands off and let you do what you wanted to as an actor? - You know, he was terrific.

You know, he really hired a wonderful group of actors, many of whom I know, I worked with Jeremy before, I know Kevin Pollak, I always wanted to work with Richard. And then this wonderful actor, Everett Osborne, who we hired to play Nat, who's just extraordinary, this guy. I mean, how blessed are we to find a wonderful actor who can actually play basketball like a pro?

You know, I mean, that's an unheard of, unheard of. So once Everett was on board, we knew we had something. And, you know, Martine was very, very, you know, even though he had this project for 28 years, that shows you how passionate he was about it. And he helped push, you know, getting "Sweetwater" into the Hall of Fame. So this was a passion project for him, but he was very easy with the actors.

He really knew that he wasn't so tight with the script. He wanted us to try different things and explore different things. So he was very, very easy that way. Yeah. - Fantastic, it comes across very well on screen. I really enjoyed the film. I love your character because I felt like he had a lot of duplicity to him. So I can't- - We were conflicted, I think, you know, that's the word we want, conflicted.

That's what those guys were back then. They were all conflicted. Don't forget, it was a time where people didn't know, they were operating out of fear. - Yeah. - And fear makes people make crazy decisions. And in the end, it was the courageous ones who stepped up to the plate and decided they would put their name on the line. And Ned was one of those people.

- Yes. Well, thank you for your time today. I appreciate it. - Thank you, Allison. I appreciate you. Thank you for having me. - Hit like, smash subscribe, and get notified for whenever reviews, interviews, and news go live. (dramatic music) (explosion) [BLANK_AUDIO]