“Just straight up football.”  That was Trinity 2007 alum Nick Melillo’s description of his turn as a stunt double in the Hollywood football drama “When the Game Stands Tall.” The movie is the true story of De La Salle High School football teams led by Bob Ladouceur that won a national record 151 consecutive games from 1992 to 2003.

Last May Melillo got a call from good friend Dicky Lyons. “I played with him at Kentucky,” Melillo said. “He was a senior when I was a freshman there, and he kind of took me under his wing, playing wide receiver. We just developed a relationship and have been good friends ever since.”

Lyons asked Melillo if he wanted to be a stunt double in a football movie. Melillo said yes, and the next day he was on a plane to New Orleans.  When Melillo’s parents heard he was going to work on a movie, “they thought I was lying to them at first. They thought it was a good joke, but they were blown away because I’ve never done any acting, never thought of that really, never even dreamed of doing something like this. They were just as blown away as I was.”

Of the experience, Melillo said, “It was amazing. I mean it’s football, but the plays are scripted. It’s a little bit different. A football play takes about seven seconds on average, and a scene there takes about two to two and a half hours to film one play.”

Melillo said it takes that long because the camera changes angles many times to film one play.  The brutality of the game is the same — if not more — since plays must be shot multiple times.

Melillo said, “You get hit in the same spot every single time. So 10 takes later you’re gonna be pretty beat up. But it was unbelievable, that’s for sure.”

The filming of “When the Game Stands Tall” took place in New Orleans, filming at three different high schools from May till July.

Melillo described the normal shooting day: “We had to be on set for breakfast at 7. (Then) we would go over all the scenes we were going to shoot, kind of go through a walk-through almost like before a game. Then we would shoot for about four straight hours — usually tried to get two plays done before lunch.”

After lunch they would try to get two to three more plays done and that was it for the day.

Training was definitely a big part of Melillo’s preparation for this role.

“Honestly I had to lose weight to look like the actor, so I lost about 25 to 30 pounds,” Melillo said. “I worked out as usual, did more high reps than heavy weight to get in the same shape as the actor.”

Melillo’s primary goal was to look like Alexander Ludwig, who plays the role of star running back Chris Ryan. As depicted in the movie, Ryan “attempts to break the state record for most touchdowns scored in a career. A lot of the hype in the movie revolves around that.” Ryan has to deal with the conflict between his dad wanting him to break the record versus the team’s success.

Melillo said being a stunt double has changed his view of how action and true-story movies are made.

He said, “Oh, wow. It definitely makes me pay more attention to the little things. I can pick up on some mess-ups now. I have more respect for actors and stunt men, that’s for sure. There’s a lot more to it than what you think when you sit down and watch a movie.

“True stories definitely mean a lot more because I think it allows the actors to get into that role. They get to talk to the people. Jim Caviezel actually got to talk to Bob Ladouceur. I feel it makes their job easier and makes the film more genuine.”

Of “shining moments” while filming,  Melillo cited “getting to sit down and eat lunch with (actor) Michael Chiklis–that was pretty interesting. He is a funny guy. It was neat to sit down with these big-time actors, being around them in their element, just talking to them like they’re a normal person.”

Melillo was pleased with the way the film turned out. He said, “I went and saw the film, and it’s awesome; getting to be a part of something like that is a great experience.”