The story of the 1972 Immaculata College girl’s championship basketball team is inspiring – and Hoboken resident Margaret Ann Florence helps tell the story in the new film “The Mighty Macs” in theatres everywhere.
Florence, originally from Charleston, S.C., moved to Hoboken in 2005 after she spent four years living in Manhattan.
“I needed to be close to the city for auditions and I didn’t know anything about New Jersey,” Florence said. “But we just drove out here one day on a whim and thought Hoboken was really cute. It was close to the city, we could afford it, and it was kind of a fluke thing, but we love it here.”
Florence plays the part of Rosemary Keenan, the point guard of the basketball team that goes on to win the national championship.
“Originally I had a plotline that my character was considering becoming a nun,” Florence said. “She debates whether or not to take this path in life. But the movie is all about the girls coming together as friends and how they grow as a team in their own ways.”
The film was shot in Pennsylvania near Philadelphia.
“The director [Tim Chambers] is from there so we had access to great locations,” she said. To add to a unique 1972 feel, the movie was shot partly in underground gyms.
Before filming began, the director needed to know that his actresses could play ball. Luckily for Florence, she played four years of varsity basketball.
“That part of the story was no problem,” she said. “I played the point guard, so you’ll see me dribbling a lot.”
But for everyone else, the basketball part might not have been so easy.
“I did an audition and then it was months later before I heard anything else,” Florence said. “But I had to go to a basketball court in the West Village and really play to show the director I knew what I was doing.”
Two weeks before the filming began, the actresses took part in what Florence describes as “a basketball boot camp.”
“A trainer guided us through all the basketball scenes,” Florence said. “But before the movie filmed it was like a basketball team going to camp; which was fun. We lived in dorms on campus, and it was a real bonding experience.”
Although the movie was released on Oct. 21 in theatres, the film was actually filmed about three years ago, and it premiered in the 2009 Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis, Ind.
“It’s an independent film, so it took some time to get to where it is with the recession and everything else going on,” Florence said.
Florence said the film is for the whole family.
“It’s a great family film,” she said. “It’s a real message about women in that time that became their own success story. It’s not only the story of the coach deciding she wants to be more than a housewife, but also that she’s inspiring the girls to be what they want to be in life. Men and women will enjoy it; it’s a sports film and it’s a great underdog story.”
In addition to The Mighty Macs, Florence has been in films such as “My Super Ex- Girlfriend” with Luke Wilson and Uma Thurman, as well as episodes of “Nurse Jackie” and “Law & Order.”
Her latest role was in a short film entitled “Condemned” which recently finished filming.
Florence has been acting since she was a child as a part of the Charlestown Youth Company in South Carolina.
“I always wanted to do this and never anything else,” she said.
For more about Florence, visit http://www.margaretanneflorence.com/.
Ray Smith may be reached at RSmith@hudsonreporter.com
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