Naman Shrestha
Adapted from Anthony Robles’ 2012 book ‘Unstoppable: From Underdog to Undefeated: How I Became a Champion,’ Amazon Prime’s ‘Unstoppable’ is a biographical sports movie helmed by William Goldenberg. The narrative centers upon the inspirational life of Anthony Robles, a wrestler who was born with one leg, who overcomes all kinds of personal hurdles to win a national wrestling championship in 2011 for Arizona State. Despite several obstacles in the way, Anthony, with the constant support of his mother, Judy, manages to move past each of them gracefully and create history. Led by the stellar performance from Jharrel Jerome, the wrestling film also includes a talented supporting cast of Jennifer Lopez, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Peña, and Don Cheadle. Interestingly enough, Anthony Robles also features as his own double for a few scenes.
Unstoppable Filming Locations
The shooting of ‘Unstoppable’ was carried out in Arizona, Pennsylvania, and California, especially in the cities of Tempe, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. As per reports, principal photography for the sports movie got underway in May 2023 but just a couple of weeks later, the production was halted due to the 2023 Writer’s Guild of America strike. It was further postponed due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. Once both strikes ended, the cast and crew returned to the sets on December 12, 2023. About a month later, on January 14, 2024, the filming was finally wrapped up.
Upon the completion of the shooting, the cinematographer, Salvatore Totino, took to social media and shared his thoughts on the entire process. He said, “That’s a wrap #Unstoppable @artistsequity #williamgoldbergspecial thank you to the team james Goldman @khfilms @raymond_milazzo @imgalpal @kevinjsun Ryan , Mike, Amanda ,Hannah @tunafishtaco @keslowcamera @levelgripco and his team. John Moore and his team @jessegreenphoto. Could not have done it with this incredible team. Thank you !!!”
Tempe, Arizona
Several pivotal sequences for ‘Unstoppable’ were lensed in the city of Tempe, which is located within Arizona’s Maricopa County. Jharrel Jerome and other cast and crew members took over several streets and neighborhoods of the city to shoot key portions. When asked about his experience working with Jennifer Lopez, Jharrel told N’Digo, “Working with Jennifer was incredible. It was the hardest part of filming because it was definitely the most emotional part. And we shot that all in the beginning for three weeks, back to back. We were in that house, 12 hours a day, day after day. So it wasn’t easy. I almost felt like we were doing a play. But Jen was so dedicated to the craft.”
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
For shooting purposes, the production team of ‘Unstoppable’ also traveled to Philadelphia, also known as Philly. According to reports, Jharrel Jerome, who portrays Anthony Robles, trained with wrestling trainers and movement coaches for about five years in preparation for the role. He, along with the actual Anthony Robles, did all the wrestling scenes. Moreover, in order to keep it as raw and authentic as possible, the makers shot the entire film with handheld cameras. They also constructed an 8-by-4-foot glass platform, allowing the wrestling portions to be shot from below as well.
Los Angeles, California
A significant portion of ‘Unstoppable’ was also taped in the city of Los Angeles. To be specific, the first leg of the shooting, before it got interrupted by the strikes, took place in the City of Angels. In an interview with Collider, the filmmaker, William Goldenberg, elaborated on the process of shooting the wrestling scenes. He admitted that he wanted the audience to be as close to the action as possible, which is the reason why the film was shot handheld. He said, “We wanted to be very close and experience every grunt and groan and every moment on the mat because it’s such a brutal sport, but also a beautiful sport. We wanted to capture all that.”
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