Los Angeles, June 11, 2026 – Sean Astin, Jeremy Piven, Lorraine Bracco and Isabel DeRoy-Olson have signed on to star in the high school sports drama Will to Win for Kirkpatrick & Kinslow Productions, in association with Brookwell McNamara Entertainment. The feature is currently shooting in Vancouver, British Columbia and Oklahoma.
The story centers on a young Chickasaw softball player (DeRoy-Olson) who, after losing her parents, moves to a new school with no softball team. She instead joins the boy’s baseball team under the tutelage of a compassionate coach (Astin), only to become the target of a school board president (Piven) who wants to see her removed. Soon, through her vivid imagination, she begins having conversations with Will Rogers, who offers her guidance on how to overcome life’s challenges. Indigenous actress Stefany Mathias will play the girl’s grandmother, while Bracco will play the grandmother’s friend who questions how the girl is being raised.
The movie is the first project to be endorsed by the Will Rogers family since the wildly successful Broadway performances of The Will Rogers Follies.
The film is being produced by Russ Kirkpatrick, Andy Kinslow, Mark Heidelberger, Sean McNamara and David Brookwell. Jhane Myers (a producer on Prey and Native advisor on 1883) is executive producing. Sean McNamara (Soul Surfer, Reagan) will direct from Aaron Fulkerson’s script, which was adapted from a book of the same name by author Jim Stovall (The Ultimate Gift). Chickasaw Nation Productions (Montford: The Chickasaw Rancher, Te Ata) is collaborating with producers on the project.
“We have this fantastic script combining the persistence of the human spirit with the wit and wisdom of Will Rogers,” said McNamara, “and with this cast, the film is really going to shine.”
Astin, who was recently elected SAG-AFTRA President, is best known for his roles in films like Rudy and The Lord of the Rings. He recently starred in Chili Finger with Bryan Cranston and John Goodman for Archstone Entertainment.
Piven, most known for playing Ari Gold in Entourage, has been performing on his national comedy tour and will next appear in Miami Nights with Thomas Jane and Terrence Howard.
Bracco, famed for her roles in Goodfellas and The Sopranos, recently starred in Nonnas with Vince Vaughn and Susan Sarandon. DeRoy-Olson can be seen in the feature Fancy Dance opposite Lily Gladstone and in series such as Dark Winds, the Yellowstone spinoff Marshals and Under the Bridge. Mathias appears in Prey and Pathfinder.
Astin is repped by Stewart Talent, Luber Roklin Entertainment and Brecheen Feldman Breimer Silver & Thompson, LLP. Piven is repped by CESD. Bracco is repped CESD and Circle M+P. DeRoy-Olson is repped by Red Management, Authentic Talent & Literary Management and McKuen Frankel Whitehead LLP. Mathias is repped by Integral Artists and Open Entertainment.
Photos courtesy of Kirkpatrick & Kinslow Productions.
