Maybe there were other reasons — non-baseball reasons — that Andre Ethier took the Dodgers’ starting center fielder job away from Matt Kemp recently.
Presumably, Kemp’s defensive gaffes in center against the Mets were the reason for his five-game benching. But it may have been another performance while the Dodgers were in New York that swayed manager Don Mattingly. A stage performance by Ethier in Point Break Live.
Ethier took the stage as Johnny Utah in the live stage production of Kathryn Bigelow’s 1991 film. The gimmick of this recurring show — originally staged in Los Angeles, but also now running in New York — is that someone is selected from the audience every night to play the role of Utah, portrayed on film by Keanu Reeves.
A remake of Point Break is actually being developed, but Utah has already been cast. He’ll be played by Luke Bracey, last seen as Cobra Commander in G.I. Joe: Retaliation.
But the film’s producers might want to reconsider that choice after watching this video of Ethier. They already recast Bodhi (originally played by Patrick Swayze), with Gerard Butler dropping out and Edgar Ramirez replacing him. Why not one more casting change?
Mattingly could surely offer some thoughts on replacing his original starter with Ethier, if the producers asked for input.
