Lifestyles: Actor-Model-Dancer Brian White
by Matt Forman | LaxMagazine.com
Brian White, the son of the Boston Celtics' seven-time NBA All-Star and 1976 NBA Finals MVP JoJo White, is living the dream — for the second time. A two-sport star at Dartmouth, White signed professional lacrosse and football contracts with the NLL's Boston Blazers and the NFL's New England Patriots. A severe hamstring injury cut his athletic career short. After a brief foray into stock brokerage, he was introduced to modeling and co-founded a dance company. Since then, White has starred in movies like "Stomp the Yard," "Fighting" and "Mr. 3000," and has been featured in TV shows "The Shield," "Men of a Certain Age" and "Spyder Games."
How did you first get into lacrosse?
My inspiration on Twitter (@actorbrianwhite) is a good friend
from my high school, Newton South (Mass.), who's also in the
entertainment industry, Rib Hillis. We had step-up day — when
middle schoolers visit the high school — and one of the older
guys that was a football player came up to me in the hallway,
grabbed the middle of my shirt, ripped out the shirt's patch and
started to eat it, and then walked away. We always thought this guy
was cool. So I was walking out to baseball practice one day, and I
saw Rib light [him] up in a lacrosse game. I was like, "I want to
play that sport."
What kind of player were you?
At 6-foot and 180 pounds then and 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds now, I
always had speed, quickness, agility, power and strength. I had the
football tools, playing against guys that are 5-foot-10, more of a
soccer build. The results were really good, and I ended up with a
scholarship to a great school. That's something I'm really
passionate about now: trying to get more kids, especially minority
kids, aware of the game.
How are you going about that?
I work with former Johns Hopkins star Kyle Harrison a lot. We're
trying to develop programs, clinics and exhibition games. My ideal
would be to print molds of Kyle's stick and other players' sticks
and give them away. You bring 20 professional lacrosse players to
10 different cities and play exhibition games. You give away
tickets to the schools to get the kids out there. Basically it's a
mill. All the camps are there, and they give away scholarships.
Best you ever played against?
The Gait brothers. I played against them in box. I was in football
shape, about 230 pounds. So I was bigger and faster than them. But
what shocked the heck out of me were their stick skills. You do
what you can, but they're still going to get the shot off someway,
somehow. Incredible.
What was your injury? Ever wonder what if?
I tore my hamstring in half. As a football player, you can't sit
out so long, so I immediately tried to go back. I got signed to the
World League and then tore it again. With hamstrings, it takes
three months of not doing anything, then trying to rehab. But I
didn't have that kind of time. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy,
especially trying to play two sports... The irony was, I was back
at my mom's house sitting on her couch for maybe a week. I was
hanging my head and sulking. She was like, "This is what your
college degree was for? Get your lazy, moping butt up, stop feeling
sorry for yourself and go use your education. You went around this
country and world for two years as a professional athlete in two
sports, doing everything you loved. You lived the dream. Now it's
time to grow up." I've always looked at it that way. My athletic
career, I'm proud of it. I did everything I could.
What are the highlights of your acting
career?
I got to do a movie called "DOA: Dead or Alive" in China. I got to
go over there for four months and see almost every part of China.
It made me appreciate the luxury of what a career in entertainment
provides. This past year I got to do a play for the first time
called "What My Husband Doesn't Know" in 30 cities. We traveled by
buses, planes and cars all around the United States for about four
months. Movies like "Fighting." Channing Tatum and I were MMA
fighters, so we trained for six months to be able to do everything
live. I love challenges like that. "Mr. 3000" was another one, with
the late great Bernie Mac, because I did all my own hitting. We
were at the Milwaukee Brewers' stadium, Miller Park, and I had to
hit home runs out of the park live on camera with time limits. Two
takes. Bernie Mac is the most humble guy I ever met, and the
funniest guy I ever met. He was so successful because he was so
humble, and I've aspired to be like that from the minute I met him.
"The Family Stone" cast had lunch and dinner together every day for
the entire shoot. That never happens. We had a huge cast, like
Diane Keaton, Sarah Jessica Parker, Rachel McAdams, Luke Wilson,
Craig Nelson, and everybody together had lunch and dinner at one
table, every day for four months. It turned into a family.
What's next for you?
I've had a production company for a while with Sylvain White. He's
the director of "The Loser" and "Stomp the Yard." We are producing
a film together that we'll shoot in Europe. I helped write it. We
want to be like George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh. They're kind
of like our group blueprint. I aspire to be like Clooney, an actor
who produces films that you can't find elsewhere, because he has
elevated ideas and talent, and the backing of a great director to
make them happen. That's where I see my career going.
