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Throughout the course of the three-and-a-half decades that he has been active in the entertainment industry as an actor, Tobey Maguire has made sure to nail pretty much every single role that came his way. From his iconic web-slinging friendly neighborhood Spider-Man to his role as a jockey, he has shown that he can deliver immaculately, irrespective of whatever the role requires of him.
Not only does he perfectly embody the characters bestowed upon him, but he also makes sure to learn throughout the process. That said, while making his $148 million movie on jockeys,Seabiscuit, Maguire was also met with a harsh realization about the sport. And while this realization was jarring, it also helped instill a feeling of deep admiration in him for jockeys as well.
SeabiscuitMade Tobey Maguire Realize the Harsh Reality of Being a Jockey
Back in 2003, a year after bulking up to play Peter Parker in his 2002 masterpieceSpider-Man,Tobey Maguirehad to considerably skin down to embody a jockey forSeabiscuit. This, of course, required him to cut down on his calories and sugar—which was anything but easy—and the actor had to undergo some seriously severe training to get in shape for the role.
But while that was that, what was harder was the realization that, even after working so arduously, a jockey’s job was incredibly demanding and still didn’t pay him back handsomely if he wasn’t in the top 10 percent. As Maguire admitted in an interview withIGN:
Oh, it’s definitely more challenging and demanding to be a jockey. 100 percent. Also, there’s only 10 percent of them that make a good living.
Surprisingly enough, this situation is true with professional athletes as well. As theBrothersstar continued to reveal:
You look at other professional sports and even your 10th or 11th guy on the bench in basketball is making a really good living. Jockeys, if you’re not in the top 10 percent, you’re not making money. So, in that, it’s tough.
That’s not all. Whileworking so hard for itis one thing, what further makes this job tough is the pressure of being in the perfect shape for it. As per Maguire:
These guys are riding a lot of times hungry or dehydrated or whatever they have to do. Some of them maybe are naturally in the right weight category, but a lot of them are probably struggling to get below 115 every race. So, it’s nonstop. It’s constant.
Of course, investing so much time, effort, and money into something and getting the bare minimum back isn’t something a lot of people would want. That said, even Maguire agrees that he wouldn’t want to be a jockey. At the same time, he also acknowledgedjust how much respect they deserve, going as far as calling them“warriors.”
Tobey Maguire Believes Jockeys are “Warriors”
During the same interview, Tobey Maguire went on to share his own experience of playing a jockey. He mentioned the first time he“actually got up in the stirrups and did a bit of a gallop on a racehorse, and also just did some posting,”he was left with his legs feeling like“noodles”in a couple of minutes, claiming,“I could barely stand up…”
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All of this, of course,increased the respect ofjockeys in the actor’s eyes. If anything, he tremendously heaped praise on the people invested in the sport, saying:
It’s not something that I would want to do. I did not realize what kind of athletes jockeys are. I mean, they are just warriors, these guys.
Even though he claims he wouldn’t take this on as a profession, Tobey Maguire did an incredibly commendable job as a jockey in the 2003 film that made $148.7 million on its budget of $86 million (viaThe Numbers), making it one of his best works to date, nonetheless, with a 78% approval score on theTomatometer.
You can watch Seabiscuit on Prime Video.
Mahin Sultan
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2478
Mahin Sultan is a Senior Writer at FandomWire, where she brings a fresh perspective to entertainment news. Having been in the field for over 3 years now, she has already written more than 2,000 articles across a variety of niches, from entertainment to health and fashion. This diverse experience has allowed her to quickly build a solid foundation and a deep understanding of the industry.
