Dan Vaughan Goes Hollywood

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Dan Vaughan was a four-year letterwinner on the Syracuse University football team from 2009-12, playing in 50 games and accumulating 94 career tackles. Now, Vaughan is showcasing both his acting skills and his football skills on the big screen in the new movie "Woodlawn."

"The film is such an inspiring tale," Vaughan said. "It just covers so many aspects of life. I think it is going to be an amazing film."

"Woodlawn," which opens in 1,500 theatres nationwide on Friday, Oct. 16, tells the true story of NFL running back "Touchdown Tony" Nathan and the Woodlawn High School football team. When the government mandated that Woodlawn desegregate in 1973, riots and cross burnings ignited Birmingham, Ala. But after a chaplain visited the team, the future Miami Dolphins running back and more than 40 of his black and white teammates chose to dedicate their lives to God: praying together at practice, meeting for Bible study after school, and ultimately helping to unite the town. Vaughan appears as a linebacker for Banks High School, Woodlawn's chief rival.

"My last year at Syracuse, I got into Newhouse and got my master's in television, radio, and film," Vaughan said. "I always felt like I wanted to be in that industry. When football ended, I took a step back and looked at everything I was doing. I moved back to Pittsburgh and started doing production work around town."

Vaughan began acting in the Steel City, participating in various projects and also doing stunt work. It didn't hit him that he wanted to truly pursue acting until he appeared in a community play. Afterward Vaughan sought out professional training to help him get started. He found it by enrolling in a two-year Meisner acting technique program in Los Angeles. During the process of searching for an acting program, Vaughan continued working and eventually landed a part in "Woodlawn."

Noted Hollywood sports movie choreographer Mark Ellis recruited all of the "real" football players who appear in "Woodlawn." He put them through an NFL-like training camp in to prepare for the filming of the game and practice sceness, many of which were shot at historic Legion Field in Birmingham. Ellis' previous credits include the sports sequences in "The Rookie," "Miracle," "The Longest Yard," "Jerry Maguire", "Any Given Sunday," "We Are Marshall," "Invincible" and more.

"It's very interesting," Vaughan said. "When you are working on a football movie and shooting things, it is very specific. It is like a highly-complex puzzle. You could spend a whole week on three plays. It's a mix of football and dancing."

Vaughan originally auditioned for a different part and was turned down, so instead he tried out for a speaking role based on former Ole Miss and NFL linebacker Jeff Herrod and got it.

There is no shortage of star power on screen alongside the former Syracuse standout. Sean Astin, the main character in "Rudy", and C. Thomas Howell, who played Ponyboy Curtis in "The Outsiders," have key roles, while Oscar winner Jon Voight plays legendary Alabama coach Paul "Bear" Bryant.

"The scene I have speaking lines in is actually with C. Thomas Howell," Vaughan said. "He is hilarious. His character is absolutely hilarious. Just being around accomplished actors like that, seeing how they work, was such an incredible thing to watch for someone who is trying to pursue that. Being around them, it has been a very interesting process.

"The seven weeks I spent on 'Woodlawn' was probably the best time of my life," Vaughan said. "What I will take away from this is gaining more set experience and using that in congruence with the program I am in now. I will use this experience to help me down the road working on another project."

Syracuse University Athletics

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