Ron Canada Discusses Boxing and "Cinderella Man"

Ron Canada on Researching His Role as a Boxing Trainer: “You know there wasn’t very much time to do research, especially when I got the job. But I’ve followed boxing since 1955 or ‘56 and so I was conversant with the theories and history of boxing, especially heavyweight history. I knew the sport and I knew what it was about, and I think that’s why my audition was successful. And then when I got there, I went to Angelo Dundee’s class. You can’t learn from anyone better. I paid attention to everything the maestro told me about boxing. He listened to me about where to be in movies, so we had a good trade.”

Ron Canada’s Knowledge of Jim Braddock Before Shooting “Cinderella Man:” “I knew who he was. There was a succession of champions between Dempsey and Louis that got lost. There was Max Baer and Jim Braddock and Primo Carnera. If you look at them, it’s like someone overthrew somebody for the crown every six or eight months so there were a bunch of them in there. Talented fighters, but they were sandwiched between two transcendent fighters – Dempsey and Louis – so they got lost.”

Why Audiences Will Relate to “Cinderella Man:” “I think because Americans love to see human beings overcome adversity and the Depression touches all of us. My parents lived through the Depression. A lot of younger people don’t understand like, ‘Why does grandma have all those cans in the cupboard? Why does she save every little thing?’ They don’t understand what that’s about, what that mentality is in grandma and grandpa. And it’s because they grew up in a time of tremendous uncertainty and depravation. And this film, like ‘Seabiscuit’ last year - I think this film goes into it more - but they’re both about a period that’s lost. We talk about Social Security now and we don’t know why these things came to pass. This is why there’s Social Security now, the time period in this movie.”

Will This American Story Connect with Audiences in Other Countries?: “I think so because anybody in the world understands being up and being knocked down, and then getting back up. Everybody in the world understands what it is to be knocked down. And everyone in the world understands the person who gets back up, and that’s essentially what this movie is about.”

Ron Canada on His Role in “Just Like Heaven:” “I play Reese Witherspoon’s - who I’ve known since she was 13, we reunited on this movie and she remembered me - I play her boss. I had the great pleasure of just doing a scene with her. She’s an emergency room doctor and I’m the chief of emergency medicine.”

His Impression of Reese Witherspoon: “She’s such a lady now. She hasn’t changed. She’s down to earth and she’s smart. She just wears her position in the entertainment world awfully well, with a lot of grace. She’s grown up to be quite a lady.”