‘Shooting Stars’: Wood Harris on How Basketball Film Was a ‘Fun Ride’ (Exclusive)

Wood Harris has been in his share of sports-themed movies in his career such as Above the Rim, Remember the Titans and the Creed franchise. And now the 53-year-old actor has headed back to the basketball court in his new movie Shooting Stars which is now streaming on Peacock. PopCulture.com spoke exclusively to Harris who talked about what he wanted to be in the movie that talks about LeBron James’ rise to fame in high school. 

“Having something to do with LeBron is always… Obviously, that’s a big deal,” Harris exclusively told PopCulture. “To tell his story is a big deal. I also worked with Chris [Robinson] before, and Caleb [McLaughlin]. We did the New Edition by biopic. It was a reunion. It made all of this very comfortable. It just made this ride a quick, fun ride to take.”

Harris plays Coach Dru Joyce II in Shooting Stars and is a mentor/father figure to James and his high school teammates, which include Lil Dru Joyce III (McLaughlin), Sian Cotton (Khalil Everage), Wille McGee (Avery Wills Jr.) and Romeo Travis (Sterling “Scoot” Henderson). The elder Dru coaches the group (aside from Romeo) when they are little kids and coaches them again while attending St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio. Dru is the only one who can keep them grounded as they know how talented they are on the court. 

“Not every coach is a father figure. A lot of coaches are ego-driven,” Harris said. “They have a task at hand. They’re very… I would like to say paint by number. “We do this. Yellow on number two. Red on number five.” They just go in motion. Coach Dru really had genuine compassion for circumstances of all the kids involved. At the same time, he may have slacked off in his fatherliness because his son was on the team.”

Harris also got a chance to speak to the real Coach Dru Joyce who continues to coach at St. Vincent-St. Mary today. “I’ve done a lot of bio things, so biopics and television and film. When you get the opportunity to talk to the person who you’re portraying, there’s a lot going on,” Harris explained. “You want to see if you can talk like him/walk like him. Are you going to be physically like him? When I spoke to him, the times that I did, I was really being technical in my approach to acting and just trying to see what I can pull from these moments around him that I could actually put on into my performance, my portrayal.”

“It’s a very technical thing that I’m doing if I’m talking to you, and I know I have to go on and later portray you. But what I recognize from him is how… Right away, you realize of Coach Dru that he is a… It’s difficult to say. I guess he’s a spirited person. He’s a great spirit. Very positive energy. Type of person. You couldn’t really imagine cursing out somebody or fighting, even though he was like that.”