Sean Penn Calls the ‘Electricity’ of ‘September 5’ Ensemble Cast ‘Just Gold’

The historical weight of broadcast journalism drama “September 5” was carried by a star-studded ensemble cast, which, according to producer Sean Penn, is the whole reason why the film works.

Penn produced the film that captures the decisive moment that forever changed media coverage during the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics. “September 5” follows an American sports broadcasting team that had to quickly adapt from sports reporting to live coverage of the Israeli athletes being taken hostage. The film is an English-language German and U.S. co-production, and includes real archive footage with recreated scenes to have a documentary style.

“‘September 5’ is the true story of a sports television crew that had to make the switch from sports to news on that day,” writer/director/producer Tim Fehlbaum said in a featurette exclusive to IndieWire. “We wanted to have very unique casting.”

And producer Penn couldn’t agree more: “It’s a tremendous group of actors,” he said. “When there’s electricity in an ensemble, that collaborative energy, it’s just gold.”

Writer/director Fehlbaum further specified that Peter Sarsgaard, who portrays legendary TV executive and head of NBC Sports Roone Arledge, set the bar high for his peers.

Co-star John Magaro agreed, saying, “Peter is curious and he really pushes each actor to rise to the next level.”

Sarsgaard noted that he joined the historical film to be part of the “genuine ensemble” that also included Leonie Benesch and Ben Chaplin.

“Whenever Tim said ‘Action,’ there was an electricity in the room,” actress Benesch added. “I felt like I got to learn something from everyone.”

Prep work for the feature ranged from entering real-life news rooms alongside the broadcasters whose work was being fictionalized onscreen; “Past Lives” star Magaro explained how the real Geoffrey Mason, who he portrays in the film, gave him access to sports broadcast rooms so he could understand the rush of leading a real news team live on-air.

Check out the full ensemble featurette below to learn more about the process of capturing the infamous news broadcast. Read writer/director Tim Fehlbaum’s interview with IndieWire’s Anne Thompson here.

“September 5” opens wide in theaters January 17 from Paramount.