Q & A with the star of Disney's latest football flick

Don Banks, left, hangs out with The Rock on the set of The Game Plan. Disney

Football movies are a cottage industry these days, and Dwayne "The Rock'' Johnson stars in the latest effort to dramatize America's favorite game with The Game Plan, which opens nationally on Friday. Johnson, a former professional wrestler turned actor, played defensive tackle at the University of Miami in the early '90s. But in The Game Plan he switches sides of the ball to play Joe Kingman, the egotistical star quarterback of the fictitious Boston Rebels. Much of the film was shot last fall in and around Gillette Stadium and the New England Patriots practice facility.

In the middle of the Rebels playoff drive, Kingman is waylaid by the discovery that he has been given custody of a seven-year-old daughter he never knew he had. Hijinks ensue.

I caught up with my co-star -- oh, did I forget to mention that I have yet another cameo role in this movie, playing, what else, a sports writer? -- on the phone in recent days to talk about the movie, Tom Brady's baby, Johnson's Joe Namath impersonation, the Patriots' Spy-gate, and that Achilles tendon he blew out while preparing for the role:

Q: How exactly does an ex-collegiate defensive tackle get away with playing in the role of a pro quarterback?

A: It all comes down to pure unbridled, unprecedented University of Miami talent. We can play any position at any time. We just have the skills. It's a Cane thing. You wouldn't understand.

Q: You played in college with Ray Lewis, and were replaced in the Canes lineup by Warren Sapp. You ever tormented by the notion that it could have been you starring in the NFL?

A: I use to lose sleep over it until Sapp reminded me one day that he would gladly switch positions with me, and then went on to describe what it was like taking on a pair of 350-pound offensive linemen all game long.

Q: So let me get this straight: You play a New England-based pro quarterback who finds out he has a child out of wedlock. Is this the Tom Brady story?

A: This is indeed the Tom Brady story, only in a Disney setting and I'm slightly better looking and more handsome than Tom.

Q: Did your character, Joe Kingman, get any tips from Brady on playing quarterback in Boston?

A: I had the chance to meet Tom once while we were shooting at Gillette Stadium, and he was a great guy. He did give me a tip, and that tip was when you make a completion, just make sure it's to the guys on your team.

Q: Did the Boston Rebels happen to have any video cameras aimed at an opposing coach's defensive signals?

A: The Boston Rebels did not have to go that route. It all comes down to brilliance and talent, which the Boston Rebels have and have always had in surplus. Now, I will admit some players and coaches did get caught with cameras, but they were in their hotel rooms with their girlfriends.

1 of 2