For Jay Ellisbuild on chemistry on screen with Racing point Costar Kate Hudson was nothing less than a Dunk Slam.

“Kate, first of all, he is a person so easy to be there,” said Ellis, 43 years old US Weekly While promoting his Creative Spirit challenge for budding filmmakers with the Rabbit Hole distillery. “She is funny, she is kind, she is a bit intelligent. You get all the sides of it at the same time. In addition, she walks, singing all the time. She serenade you with that voice similar to a mermaid. It’s beautiful.

The duo plays colleagues on the sports drama, which will be presented on Netflix on Thursday, September 27. Ellis represents Jay Brown, head coach of the NBA the Los Angeles Waves. Hudson, meanwhile, plays Isla Gordon: a former girl who finds herself in the role of team president when his older brother Cam (Justin Theroux) goes towards rehabilitation to take care of his drug addiction. Together, they are responsible for proving that the waves have a “winning list” with the group of Hodge-Podge players they assembled.

Ellis said that even if he had no “expectations” to work with Hudson, he knew that the couple would have several scenes together – and was happy to discover how much they gelled as an actor.

“There are just people you click with. I am lucky to have worked with someone like Kate, “he continued. “I feel like I am acting, it is constantly gifts to someone. I give you a gift and then you react there, then you offer me a gift and we go and come. And I think that when you are locked up, it’s magic and you create something to whom we hope that people feel and really relate…. And that worked with Kate.

While Hudson featured was clearly a high point to go to work on the series, Ellis was also delighted to bring a large part of himself to the role – other than his first name – using her expertise. While attending Concordia University in Portland, Oregon, the actor was a member of the basketball team, graduated Suma Cum Laude and was president of the student body.

“It’s crazy that I was able to bring as much of my personal life to a role every day. It was a bit wild, ”said Ellis We At Racing point First in Los Angeles earlier this month. “It definitely brought me back to that time, which was very fun of course. It was great. I thought of my teammates. I thought of injuries, guys who had injured himself. I thought of my own selfishness or my ambition to want to be the best player on my team. I thought of all these things and what it relates. »»

Ellis added that there were also differences compared to her own basketball career, which has made an “interesting experience”. He said We: “I am a coach in the series, I had to speak to these young players. And [my character is] Only also a year or two withdrawn from playing [himself]. “”

This competitive spirit that Racing point The attacks, Ellis said, also felt relatable. “I find myself constantly wanting to best want the last thing or to push a little further,” he explained about his own competitive nature, that he says that he mainly directs to himself. “It could be a training in a role at my next take, to be honest with you, when I’m on the set. Part of that, I think, live in me in me. And I think that another part of it was just conditioned by sport. »»

Perhaps Ellis’ love for competition will lend itself useful when he serves as a mentor to a filmmaker in the making for his Creative Spirit challenge with Rabbit Tole Distillery. The partnership presents an exclusive competition for budding filmmakers and the launch of an outing of whiskey in limited edition.

“I have already said it and I will say it until I can no longer say: the filmmakers of tomorrow make short films today,” said Ellis about her decision to associate with Rabbit Hole “they carry out their first projects today. And I think that if we do not find a way to support emerging artists, then we are only injured in the long term. … So, I think that any opportunity we have get out And to help people start and be able to tell their story and from their point of view is something that we should do as an artists.

Ellis added that he particularly likes to work with societies like Rabbit Hole because of the quantity of “supporting the arts” and “realizing the importance of narration in our culture as a whole”.

This year, Rabbit Hole shows that the unwavering support by teaming up with Ellis to invite emerging filmmakers to participate in the Creative Spirits challenge by submitting a video sharing their story and why they deserve to win. The winner of the Grand Prix will receive a canon camera of professional quality and a head-to-face mentoring session with Ellis, while three finalists will also receive professional quality canon cameras. A collaborative whiskey version will follow in the spring of 2025.

Ellis is excited to direct an emerging creative, but just hopes that the lucky winner is ready to go to business.

“There is a whole program for these guys. They will fall asleep. I go, slap the sovereign and wake them up, and we will start again. There will be a pop quiz, “he joked. “You know, I think there is so much to be able to do a career by doing this. Obviously, there is passion, there is creativity, there is a point of view in your own narration, [but] There is [also] The marketing aspect of this one, there is the aspect of self-confidence, there is the know-how of writing, the craft of cinema, the know-how to be able to speak to the actors and to direct While knowing the lighting and the lenses of the camera and all these things. So I really hope that if I am not able to give them everything they are looking for in terms of questions, advice or advice. I want to be able to point them in one direction. »»

For Ellis, knowledge is power. “I really believe in information and I really believe that nobody has the answer,” he said WeBefore adding laughing: “I really hope that who is this poor winner, I really hope they will leave with the understanding of their story. And that we want their films in the world. »»

Racing point First on Netflix on Thursday, February 27.