The young actress stars in a '70s coming of age tale that will join 'Clemente' doc as highlights of the Three Rivers Film Festival
Photo Credit: Associated Press
Growing up in Ben Avon, actress Sophie Guest, 19, had certainly heard about Roberto Clemente, the Pittsburgh Pirates legendary right fielder. And soon, a very Pittsburgh artistic endeavor featuring a story based in his shadow, one she started as a preteen, will finally debut on her home field.
Guest stars in the “The Great One,” a “Sandlot”-esque coming of age story that will premiere Nov. 14 at Downtown’s Harris Theater as part of the Three Rivers Film Festival before being shown again at 4 p.m. Nov. 16 at The Lindsay Theater in Sewickley. It will also be available to watch virtually Nov. 14-24.
And it won’t be the only Clemente-centric offering. Also screening during the festival is “Clemente,” a documentary made by Mt. Lebanon-based filmmaker David Altrogge and executive-produced by Clemente’s sons, Luis, Roberto Jr. and Roberto Enrique Clemente.
That film, which premiered in March as part of the South by Southwest film festival in Austin, Texas, will screen at 7 p.m. Nov. 13 at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center in Downtown. Tickets are available at filmpittsburgh.org.
Guest, a sophomore at Boston University majoring in film, got an early start in the entertainment industry. Her first film was “Jack Reacher” (2012), followed by “The Fault in Our Stars” (2014), “Fatal Defense” (2017), “The Good Nanny” (2017) and the 2021 Amazon horror series “Them.”
Shot entirely in Pittsburgh, her latest work in “The Great One,” tells the story of award-winning sportswriter Molly O’Brien (Justine Ezarik) returning to her hometown for the funeral of a childhood friend.
Guest plays the younger version of Molly, who she describes as the “average tomboy Pittsburgh girl” obsessed with the 1970s Pirates and their Hall of Fame right fielder.
“She loves sports, she loves hanging out with her friends, she loves anything Pittsburgh-related,” she said. “Kind of like a diehard epitome of Pittsburgh sports fans, specifically the Pirates. A lot about her character focuses on that.”
The film, which also stars Lexi Collins, Brendan Griffin and Cara Ronzetti, hearkens back to the height of Clemente’s baseball career in Pittsburgh using memorabilia and photos from the Clemente Museum in Lawrenceville, said David Case, founder and CEO of Production Masters Inc. in Pittsburgh.
“The Great One” began production in the mid-2010s, when Guest was still a preteen. Since she is a Pittsburgh sports fan herself, it wasn’t hard to get into character.
“I think I did definitely tap into my more of a tomboy side because I’m kind of a girly girl,” she explained. “Whenever I was preparing for the role, I had to ask one of the kids in my neighborhood to throw a baseball with me so I wouldn’t look stupid whenever I was throwing the baseball in the film.”
As an adult, she said the coming-of-age themes in “The Great One” reflect her experience during the production of the movie.
Guest says she remembers being interviewed about the movie in middle school. The school played the interview for her classmates, who were “super excited” about her role.
Her college friends are having similar reactions to her middle school peers — something she said feels like “worlds colliding.”
“Looking back, it took a lot of morphing years in my life and I was becoming a young woman and the person I’m supposed to be,” she said. “So seeing it brought to life finally is a honestly a very full-circle moment for me.”
Case said “The Great One” experienced delays in production due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the death of the film’s writer and director, Russ Babines, in the fall of 2019.
It’s a “privilege” to present the film to audiences at the Three Rivers Film Festival in memory and honor of Babines, said Brian Hartman, a producer at PMI Films.
Case said it’s particularly exciting to recognize everyone who contributed to the film at the festival and allow everyone to finally see the film.
“I’m really excited to show what I had spent a lot of my time on as a young girl,” Guest said.
“I’m excited for his story to finally come to life. And I’m excited to be able to share, hopefully, a nostalgic story for a lot of people, specifically from Pittsburgh, because that’s kind of what it’s supposed to be.”
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