Denton’s career path reflects arc of ‘American Underdog’
For a while there, actor Dean Denton was feeling like the protagonist from “American Underdog.”
Like Kurt Warner’s rocky path to NFL glory, the Greenbrier-based Denton had a circuitous route to his part as St. Louis Rams scout David Gillis in the film.
“I first auditioned for it through my Atlanta agent two years ago,” Denton says.
Not long after, though, the pandemic began and things were put on hold.
Still, Denton was keen to work with “Underdog” directors Andrew and John Erwin.
“I didn’t give up,” he says. “I kept trying to find out when they were going to do it. I reached out to them, the writer, the producer, all three of my agents. Nobody seemed to know what was going to happen because of the virus.”
He noticed an online item about a search in Oklahoma for a female actor for a role in the film. Denton reached out to the regional casting director to see if there were any male roles available and then “just kept bugging him. I think I sent about four or five emails. Finally, he replied and said there is a role you are right for.”
But that wasn’t quite the end.
Denton, 59, ended up auditioning for about seven roles in the movie.
“I just wasn’t able to book it,” he says. “But I sent everybody an email and said I was beginning to feel a little taste of what Kurt Warner went through because I’d been trying to get into this film for two years and I just keep hitting these walls. The next day they cast me in the role.”
He was part of the filming that took place in Oklahoma City during a snowy and cold stretch in February.
“The snow storm started that Sunday, and that’s when I drove out of Greenbrier to Oklahoma,” he says. “I was supposed to work the next day, but wasn’t able to because there was so much snow. All my stuff was indoors in an arena, but it was difficult just getting there.”
Denton most recently has had parts in “The Riot Act,” “Brian Banks,” “The Highwaymen,” “Finding Love in Mountain View,” the TV series “Bluff City Law” and also worked with “American Underdog” screenwriter Jon Gunn on Gunn’s film “God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness,” which was filmed in Little Rock.
He was familiar with Warner’s story, but learned much more when he read the script.
“I knew he had a lot of struggles, but I didn’t know the details. I had no idea all the things he went through.”
The movie’s message, he says, is relatable.
“No matter what you’re going through in life, this movie will help you. It’s a football story, but it’s also a whole lot more than that. There are so many subplots that are going on. It’s just great for the whole family.”
Oh, and all those auditions? Worth it. The main casting director of “American Underdog” saw them, Denton says, and cast him in “Devotion,” a big-budget film that was shot this year in Savannah, Ga., and stars Joseph Cross, Jonathan Majors and Serinda Swan.
“Because of all those tapes, she saw my range and cast me in another film. It’s been really great.”