![Mothers of the minor actors, including Serilda, who is second from right, called themselves the "Gapper Moms." They were there for every minute of the filming.](http://matchbin-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/public/sites/483/assets/Swinging_for_the_fence8.jpg "Mothers of the minor actors, including Serilda, who is second from right, called themselves the "Gapper Moms." They were there for every minute of the filming.")
LUMBERTON — Even though Blaine Goodwin just learned to play baseball, soon he will be swinging on the big screen.
Blaine, a 14-year-old Lumberton resident, has a supporting lead role in the move “Hero,” which will be released to theaters this year.
“The main thing was that the role required you to play baseball, and I didn’t play baseball,” Blaine said. “… I was out on the fields every night. My pastor would come out there with us and really everybody just helped.”
The movie, produced by Brightline Pictures and Advent Film Group, will be pre-screened at 7 p.m. on June 3 at First Baptist Church in Lumberton. Admission will be $7 with a church group and $10 for individuals.
Blaine plays Mark Redding, a timid shortstop on a failing baseball team, The Gappers. The movie follows him and his teammates after the father of the coach tries his hand at crafting a winning team.
“He’s not the best player at baseball, his dad is always at work and his mom is there to support him, but he really wants a relationship with his dad,” Blaine said. “He wants his dad to be there.”
A feud between two boys on the team turns into a physical fight, which leads to a surprise ending.
“There’s a kid and his dad’s in jail and he’s on the team,” Blaine said. “My dad’s a jail warden and I’m on the team with the same kid. So that’s how I fit into the plot.”
Blaine worked many nights to brush up on his baseball skills to get the part, something that ultimately landed him the role.
“They found one who played ball a little bit better but wasn’t as strong an actor,” said Serilda Goodwin, Blaine’s mother. “But they saw his baseball skills really improve. It doesn’t look like he didn’t play before the movie.”
The Christian movie aims to touch the hearts of fathers with its message.
“The goal is to strengthen father-son relationships,” Serilda said. “… Even though it’s a Christian movie, they want it to be targeted to men in general.”
Blaine and his family attend church services at The Father’s Hand in Lumberton.
Goodwin is no stranger to the camera, as he has been in infomercials, advertisements for Bugle Boy and Stanley Furniture, as well as two episodes of “Little Britain USA.”
Serilda was there for every moment of the filming, which took place in Winston-Salem. Sometimes the days lasted from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“We had a ball,” Serilda said. “…We called ourselves the Gapper Moms.”
Filming started in 2009 and ended in July of 2010.
The film, written and directed by Manny Edwards, is under two hours long and features 20 actors. Two actors in the movie, Burgess Jenkins and Gregory Alan Williams, were in the movie “Remember the Titans.” They star as Joe Finn and Kent Redding, respectively.
Blaine and his family have not yet seen the entire movie, but a trailer is posted at www.herofamilymovie.com.
“When the pre-screening comes here, that’s going to be our first time seeing the whole movie,” Serilda said.
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