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Sports biopic The Featherweight is coming to movie theaters on September 20, a year after its world premiere at the 2023 Venice Film Festival. Emmy-winning director Robert Kolodny brings the dramatized true-to-life story of the famed Italian-American boxer Willie Pep in the upcoming film.
However, the movie is set many years after Pep (played by James Madio) has been a hot topic in the boxing scene. It's 1964, and he's in his 40s with a messy personal life.
He has a wife, but she's half his age, and a drug-addicted son from a previous marriage. He wants to return to the ring, though, and that's where the camera crew comes in. They document Pep's supposed iconic comeback only to capture his eventual fall from being an iconic boxer.
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Stars Ron Livingston and Stephen Lang play key roles in Pep's storyline as his manager, Bob, who advised him against the comeback, and his boxing trainer, Bill, respectively.
Main cast and character in The Featherweight
1) James Madio as Willie Pep
The Bronx-born actor plays "the winningest American boxer" Guglielmo Papaleo in The Featherweight movie.
His character is better known as Willie Pep in the boxing ring. He's a washed-up boxing champ in his 40s attempting to make a comeback in 1964 while dealing with a messy personal life.
Madio has worked in several films, appeared in a few episodic roles on television and received acknowledgment from critics for his acting.
He was in Carmine Vispiciano in The Offer, Pedro in The Basketball Diaries and was the Best Actor for playing the Hollywood megastar James Bronson in AppleBox. He also appeared in single-episode roles in FBI, Blue Bloods and Godfather of Harlem.
2) Ron Livingston as Bob Kaplan
The American actor, who voiced Waxman in Pantheon, returns to the silver screen as Bob Kaplan in The Featherweight. He's Pep's long-suffering manager who objected to his decision to return to the ring.
Livingston has worked with Madio in the comedy parody AppleBox, and he's also worked on about 100 different projects on TV and film. Some of his well-known works include shows Band of Brothers, Search Party, The Practice and Loudermilk.
He was also in The Flash movie as Henry Allen and played Roger Perron in The Conjuring.
3) Stephen Lang as Bill Gore
The award-winning Stephen Lang, who played Colonel Miles Quaritch in the Avatar movies, joins The Featherweight cast as Bill Gore. He's Pep's boxing trainer who helped the boxing legend win his two world featherweight championship titles.
Lang has worked on over 100 projects since debuting as Janos in We're Fighting Back in 1981. Crime Story, Manhunter and Tombstone are some of his earlier works.
He was also in Into the Badlands series, Rogue Warfare movies, Band of Robbers, Old Man and Avenue of Giants.
4) Lawrence Gilliard Jr. as Sandy Saddler
The New York-native actor, who played Bob Stookey in the long-running series The Walking Dead, returns to the silver screen as Sandy Saddler. He's an American professional boxer in The Featherweight and Pep's longtime in-ring rival.
Gilliard Jr. has previously played a pro boxer in a film, which was another boxing biopic, Big George Foreman, where he played the World Lightweight Champion Archie Moore.
He's also worked in over 70 titles for TV and the big screen, like One Night in Miami, The Championship Rounds and The Deuce.
5) Ruby Wolf as Linda Papaleo
The up-and-coming actress, who appeared on a single episode as Ella Lund in Tommy, joins The Featherweight cast as Linda Papaleo. She's Willie Pep's much younger wife in the movie.
Wolf's biggest break was landing the Linda role in the movie, and she was in the TV film The House of Nod Halloween Special. She also joined the Wolverine podcast series for several episodes and worked on short films like Holy Moses and Babywatch.
6) Keir Gilchrist as Billy Papaleo Jr.
The English-born Canadian actor, who played Sam Gardner in Netflix's comedy series Atypical, plays Billie Papaleo Jr. in The Featherweight. He's Pep's estranged and drug-addicted son from his previous marriage.
Gilchrist has worked in over 50 titles for TV and films, including Dead Silence, It Follows, It's Kind of a Funny Story and Castel in the Ground. He was also recently in the action comedy Freaky Tales and the thriller short Deep Cut.
Secondary cast and characters in the sports biopic
Below are the rest of the cast and characters fans can expect to bring more context to Willie Pep's story in The Featherweight.
- Shari Albert as Fran Papaleo
- Frank John Hughes as Mike Marino
- Imma Aiello as Mama Papaleo
- Michael Siberian as Bill Lee
- Jeremy Luke as Rocky Marciano
- David Lavine as Karl Rierson
- Bruce Carrington as Goose
- Louis Vanaria as the event organizer
- Patrick Murney as Don Dunphy
- Gino Cafarelli as Harry Balogh
- Delano Montgomery as Sam Hornsby
- Jay Giannone as Gerard
Catch The Featherweight in movie theaters in Connecticut and New York starting September 20 and at Los Angeles cinemas on September 27.
