'Mighty Macs' to hit screen

Four years ago, Katie Hayek was living the dream.

A former basketball star at Lancaster Catholic High School who hoped to have an acting career, she got a key part in a movie about the Immaculata College basketball team, nicknamed the Mighty Macs, who against all odds won the very first national championship in women's basketball in 1972.

Called "Our Lady of Victory," the film — written, directed and produced by Tim Chambers and executive produced by Pat Croce, former president of the Philadelphia 76ers — was one of those irresistible Cinderella stories, complete with memorable characters, impossible challenges, inspirational moments and an incredible ending.

And it all was true.

In other words, a real crowd-pleaser.

Except the movie couldn't find a distributor.

While Chambers kept working at it, Hayek had to put her dreams on hold.

Well, the dream is back.

Big time.

On Oct. 21, the newly titled "The Mighty Macs" will finally open on hundreds of screens across the country, including here in Lancaster County.

"I never worried that it wasn't going to come out," Hayek, 27, said. "I know I speak for a lot of people. We knew it would come out. Now we're past the point of anxiety and we're on the excitement train."

And that train is going full speed ahead.

Hayek  and other cast members have been going to invitational screenings throughout the country, attended by church and community leaders, to bring some buzz to the film.

She'll be attending an invitation-only screening at Penn Cinema on Wednesday and then will return for a special premiere on Thursday, Oct. 20, a day before the movie opens nationally. The special premiere will be open to the public, and tickets will go on sale Wednesday.

Sony Pictures is distributing the film, which is rated G.

"Tim had an opportunity to get the movie sold to other major studios," Hayek said during a phone call from New York. "But he would have had to compromise the story, and he wouldn't do that. Sony saw the film and instead of saying 'Let it go to DVD,' they said, 'This is a big story, and it deserves more than that.' So they took it on."

The film stars Carla Gugino ("Sucker Punch," "Watchmen," "Spy Kids") as Cathy Rush, the now legendary coach who, back in 1971, was hired to coach the basketball team at Immaculata, a small college in Malvern.

The school had no gymnasium, the Mother Superior (Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn) was not supportive, and Rush wasn't sure she even had enough players for her team.

But Rush lit a fire in her girls.

Hayek plays Trish Sharkey, who is based on real player Theresa Shank Grentz, who became the star of the team.

"She comes from a single-parent household where there's not a lot of money," Hayek said. "She has to make the choice to work in a department store and make some money or pursue what she really wants."

Her character thinks she can do both, but the coach makes her commit and she comes through.

"You'll see me on the sidelines and making some baskets," Hayek said. "There are a few games where it comes down to the last second. I have seen it many times, and I still get goosebumps. It's really a movie for everyone."

Hayek is a 2002 graduate of Catholic High. She scored 1,510 points for the Crusaders before accepting a scholarship to play basketball for the University of Miami.

She always loved theater, but basketball took precedence in high school.

In college, she majored in theater arts, but the same thing happened.

"I couldn't do school plays because of basketball," she said.

So, when she heard about an open casting call in Philadelphia in 2006, she signed up.

"They kept me hanging around," Hayek recalled. "They called me back, and then I had a final audition in New York. But they hadn't found their coach yet."

After about six months, Gugino was cast and the filming began, mostly at Immaculata University.

Everyone expected the movie to get distribution quickly, but even the most promising films can have a hard time of it.

"Getting a movie made is one thing in itself," Hayek said. "Then you bring your independent film to so many film festivals. There are 8,000-plus movies trying to be sold."

Plus, she added, the Screen Actors Guild strike at the time dragged on, it was Chambers' first film and he was not willing to make compromises.

Buoyed by her experiences, Hayek moved to Los Angeles.

"I had the hope of getting more auditions, (but) the jobs were not coming in as much as I would have liked," she said. "I felt like this movie would have been able to propel me forward, but it wasn't out; agents didn't see it. They couldn't judge my performance. It was tough to get a theatrical agent."

After three years, she moved back home to Lancaster, with her parents Bill and Joann, in part because she had to have back surgery for a herniated disc.

"I didn't focus on trying to find an agent," she said. "But now I am going on this adventure with 'Mighty Macs.' It's unreal.

"I am still new to the industry, and it's a dream come true. I have always wanted to do this. And to have this as my first big role is beyond exciting."

jholahan@lnpnews.com