In her latest film, “Sidelined: The QB and Me,” legendary singer and actress Deborah Cox plays a high school dance instructor named Miss Alicia. She helps to guide and inspire one of her most gifted students named Dallas (actress Siena Agudong) by encouraging her to focus on preparing to audition for a highly competitive performance arts school which is the alma mater of her late mother.
At the same time, Dallas’ boyfriend Drayton (actor Noah Beck) is a star football player under immense pressure from his father, Leroy Lahey (actor James David Van Der Beek) to continue the family legacy by attending his alma mater. Drayton, however, would like to forge his own path by attending college on the West Coast, closer to Dallas so that their budding relationship doesn’t have to end.
Adapted from the popular book, “The QB Bad Boy and Me” by Tay Marley, the teens are torn between whether or not to follow their heart or follow tradition in the coming-of-age film.
Renowned for her multiplatinum hit songs including, “Nobody Supposed To Be Here” and “We Can’t Be Friends” in addition to her Grammy nominated role as “Glinda” in “The Wiz” on Broadway, Deborah Cox tells the Sentinel what inspired her to accept this role.
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“I loved everything about the script. I loved everything about the casting and the director, Justin Wu, it was all good things. When I read the script and saw how complex the characters were and the layers of storytelling, it’s a warm, charming, feel-good romantic drama about two people who have a deep love for each other, a deep love for their craft, and they’re trying to figure it out,” she said.
Cox added, “It’s fun to play a mentor that motivates and inspires because it’s very close to who I already am. And it was great to play off these two characters that had so much chemistry it was just jumping off the screen.”
What differentiates “Sidelined: The QB and Me” from other films set in high school with an athlete and cheerleader at the center is its emphasis on the characters’ understanding that they’re young adults capable of making their own decisions about their future.
“You have choices…” is a recurring theme that will remind audiences to believe in themselves.
For Justin Wu, a renowned photographer and award-winning television director, “Sidelined: The QB & Me” marks his feature film debut. When asked about centering the arc of the film around the high school love story, Wu shared, “It’s a truly universal story about chasing one’s dreams. The dance part is very similar to filmmaking.
“You have this character who’s chasing after her dreams by going to her late mother’s alma mater, which is very similar to me. My mother was an artist, and I also wanted to follow in her footsteps when I was growing up,” he recalled.
“And the fact that I’m actually doing what I’m doing today is rewarding, but I also remember all the challenges that I had to face to get to this point. So, I think that journey is one that I really connected to. As for football, it’s no different from any other artist [in regard to] resilience, persistence, discipline, and even the idea of legacy, Wu said.
“So, I find that, when you think of football and dance, the way I approach it as a filmmaker is to look at it like a metaphor. What does this represent and how is it best translated? As a visual artist myself, watching football, watching a lot of dances, working with all these different athletes and artists has been in my DNA for quite some time,” admitted Wu.
When asked about casting Deborah Cox for the role of Miss Alicia, Wu said, “I grew up listening to her music, it’s really transformed my life and made me understand life a bit better. Having the opportunity to meet her after the Juno Awards allowed me to really understand who she is and what she’s all about.
“She’s at a certain age now where she’s a mother and she has so much wisdom to offer from all the years that she’s been singing and performing and now a lot of what she does is to give back and uplift the next generation of voices. When I had a chance to meet her, we immediately connected, and I thought of no one else. She was the first and last choice for Miss Alicia.”
Watch “Sidelined: The QB and Me” exclusively on Tubi.
