In filmmaker and musician DW Waterson’s debut feature film, “Backspot,” an overachieving teenager enters the world of competitive cheerleading. However, she finds that the obstacles she faces—including the physical demands of the sport, her desire to appease her assertive coach, and her attempts to keep her relationship stable—are affecting her mind, body, and soul.
Through the character of Riley, played by Devery Jacobs of “Reservation Dogs,” “Backspot” highlights the intense and labor-intensive nature of cheerleading, where a small slip can break someone’s bones and spirit; the rarely discussed mental health issues that athletes face; and intergenerational friction between queer millennials and their Gen Z counterparts.
Although Waterson, who uses their pronouns, has no prior personal experience as a cheerleader, they lived the cheerleading dream by wearing a cheerleading uniform when they were a DJ and played drums in Toronto’s underground music scene.
“It was my strange path to the world of joy,” they told NBC News.
Waterson said the sport first caught their attention after seeing a viral video of a cheerleader rigorously trying to perfect a split.
“I’ve never seen this side of cheerleading before. The stress on the body, like what it actually takes, and like these high pressure scenarios,” Waterson said. “It kind of led me to want to dive in and fully experience what it means to be a cheerleader.”
Jacobs, who is the star and producer of “Backspot,” said the basis of the film’s concept was to express intergenerational relationships among queer people, particularly Gen Z and millennials.
“The main idea we wanted to explore was where there is friction between generations of queer people,” Jacobs told NBC News. “There’s kind of a divide with young people a lot of the time, who take for granted the rights that they have access to, being able to come out, and then for older gay people, they’ve had to fight so hard for their rights. rights, but sometimes harbor resentment or bitterness towards this younger generation who takes these things for granted.
This generational divide is manifested by Coach Eileen, a ruthless and tough lesbian, played with power by a breathtaking Evan Rachel Wood.
Throughout the film, Riley does her best to make Eileen proud, pushing past her limits despite her trainer’s aggression.
The role was written with Wood in mind, and like a wish, it came true, Waterson said, adding that their Zoom session with Wood before she officially signed on to the project was “a mind-blowing, out-of-body experience “. » During that initial conversation, Waterson added, Wood expressed hope that her portrayal of Coach Eileen would do for Waterson and Jacobs what the inclusion of Holly Hunter in Catherine Hardwicke’s 2003 directorial debut, “Thirteen “, did for Wood.
“Hearing him say that on a Zoom to his face, I’m like, ‘OK, be calm,’” Waterson recalled.
Waterson and Jacobs also received help from executive producer Elliot Page, who Jacobs said gave the duo helpful notes during the development process.
During their seven-year journey to create “Backspot,” the first film under their Night Is Y production banner, Waterson and Jacobs insisted that the story stood out from other female-led sports stories that they admired – like “Bring It On” and “Play It Like Beckham.”
Another essential aspect of Riley’s character is his relationship with his girlfriend, Amanda, a co-cheerleader and fan of “Legally Blonde: The Musical” played by Kudakwashe Rutendo. The relationship between Riley and Amanda forms the emotional core of “Backspot.” While the characters face certain obstacles, mostly stemming from their opposing ideologies on competitive cheerleading, Waterson and Jacobs said it was essential that the two teens were still together in the end.
“So often in queer cinema we are deprived of happy endings instead of seeing them come to fruition. Very often we will see the “bury your gays” trope. It had to be a happy, hopeful ending,” Jacobs said.
Some of the romantic moments shared between Riley and Amanda, Waterson revealed, were actually inspired by fan edits of some of their favorite queer relationships on TV, including Naomi and Emily from “Skins” and Santana and Brittany from “Glee “.
“It’s a happy, healthy relationship where they’re best friends and they love each other and love being silly,” Waterson said of Riley and Amanda. “I feel like it’s possible to just show a positive relationship between young gay people.”
As the team began assembling its cast and crew, many of whom came from the world of gymnastics, Jacobs decided to take on the challenge of playing Riley.
“I had been wearing a producer hat for so long that it was a difficult gear shift for me to take that hat off and put on my acting hat,” Jacobs said. “Riley is so three-dimensional. Honestly, I think it’s the role I’m most proud of as an actress to date, because we see so many sides of her, and we see her being silly, we see her competitive, we see her let’s see you fight. »
Jacobs added that she didn’t feel like she was “playing a character” but rather “invoking that person and living in them.”
Hoping to authentically capture the competitive world of cheerleading, Waterson said she worked closely with Cheer Fuzion, a cheerleading team based in the Canadian city of Brampton, near Toronto. Waterson said they used what they learned to ensure the film authentically portrayed Generation Z, cheerleading athletics and the physical and mental health issues some athletes face.
“Backspot” – named after the cheerleading stance of the person who stands behind the flyer and catches it when it falls – is a unique character analysis that explores the roots of competitiveness and how sports can affect a person’s mental health in and out of the gym. . Unbeknownst to others, Riley struggles with her self-image and even exhibits symptoms of trichotillomania, a condition in which one pulls out one’s hair uncontrollably due to anxiety. Waterson revealed that they had struggled with trichotillomania and wanted to base this aspect of Riley’s character on their own experience.
“I wanted to show what that pressure and anxiety was doing and how it started to take shape in a way where Riley wanted to control the anxiety and get it out of herself,” Waterson said. “It was important for me to show it and I hope it starts conversations with people.”
“Backspot” debuts in theaters nationwide Friday.
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