Fraternizing with the Enemy: In one memorable scene from Invincible Elizabeth Banks is shown wearing her New York Giants jersey while seated alongside rabid Philadelphia fans. “I loved [that] scene too. I drew on my experience going to Yankee Stadium with my Red Sox outfit on. That’s usually what I do. I don’t go out… You know, I’m not crazy and take my own life in my hands. I don’t go in the bleachers wearing my Red Sox outfit. But I will sit behind home plate in my Red Sox cap very proudly and well protected, I will add too, because luckily Yankee Stadium and Fenway are close enough that enough Boston people end up in Yankee Stadium during the Series so it’s fine. That was an experience I drew on there.
It was my very first day on set. I’d never met those guys. I love those guys by the way: Kirk Acevedo and Michael Kelly and Michael Rispoli and Dov Davidoff. They’re great. They were like my crew in Philly and my big brothers. They really took good care of me. You know, when I first got there in the morning, they cracked a couple of jokes. They’d already been working together for a little while. They cracked a couple of jokes and I sort of cracked back and knew what they were talking about. They were making some crazy joke about the dingo, ‘The dingo stole my baby.’ Was it stole or took? The dingo ate my baby. W call Dov the dingo, so, anyway I knew the reference and immediately they were like, ‘All right, she’s cool. We’re down with her. She gets it. She gets our sense of humor.’ So that was it. It was just tit for tat. You got to be able to give as good as you take. It was a great since of comradely between all of us.”
Being One of the Only Females on the Set: Invincible has a predominately male cast. What was it like being surrounded by all the guys on the set? “I don’t know. I never really thought about it that way. I think I’ve done a lot of movies like that. It’s very hard to find a movie where you get to hang out with a bunch of women. I’m kind of a guy’s girl anyway. I think the best thing about that set is that everybody took the work really seriously, but nobody took themselves too seriously and that just makes for a great production. It just means everybody is going to have a good time and do their work well. We’re all going to be in the mutual and admiration society and just have a nice time.”
Not All Football Fans Know Vince Papale’s Story: Banks is a fan but had no idea who Vince Papale was prior to reading the script. “No, I didn’t know Vince’s story. But I think that’s true of a million stories. That’s why we have the movies. This is sort of the opportunity to bring his story out. I mean, you know the idea that someone at 30 years-old who never trained a day in his life and was basically picked off the street to play in the elite league with these amazing athletes who play at that crazy level, skill level, I mean it’s really unbelievable.”
It didn’t surprise Banks that it took 30 years for Papale’s story to become a film. “Now the whole process of putting together a NFL team, it’s totally transparent. Everybody watches the draft. They broadcast everything with the NFL channel and I’ve been watching all the preseason games. You can scout all the new rookies and you can see all these players. You see them play in college and, of course, college football is huge. It’s totally transparent how people make these teams. Back then, it just wasn’t like that. It’s not that surprising in my mind that people don’t know his story. It was just like he made the team and the Eagles sucked and five years later they went to the Super Bowl. It’s great.”
Working on a Disney Movie vs. Her Recent Independent Film Experiences: “You know that they are going to put their marketing behind it,” said Banks. “Mark Wahlberg is the star. It’s not like Heights where it has a first time director and a female lead. You don’t have to take business classes at the MBA level to know how the movie business works. You know a $2 million Merchant Ivory movie starring Glenn Close and Elizabeth Banks verses Invincible starring Mark Wahlberg... I’ve played great roles in smaller movies. I just did this movie Bill with Aaron Eckhart and Jessica Alba, which I had a great time on, but it’s a little movie. I’m hoping we go to Sundance so I can get some great swag.”
