Action movie fans, meet your new leading man.
Race Eberhardt is starring in “Strait Undercover,” an action film about a government agent exposing corrupt forces trying to put a small town farmer out of business.
Eberhardt, 37, is now the first actor with Down syndrome to star in an action film, and he spoke alongside the film’s director Ben Gonyo in an interview that aired on TODAY Jan. 29.
“He has that ‘it’ factor that when I see him on camera, I want to see more,” Gonyo said on TODAY.
Eberhardt and Gonyo met while filming a TV pilot, and Gonyo said he knew immediately that Eberhardt was a star in the making.
Gonyo said he wrote “Strait Undercover” with Eberhardt in mind to play the main character, Race Strait.
“The goal was to create a character around the real-life Race,” Gonyo said. “It wasn’t to try to push him into a box, to be something. So we took his real-life essence and then wrapped a story around it.”
“Strait Undercover” has been a passion project for the pair, filming the movie on their days off around Rochester, New York, with the help of volunteers and donations from the community.
“I think what surprised me was everybody’s willingness to come in, the community support,” Gonyo said. “So many people wanting to be a part and chipping in and donating their time and giving us access to great locations that we probably wouldn’t have been able to access because they saw the passion and the vision.”
Gonyo said he made the decision not to mention Eberhardt’s disability in the film.
“What we see traditionally in films is that the characters on screen are forced to identify with their disability, almost as the reason they’re on screen,” he said. “I feel like that’s a way that it used to be done, and we want to look forward and do it in a new way.”
“For us, it was very important to not make the story about the disability,” he continued.
Gonyo added that he hoped Eberhardt’s role can positively affect the future of people with disabilities starring in the movie industry.
“This is an example of artists doing it differently. And maybe that can inspire other people and they can see, ‘If you can see it, you can be it.’ You know, that saying? Maybe that they can take something from that.”
The team behind “Strait Undercover” is still looking for a distributor for the film, but Eberhardt knows it’s already a classic.
He listed off his favorite action stars: “Chuck Norris. And Tom Cruise and Jason Borne and me, Race Strait. He’s our new hero with all these great movies.”
Eberhardt began acting when he was 10 years old, appearing in local productions of “Beauty and the Beast” and “Mary Poppins.” But he says he always knew he would be on the big screen one day.
After filming “Strait Undercover” around his day job in payroll, he credits Gonyo with making his dreams come true.
“He is a dream come true guy,” he said of Gonyo.
“Both of our dreams comin’ true,” Gonyo replied.
