Kurt Russell says the most surprising thing he learned about hockey legend Herb Brooks is this: Herb Brooks picked the 1980 Olympic hockey team that won a gold medal for America. But he never officially got one for himself.
“People don’t know that,” says Russell, who met with Brooks twice while preparing to play him in “Miracle,” which opens Friday. “When I asked him about his gold medal, he looked at me like I had three heads. He said, ‘No. Coaches don’t get medals. Players get medals.’ “
Even more astonishing, Russell says, is that Brooks had no problem with it. “No. Couldn’t care less,” says an amazed Russell, who might be less amazed if he knew that an Olympic official gave Brooks an extra gold.
Brooks told Russell his two favorite moments on the gold medal day involved watching other people: seeing his wife, Patti, in the stands and watching the team hop on the podium to accept the gold.
“He said, ‘That is my favorite memory,’ ” Russell says. “Watching those 20 guys, from different backgrounds, on that podium. That’s what it was all about.”
Stories like those helped Russell figure out how to play Brooks, who died in a car accident last summer without having seen any of “Miracle.”
“I think he was a humble, head-down type of guy, but he was serious, and he was not afraid of anyone,” Russell says. “To me, the key in playing him was something I saw in the videos I watched. He was someone who peered at the world.”
That analytical mindset did not come easily to Russell, who is as bold and emotional as Brooks was quiet and restrained.
Russell learned that Brooks’ head-first way of approaching a problem was the key to understanding how he spent the seven months leading up to the Olympics. He molded his team, making sure they understood he was their coach, not their friend.
“I said to him, ‘This must have been the greatest year of your life, man.’ And he said, ‘Well, it was the loneliest year,’ ” Russell says.
“He talked about the sacrifice with his family. He gave up so much, and he was looking at something down the road where he could end up having a lonely year without much result. He was willing to do whatever he had to for this chance.”
The actor’s proudest moment is a tiny one that he thinks best captures Brooks. It’s a wordless shot of Brooks, after the U.S. beats Russia, when the two coaches exchange a lingering look.
“It’s that thing where Herb was thrilled and he didn’t really want to show it on his face or gloat. But, coach-to-coach, the look says, ‘This is just unbelievable, isn’t it?’ “
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Edited by Curt Wagner (cwwagner@tribune.com) and Kris Karnopp (kkarnopp@tribune.com)
