The Charlotte Observer (2006)
SPEAKING PARTS: MATTHEW FOX
Current movie: “We Are Marshall.” The film chronicles what happened
after the Marshall University football team, most of its coaches and some fans
were killed when their chartered plane crashed on Nov. 14, 1970.
Fox’s tough role: Fox portrays Red Dawson, a 27-year-old assistant
coach who gave up his seat on the flight at the last minute as a favor to a
colleague. Dawson is portrayed as a man riddled with guilt because he personally
recruited 20 of the 37 players killed.
How Fox met Dawson and earned his trust: The actor did the
unthinkable: He asked Dawson, who still lives in Huntington, W.Va., to take a
10-hour flight to Hawaii, where Fox lives and acts in the TV series “Lost.”
“This is a guy who hasn’t flown much for 35 years,” said Fox.
How Fox broke the ice: “I took him to my home. He met my kids. My wife
cooked for him. … It turns out we like a lot of the same types of things. We
love the outdoors, we love fishing and wide-open solitude types of spaces.” The
men spent several days together before Fox brought up the accident.
Fox recalls when Dawson was finally ready to talk: “He said, `If I get
choked up, we’ll have to stop. I’ll get it together and we’ll continue.’ … For
35 years, he’s been carrying a burden. … I think the making of this movie has
been a very cathartic thing for Red.”
See Red Dawson, too: He has a cameo in the film as a coach of rival
school Morehead State.
How Dawson liked Fox’s portrayal: “He called me right after,” recalled
Fox. “I could tell by his voice that he absolutely loved it. He said, `Well
Foxy, you made me a superstar.’ “
