Direct From Hollywood with Ryan Seacrest: Sinners Director Ryan Coogler Explains Why His Past as a Big time Athlete Makes Him a Better Filmmaker

Before Sinners’ Ryan Coogler was a big time director he was a star college football player...and says his experience as an athlete...makes him a better filmmaker.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Direct from Hollywood with Ryan Seacrest. Before he was commanding
movie sets as a visionary filmmaker, Sinners director Ryan Kugler
was a star in a very different field, or more literally,
on a field. He played college football and a full
ride as a wide receiver for Sacramento State, gaining over
twelve hundred yards during his time there, and In a
chat with Lebron James for Interview magazine, Kuler explains how

(00:21):
the strong emotional core in his films is rooted in
his experiences in sports. He says, it comes from being
an athlete. That's what I was before I was a filmmaker.
I had massive games. We played col against Marshawn Lynch
and Deshaun Jackson. There were sixty seven thousand people in
the stands. When they screamed, you could feel your face
mask shaking. But somehow a game comes down to one
or two plays, your world somehow shrinks at the same

(00:43):
time there's sixty seven thousand people there. To me, that's filmmaking.
It's a whole film, but it's really built out of
microscopic moments. Ryan Kugler there on how being an athlete
informs his directing, including his new Smash Sinners, which is
out now. That's direct from Hollywood