Hundreds Audition for 'Underdogs' Movie

Hundreds of young acting hopefuls traveled to North Canton Saturday to see if they could land a part to be filmed in North Canton and Stark County this summer.

About 400 people passed through the Hoover Building that day for the open casting call for the football-themed movie, many of them between 18 and 24 years old and hoping to be cast a football player or cheerleader.

Akron residents Mike Kelly, 19, Shawn Roberts, 22, and A.J. Mark, 21, all stopped by to audition for football player roles. Roberts said his aunt had seen the notice for an open casting call in the Akron Beacon Journal and texted him Saturday to let him know. Roberts didn't waste any time; he rounded up his friends and drove to North Canton right after he found out about the auditions.

Walking out of the Hoover Building that day, they joked about their less-than-stellar auditions but said they were all excited to have any part in the movie.

"I don't think they're calling us back," Mark said, laughing.

"If we do get called back, it'll be for the extras — the ones vaguely in the background," Roberts added.

The independently financed film, set in the birthplace of football in rural Ohio, tells the story of a Division IV high school playing football against the cross-town rival and perennial powerhouse. Off the field, a local machinist and father of the quarterback is being sued by the city’s main employer over intellectual rights to a new space heater invention amid rumors of company outsourcing.

Filming begins July 16 in North Canton and throughout Stark County and will last for about five weeks.

Publicist Beth Dearth, also wife to director and Stark County native Doug Dearth, was on hand Saturday to oversee the audition process. She said it was fun to see the level of excitement in North Canton that day.

"The support and the enthusiasm has just been amazing," she said.

"We're seeing a lot of awesome talent coming out of here today. ... Anybody who's an extra may end up seeing themselves on a 40-foot screen like never before."

She couldn't recall anyone showing up in football jerseys or sporting gear that day, but she said some who auditioned for cheerleading roles had a little fun with their hairdo's.

"The full cheer hair with the bows and ribbons," Beth Dearth said. "It was fantasic. There was a lot of spirit up there at one point, let's just say."

Football consultants Brent Reichert and J.R. Miller talked to those who were auditioning to be football players that day.

"We're looking for football player types and trying to assess positions," said Reichert, also a senior HR manager for Riddell football helmets. "Does the person look like a linebacker or a guard?"

"Or a water boy?" Miller chimed in with a laugh.

"You never know; we've had a few," Reichert said.

Check back with North Canton Patch for more news about the "Underdogs" movie this summer.