Westwood student shares screen with A-list actors

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This article was published 13/01/2022 (1374 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Westwood Collegiate student recently rubbed shoulders with Hollywood heavyweights on the set of a new movie filmed in Manitoba.

Kyle Hannah, 18, acted in a pair of scenes in the star-studded production of Champions. The movie, which is slated to be released in September or October 2022, follows the journey of a basketball team as it trains for, and competes in, the Special Olympics.

“I loved it,” Hannah said, adding that the opportunity was “awesome”.

Hannah was cast as a community basketball player, a player on one of the Special Olympics teams, and a courtside audience member during the film’s championship game. Woody Harrelson plays the team’s coach, and the film also features actor Cheech Marin of Up In Smoke and Cheech and Chong fame and Kaitlin Olson from It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.

“Kyle’s just starting a hoodie and T-shirt business, so they were very interested in that,” Hannah’s mom, Debbie Hannah, said. “There were just super nice people.”

The roles came naturally to Hannah, as a Special Olympics Manitoba athlete living with an intellectual disability. The Westwood Collegiate student and budding clothing designer has Down syndrome.

When scouting for talent, the film’s producers sought actors, like Hannah, who could bring their authentic life experience to the role.

Hannah has competed in basketball, cross-country, bowling, soccer, and even snowshoeing. Hannah’s basketball roots stretch back a decade or more to when he got his start playing community ball in Florida, where his family lived at the time. Hannah has been with Special Olympics Manitoba for seven years. He now plays for the Special Olympics Manitoba team, D’Bears.

Debbie was a behind-the-scenes advocate for some local talent, having coached Special Olympics Manitoba athletes.

Hannah soaked up his new environment. With nearly all Special Olympics Manitoba practices and tournaments on hold since March 2020, Hannah was eager to reconnect with former teammates and make new friends, too. The film crew’s stringent COVID-19 testing made for a safe environment for it, Debbie said.

“It was awesome to see all of the athletes,” Debbie said. “We’ve got more athletes that want to play Special Olympics basketball now because of this movie, because of their experience of being in the audience.”

Most of the Manitoba scenes were filmed at a recreation centre in Selkirk, with additional material filmed at the University of Winnipeg Duckworth Centre, the Canada Life Centre, and a community centre in Wolseley.

Hannah said he might consider acting in another made-in-Manitoba film. But, in the meantime, he’s working with Debbie to formally launch his clothing brand, 2T1 Inc. The brand’s name is riff on Trisomy 21, the scientific term for the existence of an extra copy of a chromosome in an individual’s DNA (the genetic difference that causes Down syndrome).

The mission behind 2T1 is to uplift folks who have Down syndrome and create positive imagery around messaging around the lives of those touched by the condition.

Hannah has never shied away from Down syndrome, Debbie said; he’s proud of it and wants to share that sentiment with others. To shop Hannah’s collection, visit www.t21inc.com