And it worked.
The 16-year-old homeschooler landed a role in the movie “The Blind Side” as a football player following an audition in Atlanta.
“I love the attention, meeting people and the whole experience (acting),” explained Talley.
The movie was written and directed by John Lee Hancock, about Michael Oher, who excels in football and later becomes an offensive lineman for the Baltimore Ravens NFL football team. It is the basis of a 2006 book “The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game” by Michael Lewis.
The cast includes Quinton Aaron, Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw, and several prominent college coaches.
Meeting Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban (spelling is correct) and talking with him between shots on the sidelines was one of the perks of playing the role of a football player.
“Nick Saban is awesome,” said Talley. “He’s not as bad as everyone says he is, and we were cutting up and joking.”
In the movie, Talley plays the position of wide receiver, which is the same position he played in school football, and in another scene he acts as a lacrosse player.
When Sandra Bullock talks with Oher on the football field, telling him to protect his quar-terback’s blind side, Talley’s helmet can be seen in background near the quarterback. This clip has been shown in the movie trailer clip.
“It’s basically like playing high school football,” said Talley of his role. “We did drills like we would do in a camp and the hits really knocked you down.”
The movie was filmed this summer at Westminster High School in Atlanta.
The only downside was a filming agreement that he wouldn’t play college football or accept a college football scholarship, said Talley.
At this time, Talley is working on finding an agent and hopes to pursue additional acting roles in movies.
“It was a good experience,” said Talley.
Talley and his family are hoping for an invitation to see the premiere of the film with the movie cast.
“We are going to see the movie together,” said mom Kenni Durussell.
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