Unstoppable, starring Jennifer Lopez, has a stamp of approval from Anthony Robles, whose story inspired the film, and the audience at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The movie, which earned a standing ovation from the crowd as the credits rolled, follows the real-life story of wrestler Robles, who was born with one leg and won an NCAA national championship in 2011 while competing for Arizona State University. Lopez stars as Robles’ mother, Judy Robles. Anthony served as a producer and is credited as a stunt double for actor Jharrel Jerome, who portrays Anthony.
During the film’s premiere in Toronto on Friday, Sept. 6, Robles tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview about the realities of turning his life’s story into a movie.
“I’d say the most difficult part was just telling the uncomfortable things,” he says. “But I felt like in order to tell my story correctly, and truly impact the most people, they had to know my pain. They had to know the scars that I went through and what I dealt with. I think that was tough for me, but it was also therapeutic.”
Although there were “a couple of things here and there that weren’t able to fit in the film,” Anthony, who gave the film a standing ovation as the credits rolled, tells PEOPLE he’s pleased with “the overall message.”
“We nailed it and this team nailed it,” he says adding, “Which is no matter what you’re wrestling, you can overcome it. You can be unstoppable.”
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Judy also attended the screening, and embraced Lopez after the superstar introduced her to the audience, as seen in video published by The Hollywood Reporter.
During the Q&A, Lopez said Anthony and Judy trusted the filmmakers “with all the information that they could give us and know that we wouldn’t misuse it in any way, but only use it to tell their story in the best and most beautiful way that it deserved,” adding, “Because it is one of the most beautiful, most inspiring stories I think I’ve ever seen on screen.”
Along with Lopez and Jerome, Unstoppable stars Michael Peña, Don Cheadle and Bobby Cannavale. Ben Affleck and longtime friend Matt Damon produced the film under their production company Artists Equity. Damon and his wife Luciana also attended the movie’s premiere in Toronto on Friday.
William Goldenberg — who previously worked with Affleck as an editor on 2023’s Air and 2012’s Argo — made his directorial debut with the movie. It also marks Lopez’s latest movie since Atlas began streaming on Netflix earlier this year.
Unstoppable is in select theaters in December, and coming soon to Prime Video.