
Curley: I would teach a normal 8 to 3 and then I would drive to my old college about 40 minutes away, and I would train with the girls there with my old gymnastics coach, and then drive back home and grade all the papers. I got a call from Jessica and she’s like ‘You got it.’ And she kind of jokingly said, ‘Please don't ever email me again.’ I had written her so many times.When Bendinger called Peregrym to let her know that she had gotten the role of Haley, it wasn’t a moment of unalloyed joy the way that it was for Curley.Peregrym: I was outside in the alley at the vet, having just the worst day. My puppy was hit by a van. I had to leave for a second to take the call and Jessica tells me that I got the movie and I was just beside myself, like what’s happening in my life right now? Just the fullest experience of the best news and the worst news at the same time.I saw Isabelle’s body and was like, I’m fucked. How am I supposed to look like that? She was the strongest person I’d ever seen.
Bridges and Peregrym in a still from the movie. Photo courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures
Lengies, Severino and Peregrym. Photo courtesy Donagene Jones
Peregrym: I would see these seven year olds in the gym who could just kick my ass in any of these things. I’m watching them just in awe of their discipline, of their ability, of the bravery to do what they’re doing. After watching them, training alongside these kids, and then going to a competition and seeing them at such a young age deal with that intensity, I still don’t know how I feel about it.Pat Warren, gymnastics coach: Those kids were so wonderful to work with but they were so blown away with the conditioning that we had to do. We did an hour conditioning a day. I said, ‘Girls, you’re not going to look like gymnasts, you’re not going to get through this mess if we don’t condition.’For arms, we did chin pullovers on bars, like when you pick yourself up [as in a chin up] and then you pull [your hips up and] over. Handstand presses. Well, they couldn’t do a press. So we had them put their hands down, stand on their feet, jump to a handstand and then try to come back down again to a [seated] straddle. That was a killer, trying to get them to do fricking leg lifts [hanging from a wooden bar against the wall]. We had to spot them. We said, ‘Just pull your legs at least to horizontal.’This is the first and only time that I went through such intense training. I literally lived on Aleve.
Lengies, stunt double Alicia Saari—who also appeared as Lacey in the movie—and Peregrym. Photo courtesy Donagene Jones
Severino and Bridges. Image courtesy Isabelle Severino
Lengies, Peregrym and Saari. Photo courtesy of Donagene Jones
Bendinger and Curley on set. Photo courtesy of Jessica Bendinger
Lengies, Jones and Peregrym. Photo courtesy Donagene Jones
Bendinger: [Peregrym] was dancing to “Like That” by Memphis Bleek. The song we were listening to for the playback for her while she was moving was completely different [than what was played in the movie]. Peregrym: I remember feeling like, ‘Whoa, well, this is so weird, because it was a completely different song that I was dancing to versus what was there.’ The real finale, however, came when Tricia Skilken (who was played by former elite gymnast Tarah Paige), the only gymnast not on board with the whole scratching plan, actually ended up joining the rest of the gymnasts in solidarity and scratching. Bendinger: So when she finally decides to do the scratch at the end, it was very mild and Gail [Lyon] was like, you have to have her do it stronger. She was doing the bra strap thing but it was too subtle. Thank god Tarah had had enough of those mount and dismount salutes in her bones, that she was able to really do that. That was a big part of the ending that was new.Just last week, we had a guest star come in and she just came up to me and whispered, ‘Did you really do gymnastics?’
Peregyrm, Lengies and Alicia Saari. Photo courtesy Donagene Jones
Gail Lyon, Maddy Curley, Missy Peregrym, Jeff Bridges, Vanessa Lengies, Jessica Bendinger and Nikki SooHoo pose at a special screening of 'Stick It' on April 17, 2006 in LA. Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images