Former NFL star Simeon Rice hopes hits now come from his movies

THE MOST horrifying piece of film many Philadelphians have ever seen involves Tampa Bay's Joe Jurevicius, running with the ball during an NFL playoff game.

Not an Eagle defender in sight.

For what seemed like hours.

On the sidelines watching was Jurevicius' teammate, Tampa Bay defensive lineman Simeon Rice, enjoying what would be the key play in a devastating Eagles loss.

Now, a decade later, he'd like to do Eagles fans a favor.

Provide them with a film experience so terrifying, it will erase the memory of that other bloodcurdling horror show.

Rice, retired from football, is now a filmmaker. His first feature will hit theaters on Friday - it's called "Unsullied," the "Deliverance"-meets-"Texas Chainsaw Massacre" story of a kidnapped woman chased through the Florida swamps by a couple of cannibal psychos.

Rice is the only former NFL player I can think of who's directed a feature film in national distribution.

I asked him if filmmaking was always his plan.

"I didn't have a plan," said Rice. "I had ambition."

That much is obvious. After he left the game - a transition that stymies many pro athletes - Rice didn't slow down for a second. He put himself through film school, wrote a script, hired a crew and directed the movie himself.

Rice tried the more traditional route - pitching ideas to Hollywood, trying to get a traditional deal - but that didn't work out.

"All I got," he said, "was doors shut in my face."

Rice had very particular ideas about "Unsullied." He wanted to cast no-name actors, he wanted the story to be about a black woman in a mostly white, rural environment.

"People would say, 'Simeon, this is a great script, but we can't cast it with a black girl,' " Rice said. "I wanted to tell the ultimate fish-out-of-water story, and this is it: a black girl in the woods. Now, in the movie I never put an emphasis on color, she's really just the girl next door. But when her car breaks down on the road, you see how vulnerable she is, what an easy target she is.

"And [Hollywood] wanted a star. A bankable name. I watch tons of movies with no bankable names. And they're great. In fact, it can add to the experience, because if it's a fresh face, they don't bring with them the baggage of their other roles."

Rice and I share a laugh about the success of "Straight Out Of Compton," the movie featuring a cast of unknown black actors that's currently ruled the box office for two weeks.

"There is definitely some racism involved in the industry," he said. "People are limited in their thinking. I mean, if you pitched a movie in Hollywood about a mission to Pluto, and it has a white guy and an Asian and a black guy, you're going to have some [studio] executive saying, 'This astronaut is black - is that going to translate?'

"Now, what is the most important thing about the pitch - is it that one of the astronauts is black or is it the fact the people are on Pluto?!' " Rice said.

Rice said that Hollywood discounts one of the essential joys of watching movies, - being exposed to different cultures. Back in his football-playing days, a teammate suggested that he watch the movie "Layer Cake," about Cockney mobsters.

"And I watched it, and I can't even understand what they're saying," Rice said. "But I'm thinking, 'My God, this is great.' And I kept watching it, and the accents started making sense."

If you love a movie, he explained, you want to immerse yourself in its world, to understand it.

" 'Slumdog Millionaire.' Did I know anybody in that movie? No. Was it great? Yes."

As you may have deduced, Rice is an avid consumer of movies. He watched them as a kid in Chicago, as a player in Illinois, as a pro in Tampa and other cities. His favorite directors: Sergio Leone, Clint Eastwood, Alfred Hitchcock. They get homages in "Unsullied." Rice also restages favorite bits from "No Country for Old Men," "The Fugitive" and a dozen others.

"The library of movies that I have loved, that resonated with me, is endless," he said. "And I'm drawing on all of that. But there is no substitute for actually doing it, for being on the set. You have to go out and get the shots, and I was able to do that."

Rice put his own money into "Unsullied," and hopes that Hollywood will take notice. He wishes the industry were more like the NFL, which is results-oriented.

"As long as you get touchdowns, they don't care who you are."