"I was shocked and mesmerized": Zac Efron stars in true story from Vietnam war 'The Greatest Beer Run Ever'

Record ID: 1690783

  • Title: "I was shocked and mesmerized": Zac Efron stars in true story from Vietnam war 'The Greatest Beer Run Ever'
  • Date: 26th September 2022
  • Summary: TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA (SEPTEMBER 13, 2022) (Reuters) (SOUNDBITE) (English) FILM'S SUBJECT, JOHN 'CHICKIE' DONOHUE, SAYING: "I was amazed at how Zac showed his emotions and some of them were spot-on of how I felt at that time. That was an amazing feeling, to see someone up there playing me and acting it and expressing those emotions in it and that's exactly how I felt. First I looked at it and said 'I felt just like that' and then I realized 'That's supposed to be me'. It was an amazing thing."
  • Embargoed: 10th October 2022 23:39
  • Keywords: Chickie Donohue Film Peter Farrelly The Greatest Beer Run Ever True Story Zac Efron
  • Location: TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA; UNIDENTIFIED FILMING LOCATIONS
  • City: TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA; UNIDENTIFIED FILMING LOCATIONS
  • Country: US
  • Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Film,United States
  • Reuters ID: LVA00A811526092022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: In 1967, John "Chickie" Donohue was sitting at a Manhattan bar with his buddies thinking up a way he could support his friends from the neighborhood who were fighting in the Vietnam war.
    The U.S. Marine Corps veteran and merchant seaman decides there is no better way than to head into the war zone to deliver them American beer.
    Zac Efron stars as Chickie, a staunch supporter of the Vietnam War who spent his time lazing at his parents house and drinking at the local bar, in director Peter Farrelly's follow-up to the Oscar-winning "Green Book" (2018).
    "The Greatest Beer Run Ever," featuring stars Bill Murray and Russell Crowe, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
    "Most Vietnam War movies, that I know of, are told from the soldier's point of view. This one is told from a civilian who goes into the middle of it, and so it's a different perspective. I think it changes the tone of what you're seeing and elevates the horror in some ways," Farrelly told Reuters.
    The real Chickie told Reuters that the idea to head to Vietnam came to him after he walked through an anti-war demonstration in New York City's Central Park.
    "My friends were dying at war and my... the people who lived in my hometown were demonstrating against, in the end, them. They referred to them as baby killers and things like that. It hurt, it absolutely hurt," he said.
    In part to support his friends and his country and in defiance of the Vietnam War protesters, Chickie took a job on a merchant ship bound for Vietnam, a duffle bag full of beer in tow.
    It was not until Chickie saw the horrors of the war for himself that his opinion started to shift.
    Adapted from Chickie's novel of the same name, the bizarre experience was what Efron was drawn to about the story.
    "I couldn't believe that this really happened. I remember repeatedly flipping back to the front cover at every twist and turn that was happening in the script and just rereading 'this is a true story.' I was shocked and mesmerized by this journey," Efron told Reuters.
    Chickie too was mesmerized by Efron. He said "I was amazed at how Zac showed his emotions and some of them were spot-on of how I felt at that time. That was an amazing feeling to see someone up there playing me and acting it and expressing those emotions in it and that's exactly how I felt. First I looked at it and said 'I felt just like that' and then I realized 'That's supposed to be me'. It was an amazing thing."
    The film will open in theaters and screen on Apple TV+ on September 30.
    (Production: Rollo Ross)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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