'42' Star Reveals Surprising Jackie Robinson Facts

Hi, I'm Andre Holland from 1600 Penn and the upcoming film 42.

Stay tuned, he's going to teach me how to do a left jab. Not bad, right? Not bad at all. Think about the abuse that he's gonna take. Hi Andre. Thanks for coming in.

Thank you for having me.

So, you're sitting where your co-star Jenna Elfman and Josh Gad were just.

Wow. Josh. Josh sang The Lumineers for me.

I'm in love with you. And you're in love with me. I'm not putting you on the spot or anything.

Good, because Josh is quite a singer, I, however, am not. So.

But you can quote Shakespeare, can you not?

That I can.

What can you give me?

Um, I can give you a little Richard the Second. Okay. Uh, I have been studying how I may compare this prison where I live unto the world. And for because the world is populous, and here is not a creature but myself, I cannot do it.

Fantastic. Well, I know you're a classically trained actor.

I am.

You started in you still do theater, you've performed for for Barack and Michelle Obama.

I have. I have.

Now when you're performing for the Obamas, you know they're in the audience, does it change things for you in your head? How do you stay focused? I mean, I know you've been doing this a long time, but do you ever get rattled?

I did get a little rattled. I have to say there was one part in the play where my character is supposed to be listening, like eavesdropping to this conversation for about 20 minutes. And I

Did you glance out?

I would glance, girl please. I was straight up staring, like. I was just supposed to have just these little ears sticking out like, there he is.

I noticed something a pattern with you.

Uh-oh.

1600 Penn, Uh-huh. 42. Are you is there are you speaking in code? Are you trying to tell us something?

No, no, I'm just trying to work and make a living as an actor, to be very honest. And if it's the number of movies, I'm I'm down for that.

Well, let's talk about 42. Go belong here and you never will. Get on the field. Brooklyn Dodgers ain't changing our way of living. Historically, such an amazing story. You play, this is a real life person. He he really was instrumental in having Jackie be the first African-American to play in the league.

Yeah, he was Wendell Smith was he was sort of the man behind the man, you know. He had been he's he was a writer for the Pittsburgh Courier and had been campaigning for integration for about a decade before Jackie Robinson came along. And so basically when Branch Rickey, the general manager of the Dodgers, decided that he wanted to do it, he called Wendell Smith and said, Listen, if I do this, who do you think would be the best person? And Wendell said, well, there's a young man from the West named Jackie Robinson.

Wow. Yeah. You know, Subway is an official sponsor for the film. Yes. And Ryan Howard, he has hit 200 home runs faster than any player in history. Yeah. Do you think I mean, there's so many they've done a commercial for them. Have you seen the commercial for the for the film? It's like Mike Griffin and Ryan.

Yeah, yeah, I have seen it. I have. Yeah.

Do you think somebody like him has sort of a chance of becoming a legend like Jackie Robinson? Do you think anybody will touch that?

I'm not sure. I think that the climate that Jackie Robinson came along in was so specific that I'm not you know, I'm not I mean, the world has changed so much since that time, especially sports have changed so much since that time. I don't know that anybody will ever have to face what he had to face, you know. But I do think that because of him, he certainly laid the groundwork for people like Ryan Howard to have, you know, illustrious careers and become legends in their own right. And it's sort of set the bar, I think, for people to sort of strive on and off the field as well.

Exactly. And and that's one of the beautiful things about the film is that it gives you it sends a message of like, you know, if Jackie can do this, then what what what can't we do? Right. What do you get in your Subway sandwich, by the way?

I I'm an Italian BMT man.

Really? That was quick. It was a quick answer.

I've eaten a lot of Subway.

And so what's the reaction when people see it?

Chad actually, who plays Jackie Robinson, mentioned that they screened it once for the Pittsburgh Steelers and he was sitting behind the offensive line. And he said at certain moments of the film he kept seeing these these arms kind of go up, you know, wiping tears away.

Really?

Yeah. And I think there are people who react like that. And then there are a lot of people who also, you know, when this one shot comes up of Ebbets Field, they sort of you can hear people audibly just kind of gasp at like the beauty of this stadium that, you know, meant so much to so many people. Schlauter hits a hard ground ball right at Reese. He fires it over to Jackie first. Robinson is down. Schlauter spiking him high up on the leg and he is down. Dammit, Schlauter, you knew what you were doing. You spiked my guy. Your boys came over.

So tell us something we don't know about Jackie Robinson that you learned in sort of your research.

Wow. Well, one of the things that I that I learned and I you know, I've heard the Jackie Robinson story a lot of times. So maybe other people will hear that. Well, you hear so many different versions that you don't know. Well, one thing that I thought was really fascinating about him is that he baseball was I mean he was like a multi-athlete, a multi-sport athlete, right? And baseball was his weakest sport.

No.

Yeah. He was better at track, he's better at football. I mean he could do anything, basketball. Baseball was the thing he was worst at.

And I know aside from from baseball, you box.

I do. I do. I enjoy boxing very much.

Can you give me some tips? Can you teach me how to throw a punch? 'Cause I have no idea. These arms have never thrown a good punch ever.

Okay, well, first you got to know how to make a fist, right? So that's good. Just step that thumb right there. There you go. This one you keep your I won't hit you. I promise. And this one stays here, right? So. Okay. Your left hand, just hit mine. Hit mine. Boom.

That was good. What am I lefty? Wait, can I do it again? That was so good. One more time. But yeah, you got a girl, you got a punch. I gave you my knuckles. Okay, I'll take one. I'll take one. You take one. All right, you ready? Okay, wait, what do I do? How do I protect the face? How do I protect the moneymaker?

I won't hit the face. I'll just give you a little jab, jab. Oh, you can hit harder than that. Come on.

Well, I don't want to hurt your beautiful hands. You're so sweet. That's so sweet of you. Well, thank you for thank you for that tip.

Well, thank you for coming in.

Thank you for having me. This is an absolute pleasure. Thank you for teaching me how to defend myself. Do you want to go out with a little more Shakespeare?

Oh, um, yeah, how about a classic? Okay. Gallop a pace, you fiery-footed steeds toward Phoebe's lodging. Now I just need to figure out what the heck that means.

Thank you again for coming in.

Thanks for having me. It was a pleasure.