The other day I shared with you my interview of the great Kevin Costner from Disney's film McFarland, USA. In case you aren't familiar with the movie, McFarland, USA is based on the 1987 trust story of novice runners from McFarland, an economically challenged town in California’s farm-rich Central Valley, as they give their all to build a cross-country team under the direction of Coach Jim White (played by Kevin Costner), a newcomer to their predominantly Latino high school. Coach White and the boys have a lot to learn about each other, but they become much more than just high school athletes and a coach. They form a deep respect for one another and end up overcoming the odds to win the state title for cross-country, while going on to achieve their own kind of American dream. While getting to sit down and discuss this new film with Costner was a thrill, I couldn't wait to meet the real people behind the film: Jim White, David Diaz, Damacio Diaz & Danny Diaz - the real life inspirations that this story was based on.
While McFarland, USA features the story of seven young Latino athletes, the Diaz brothers - David, Damacio, and Danny, are a large focus of the story. As depicted in the film, their father was a picker and they subsequently worked in the fields before and after school to help. Right away, you figure out that these boys had a lot of responsibility on their hands, and so when Coach White came along to recruit them for the cross-country team it's no wonder that their parents weren't exactly on board. Time spent away from the fields was money lost for their family. At the end of the film, you get a glimpse of the men that the Diaz boys grew to become - another really inspiring moment in this movie. I was really interested to see how they felt about their story being portrayed on the big screen.
I had the opportunity to interview Coach White, David Diaz, Damacio Diaz and Danny Diaz as part of a blogger press trip courtesy of Disney and ABC. I sat down with them and some blogging co-workers to ask them about the film:
David Diaz, photo courtesy of Mama Latina Tips.
One blogger in the group asked, "My dad and grandfather were both pickers in Texas, so do you feel like the movie does a good job of describing that culture?"
Damacio Diaz, the oldest brother, answered : Yeah, we’re very, very proud of the way the movie portrayed us, our family. We were raised in the field... it was our life. We started picking and hoeing and raking and doing everything you could possibly think of. We were about seven or eight years old when all that began. So for us, it was a way of life. Even some of us, after graduating college - like Danny - the day after he graduated from the university with the diploma, he was in the fields working, because that was, in our family, what was expected. Until he got hired and, and got his job. So, for us it was normal.
In the film, Coach White spends 1 day in the fields with the boys and their family members picking. We asked Jim White, "Did you ever do that again?"
Jim White answered: I’ve done it quite often. I didn’t enjoy it very much... It was grapes and it’s oranges and almonds and cotton - stuff in our area, but, yes, I did that. I used to take [them and their peers] to the fields because I was looking workers and to get us some income so we can go to Oregon and we can go to San Jose and we can put shoes on their feet. So, the only way I could get some of them into some of the fields that I had to do the work with them. So, that was good.
David Diaz then added: And just to let you know, God’s good and we own almonds now. About two years ago, Mr. White helped me pull. He was out in my field still in the evening helping me do my work.
Isn't that something?! It just goes to show you what a special bond these men have.
Once you watch this film, you're going to be struck by Señora Diaz. We asked, "I wanna know is your mom really that way? Because she was a scene stealer! She was amazing in this."
David Diaz answered while laughing, "Not at all. She was much worse." Jim White then added, "Let me answer that, 'cause when Mrs. Diaz saw this film the first time, she came out and she said 'I love the film, but they didn’t make me strict enough.'". David went on to joke that "Hollywood did a good job of depicting and not making it look too guilty... regarding CPS!". He went on to add that they were proud of what Hollywood [the director Niki Caro, producers, and everyone involved] did, but they lived in a very, very strict environment and still do to this day.
Danny Diaz, photo courtesy of Mama Latina Tips.
The Diaz brothers continue to live in McFarland and we wanted to know, "How has McFarland had changed, now that the movie's been made?"
Danny Diaz took the floor and told us: You know, growing up in McFarland, we didn’t have much. There’s nothing to do in McFarland. When we were growing up, maybe seven, eight, nine, ten thousand people was the population. It’s grown a little bit in the last two, three years, but not much has changed. It's a poor community. You’re driving on 99, the freeway, and you blink and you’ll miss it... there's not much to do there. We don’t have the big malls. And we don’t have the big grocery stores. And so, it’s just a fun place to be. But, if it weren’t for sports, our kids would be lost, because it’s either education and sports or the streets. And those are the two extremes, and those are the two options that are for our community. Right now our community is excited, obviously with the movie, and rightfully so... We all feel grateful and the whole community’s just embracing it.
Jim White, photo courtesy of Mama Latina Tips.
Jim White wanted to add to that answer: Let me add a little bit of that. His viewpoint of not changing too much from that aspect,but I see a definite change. We have changed our city logo. We are no longer the "Heartbeat of Agriculture". Now we are a runner, running through the field, a figure -- silhouette of a runner. And underneath... a high school girl came up with this logo, "Tradition, Unity, and Excellence". So, that’s a big change.
You'd imagine that seeing your life depicted in a major motion picture would be somewhat mind-blowing. We wanted to know, "What was your first reaction when you heard that not only was your story going to be a movie, but specifically this movie and knowing what these true life, inspirational movies become?"
Jim White was the first to answer: Well, from my aspect, I guess it was in various stages, because this was about a 15-year process for us, my wife and I. We signed with one company. Two years later, we signed with another one... not quite that often, but it took a long process. When actually Disney did it, we were thrill very much so... because then we knew that it wouldn't have any sex and cussing and cigarettes and this type of thing. But in reality, too, the script that was written, we prayed that it would never happen; and it didn’t, because they threw it out. Then Disney resigned us and got a better script writer, and that's the one we have now.
David Diaz added (while chuckling) : So, just to go back and let you know how my mother was depicted in previous scripts... was probably a more accurate version.
Damacio Diaz, photo courtesy of Mama Latina Tips.
We then wanted to know, "How much, if any, input did you have to have on the filming and the making the movie?"
Damacio Diaz: Mr. White might have had more than us. We, we basically told our story, got interviewed for hours and hour and hours, and that was pretty much it. Mr. White had a lot more influence [on the script].
Danny Diaz added : Once you give them your story, obviously you sign with them. Then they can do whatever they want. So, with myself, they made me chubby in the movie...
Damacio Diaz jokingly said, "Go ahead and call it. It was fat!"
Danny Diaz picked back up: I’m trying to be nice here. But, no, they made me chubby or overweight and hella slow... but that’s okay. That’s what they wanted to do, and I’m just excited to be included in the movie. They could've chosen any other team, because we have nine state titles. And so, the fact that they went back to the original first year that we won state... some of these teams that came after us were way better than us, way better than me as far as the running, and so we were just happy that Disney stuck with that first year.
One of my fellow bloggers then asked, "So, Danny you’re talking about they made you a little different.. is that really how the last race happened?"
David Diaz said right away: Oh, yeah.
Danny Diaz said: That is true, that is definitely true.... (I don't want to ruin the movie if you haven't seen it, so I won't divulge the rest of this part, but trust me - you'll be on the edge of your seat rooting for Danny).
We then wanted to know about how this final race affected his running in the future. We asked, "Did that change how you ran in future races?"
Danny Diaz answered: Well, that was the last race for that year. Then the following season, we were ranked number one for the entire season. It was 1988 and I was a senior at that time and my brother, Damacio, was a junior. We were running number one all year long. And, low and behold, Mr. White, during Thanksgiving break, when we have no school, had an emergency and had to take off to Stockton to be with his family, and he left us there to train... but we didn’t train... We played...
David Diaz added : We played basketball.
Danny Diaz picked back up and said : We love basketball. All of us are basketball players, and we played basketball the entire week. And we didn’t train, and we got fifth that year. We should've had first. So.... Mr. White never went back to Stockton again.
At the end of the movie, you get an update about where the men are now and what they've gone on to achieve. It's awesome! As you can see in the photos, they're all still in great shape, so we wanted to know, "How often do you guys still train together?"
David Diaz was the first to answer: We run once in a while amongst ourselves. I still currently run.I still race competitively... even though you’re not as good as, as you once were. But I still do that and I coach. But the guys over here... we’re in decent shape still.
Damacio Diaz then answered: Yeah, we just run, Danny and I, just to stay in shape. Our kids all compete. We have kids that are in high school and some that are in elementary school. And so, I can’t keep up with my kids in high school but I go by a little seven-year-old. We run three, four, five miles a day just to stay in shape.
Another blogger asked, "I notice a lot of you became teachers. Did, Coach White encourage you use any of his styles when you’re teaching or coaching?"
David Diaz stated : He was a very inspirational part... Mr. White was there as, as a person that we can rely on... He’s a pretty good coach, too. But, as far as wanting to be a teacher, he wasn’t the only reason why we got into the education, but he was one of the two or three maybe. My parents definitely pushed us to go that route... Now college is very, very encouraged, but back in the day... a fifth of the folks in high school ended up, especially folks of our color and our culture, maybe started school, but hardly any of us finished. So, it was a big, big deal for us.
Jim White then said : Let me add one thing to that. Mr. Diaz, their dad, he pushed education real hard, too. He told me, "I want them to get their
education, so I will go back and get my education." And he did. He went back and got it.
David Diaz said: He got a GED in 1990.
Many times, sports in high school can make or break a young man. We asked the Diaz brothers, "How did [sports] impact your lives during high school to move on in the future?"
Damacio Diaz answered: We were already tough kids and we were used to working hard... and they are seven of us in our family. We’re all a year apart. David’s the oldest and he was a bully (laughing). He would beat us up all the time. But he encouraged us to play sports. Matter of fact, he ordered us and he forced us and he made us play sports, because the way he saw it... it taught you discipline. It gave you character. It, it taught you how to accept losing or winning. And so, that was something that we did since we were third, fourth, fifth graders and by the time we got to college and we’re now training and running and living our lives with Mr. White -- some of us traveled out of the state, out of the country with Mr. White -- it became something that was gonna help us get out of our environment, and it did. All of us went to college. A lot of us competed in college. And so, it was sports that kind of helped us get out of that.
Before we knew it, our time with Coach White and the Diaz brothers came to an end, but not before we were able to get a group photo with them. They were so wonderfully kind, just like their characters in the film.
I highly encourage you to take your family to see McFarland, USA. It's got so much heart and it's a film you will truly feel good about. McFarland, USA will be in theaters February 20th, so make sure you check it out!
Check out the trailer here:
Disclosure: I conducted this interview on a press trip funded by Disney and ABC. All opinions are my own. Photos courtesy of Disney, Viva Veltoro, and Mama Latina Tips. Thanks!
Karen Jaras says
I am eagerly awaiting this movie as I love Kevin Costner.