The Acting Bug Bites One of Team Members Who Was in ‘Hoosiers’

CHICAGO — Steve Hollar firmly believes that art imitates life.

In l984, he dramatically sank two free throws--the final shots of the game--to give the Warsaw, Ind., high school team the state basketball championship.

Last winter, Hollar played out the same scenario as a member of the Hickory Huskers who also won the state title. And once again, he made the same two free throws. But this time, he already knew the outcome, thanks to a Hollywood script.

Hollar was one of eight young men who were members of the 1954 fictional Husker team in the critically acclaimed movie “Hoosiers.”

Cast as Rade Butcher, the DePauw University sophomore won the role after auditioning against 700 other hopefuls in Indianapolis last year.

“Hoosiers” is based loosely on the David and Goliath struggle of the Milan High School team of 34 years ago which overcame the odds to win the state title. It stars Gene Hackman as the coach, Barbara Hershey as a high school teacher and Dennis Hopper, who was nominated for an Oscar as best-supporting actor.

Hollar says his own real life experiences helped him land a role in the film.

“I think that might have been part of the reason why I got the part of Rade Butcher,” he says. “I had gone through the experience of winning a state championship in real life. But in comparing the two, the movie was nothing like real life. The feeling of winning at Warsaw can’t be repeated.”

He will continue to play basketball for DePauw for now, but admits he’s already changed the course of his future.

“I don’t want it to be the end of Steve Hollar’s acting career,” he said. “I think I want to do another movie. Originally, I was at DePauw to follow in my dad’s footsteps to become a doctor. Now, instead of being a biology major, I changed to communications.”

Hollar admits he had no lofty ambitions when he first auditioned for the movie. He had read about it in the Warsaw paper and went to the tryouts after a DePauw teammate talked him into it.

Coming from a small town in Indiana never afforded Hollar much opportunity to meet screen stars. He says he was thrilled to develop a close relationship with Hackman on the set.

“I think the thing I’ll remember and appreciate the most about working with Mr. Hackman is that he took time out of his busy schedule to come to Indy a week early to give us acting lessons firsthand,” he said.

Hollar was even more impressed with Hopper.

“I think that Dennis took more time on the set to be with us,” he recalled. “He didn’t want to go back to his mobile home. He wanted to hang out with us young guys. He took us out on the town several times.”