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The life of boxing legend George Foreman hits the big screen this week.
The two-time heavyweight champion had to pull back the layers to let fans into his personal life, something he never really did before.
“I had my big walls around my home, tinted glass in new cars, sunglasses. You try to hide your life, then all of a sudden, I’ll reveal things,” he explained to KTLA 5’s Scott “Movie” Mantz. “It was scary at first, then you realize ‘why not?’ Everybody should take a look at my life. What a wonderful thing to know that you can start from the bottom and there’s nowhere to go but to the top.”
The Olympic gold medalist believes his story can be a source of inspiration for others.
“Don’t be afraid to be on the bottom. Just fight your way up. Fight to the top. You see that film, anyone can see ‘Hey, if George can do that, watch me!’”
Foreman’s story in general is what motivated George Tillman Jr. to direct the film.
“For me, (it) was the overall look at his life,” Tillman Jr. explained. “Like man, how can a guy who everybody (had) written off at an early age go into the Winter Olympics within a year of learning how to box and then going to be the heavyweight champion and losing it and winning it 20 years later at 46?”
What the “Men of Honor” director loved the most about the story, was the theme of getting another chance.
“The most important thing is this really beautiful story of how we all have second chances in our life,” he revealed.
Academy Award-winning actor Forest Whitaker plays Charles “Doc” Broadus, also known as the Godfather of Boxing, who discovered Foreman and trained him for greatness.
“I think that people are gonna be excited at that journey. It’s a fun journey to watch. We’ve seen overcome obstacles all the way through,” Whitaker said.
“Big George Foreman” hits theaters on April 28.
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