Sponsored message
Audience-funded nonprofit news
radio tower icon laist logo
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Subscribe
  • Listen Now Playing Listen
Take Two

Actor Stephan James on playing the legendary Jesse Owens

Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.

Get LA News Updates Daily

We brief you on what you need to know about L.A. today.
A row of graphics payment types: Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay and PayPal, and  below a lock with Secure Payment text to the right
Listen 8:08
Actor Stephan James on playing the legendary Jesse Owens

In the new film, Race, the incredible life and struggles of one of the greatest athletes in history is told.

Jesse Owens, nicknamed the Buckeye Bullet, made history when he competed in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany ... facing runners from all over the world and also Adolf Hitler, and his Nazi ideology.

Not only did he win gold, but he became the first American track & field athlete to win four gold medals in a single Olympiad. 

Stephan James plays Owens in the film, here's the theatrical trailer.

We talked to Stephan James about preparing for the role, and what it took to play such an important figure in history.