ProRodeo Sports News - April 6, 2018

CINEMA

Former PRCA cowboy stars in critically acclaimed Western film BY NICK CICERE Y ears ago, when Chloe Zhao met Brady Jandreau, she immediately saw that the young cowboy owned an aesthetic intended for the big screen. But at the time, she couldn’t have known what was to befall her friend. No one could have. On April 1, 2016, Jandreau appeared at the PRCA Championship Rodeo in Fargo, N.D., where, as always, rodeo provided the platform for the South Dakota cowboy to binge on his addiction. Whether it be bulls or broncs, all Jandreau ever wanted to do was compete. Fate, however, had other plans. Following his ride on that harrowing day, Jandreau was on the receiving end of a kick to the head that resulted in a comminuted fracture. In layman’s terms, his skull was shattered. “They started asking me questions when I got to the hospital,” Jandreau said, “and that’s when I went into a seizure. That’s when they decided to induce coma. There was actually a brain surgeon there on staff that saved my life.” Four days later, Jandreau woke up to a new world, a reality devoid of rodeo. Doctors informed Jandreau that simply getting on the back of a horse risked life and death. Even so, two weeks after life-saving surgery, he returned home and resumed training horses. But something was missing. “The Rider,” starring Jandreau as Brady Blackburn, is a film tightly based on Jandreau’s experiences. Much like Jandreau, Blackburn is a young cowboy forced out of rodeo due to a severe head injury. Despite medical professionals insisting that the sport’s rewards far outweigh its risks, Blackwell must wrestle the urge to continue his rodeo career. ‘The Rider’

Brady Jandreau, starring as Brady Blackburn, shares with the world his

story of tragedy and finding purpose in the new film, “The Rider.” Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

A STAR IS BORN

Zhao, the film’s director,

became enamored with the sport of rodeo and the Western way of life while working on her first feature- length film, “Songs My Brothers Taught Me.” The movie was filmed on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwestern South Dakota, where she met Jandreau. “I was very drawn to the way he lived his life and how close he was to the animals and the land,” Zhao said. “I wanted to make a film with him, and I wasn’t exactly sure what story that was going to be. Initially, it was going to be about him, his family and his rodeo dreams. But when the accident happened, he was back riding horses very quickly. “I thought, ‘This is someone who is risking his life to keep his dream alive.’ That became the story.” Before the movie’s creation, Jandreau had never acted. “No, not at all,” Jandreau said. “Never any drama, any acting, not even a play.” Despite Jandreau’s lack of experience, Zhao wasn’t worried she could mold her young actor into what the film needed. In fact, he was somewhat of a natural. “I had a mentor who once said there is no such thing as actors,” she said. “There’s only authentic, truthful performances and non-authentic, truthful performances. The way I worked with Brady wouldn’t be that different in the way I work with a professional actor. “What Brady has as a horse trainer and in rodeo is that focus. You have to be so focused when you’re in a shoot. That kind of focus is something that actors train for years to get.” The ability to zero in and block out his surroundings came with years

ProRodeo Sports News 4/6/18

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