Original-Cin Q&A: Youngblood Actor Ashton James on Slapshots and Remakes

By Bonnie Laufer

Youngblood is a highly anticipated sports drama that reimagines the cult classic hockey film of the 1980s for a modern audience.

Directed by Hubert Davis and starring Ashton James, the movie follows Dean Youngblood, a talented but volatile junior hockey player with NHL dreams who must confront not only on-ice rivals, but the personal challenges shaped by his upbringing and ambition.

Youngblood premiered to strong audience and critical buzz at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. We caught up with James to talk about working on the film. The film opens in theatres March 6.

ORIGINAL-CIN: What a compelling performance. Given the physical and mental aspects of playing Dean Youngblood, was it a huge challenge for you?

ASHTON JAMES: It was a lot of work. I had the opportunity to train and live with the script for almost four years. Initially, it was supposed to be three months but then Charles Officer, our first director on the project, sadly passed.

O-C: What a tragedy losing him at such a young age. What was it like as a young actor ready to work with one director and this tragedy happens and you've got to switch lanes to work with someone new?

AJ: I hadn't gotten the job yet. I was in process but I'm like, ‘I'm gonna get this job so I'm going to prep and move through the space like I have the job.’ I heard that there was a screening at TIFF for a film called Black Ice directed by Hubert Davis. The film focuses on the history of anti-Black racism in hockey and the contributions of Black players to the sport so I thought I should probably see that, because that'll probably be helpful for my process.

Again, I hadn't had the job yet, but I went to the screening and at the end, Hubert was on stage, and his producer called out to someone in the audience saying, without this person this film wouldn't have happened. Someone from the audience said, ‘I wouldn't miss it for the world’ and that person was Charles Officer. That was the last time that I saw Charles, and the first time I was introduced to Hubert. So, in some ways I felt connected to the project. When I got confirmed to play Dean, Hubert was always there and he just took me. He allowed me to bring everything. He didn't want me to ignore the work that I had done with Charles. So that was really helpful.

O-C: The film is a reimagining of the 1986 classic. While there are some similarities, this one is different in so many ways. Was it important for you to watch the original film, or did you feel like you were telling your own story?

AJ: I didn't initially even know that this was a remake. When I was called back to be considered for the role of Dean, Charles told me it was a remake, or reimagining of the original film. I didn’t want to sound ignorant, so I said, ‘Of course, I know that.’ And as soon as I could, I watched it. Then I watched it again the day before we started filming. You're so correct that these characters, while they are the same, they are so different. I think we're fleshing out the experience a bit more. I wanted to honour what Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, and Keanu Reeves did but also make it our own. Hopefully, subconsciously that's in my body, but at the same time we’re telling a new story. I didn't feel like I needed to attach to it too much.

O-C: The film really gets into the meat-and-potatoes of the hockey culture. Poor Dean, my heart really did go out to him because of the relationship with his father. He had good intentions, but was so hard on him, which translated into this aggressive kid who was taught to fight his opponent. How do you jump into a character like this because I don't believe that you're anything like that.

AJ: Maybe, I'm acting right now (laughs). Dean has this internal conflict, but he also has these external conflicts and how he moves through space. I just thought I've had that experience in my life where I'm trying to figure out who I am and if the person I am is the person I am because of me or is it from my parents and what they've taught me? Is it because of the community that raised me and everything that I've learned?

I think for Dean, it was the same experience where you just have to go, ‘This is what I know.’ Like you mentioned, his dad very early on in the movie tells him, ‘Don't hesitate when someone steps to you,’ which then he doesn't. He makes decisions on a dime, which aren't always the best decisions. He has to learn for himself, if that's something that is his, or if it's his dad's, and how he balances that and tries to move through the world. It was about exploring that 100 percent.

O-C: He definitely has a tough conflict, especially as a young kid trying to get into the NHL.

AJ: His dad is acting out of love and Dean has to feel that, otherwise he will just immediately back away from it. His dad only knows, like he says in the film, you can only teach what you know and if he hasn't had a different experience where he learned something, then it's difficult for him to teach anything else.

O-C: Let's talk about Blair Underwood who plays your dad. What do you as a young actor take from working with a guy like that? How open was he to being collaborative?

AJ: He was so open. I remember our very first day, he came up to me. He's like, ‘Hey, are you good with physicality? Is it good if I touch you?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, of course.’ And I thought he was about to really rough me up. So, I'm prepping myself, and he comes up to me, and he's smiling, and he softly puts his hand on my shoulder. And I was like, ‘Oh, dad.’ And then he flipped on a dime, and he just turned and I was like, ‘Oh my goodness. What just happened?’

He was gracious with his time during the film and even after we finished the shoot. If I have questions about things that are happening for me inside the work and outside the work, I'll call him for advice. I've been saying I couldn't say a bad thing about him if someone paid me to, because there's nothing bad to say.

O-C: I want to ask you about your prep in terms of skating and playing hockey but also the fact that we don't see a lot of young Black hockey players on screen. In a sense you’re a role model of sorts.

AJ: Thankfully the production put me in training at In-Tech High Performance with Derrell Levy. I trained with a bunch of great people at that gym, and a lot of young Black players were in pursuit of making it to the NHL or just any professional sport. It was helpful to have those conversations and see how they're moving through that space, because like you said, it's not something that we often see.

It’s like the show Heated Rivalry. We don't often see gay hockey players. It’s wonderful to see these characters portrayed and just and let them breathe and be fully themselves. So in the same way that I think that show was successful in bringing people to understand that I think it's even less about specificity in terms of representation, when it comes to saying that young Black boys and girls are then going to go play hockey, but it just allows them to see themselves in a full weight to go, ‘That's something I could do, and that's something that allows me to see myself in a three dimensional way, as opposed to a two dimensional way.’

O-C: Just to wrap it up, you had such a great breakout in film Boxcutter. In Youngblood, there's a scene where Dean must do karaoke. What's more difficult: karaoke or playing hockey?

AJ: (Laughs) Playing hockey but I will say that doing the karaoke was difficult, especially in that scene. I remember we were trying to find a song for that scene for the longest while, and they just kept sending me options. I really didn’t want to do it, didn’t want to embarrass myself in front of people. Then I had to figure out, ‘Was Dean a good singer?’ I had to think about all these different things, but fun fact, all of the guys in that scene, we took a shot before we started doing it, which I’m not going to lie, really helped! It was tough but we got through it!