An Interview with Lauren Graham & Josh Duhamel from ‘The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers’

Lauren Graham and Josh Duhamel are nothing short of modern acting icons, courtesy of their work in multiple iconic franchises, including the one they are currently starring in. For Lauren and Josh play Alex Morrow and Gavin Cole in The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, and recently, we had the opportunity to sit down with Lauren and Josh to talk about season two of the show. 
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John Betancourt: I’m curious, as to what it means to both of you to be a part of such an iconic franchise.

Lauren Graham: These are movies I treasured, growing up and a tone and a style that I think are classics for a reason. Because they're not of a certain time, it's… it's always worth telling a story about character and heart. And, you know, what's kind of the most important part of being a good person and through the lens of sports, we kind of have another classic, which is, what is the importance of winning, you know? How do you take a loss and move on? You know, where does fun belong in it all? And, and I just think those are issues that families relate to, because they are so universal. And they're issues that kids relate to, because it's, you know, those first heartbreaks of winning, or losing or wanting something and not getting it… that's like, what builds a person, you know? And so, it means a lot to me to be part of something that has such enduring appeal.

Josh Duhamel: Well, I think, you know, having grown up in North Dakota, rooting for the Minnesota North Stars, anything, Minnesota was what we root for over here. And so, the Mighty Ducks, you know, were formed in Minnesota, and I played a lot of hockey growing up. So, it was always something that's pretty close to my heart, and I loved the movies growing up, and I loved the first season of the show. And so, was a really fun opportunity for me to be a part of something that had been so successful, for so long, a little intimidating, because Emilio did such a beautiful job for all those years. And I knew that I was gonna be compared to that. But this character was different enough that I could sort of make my own way. And so, it was just a really fun opportunity to sort of reimagine some of these themes that Lauren just talked about, and you know, this guy really does represent how to win. It's all about “Win-Win-Win”, be the best you can be excellence, excellence. And, you know, it's not always just about that.

It's about, you know, fully forming as a human, it's about losing, it's about like, building character. And, for my character, especially, it's about becoming a better father. He doesn't realize what he's doing to his son until she sort of shines a light on that. And I think that there's a lot that he sort of has to… his pride is challenged by her and in a good way, because he needed it, he needed somebody like her to come in and sort of slap them out of it. And I think that's what makes it a really fun sort of conflict between the two of us, I don't agree with her philosophy on things. And she definitely doesn't agree with mine. But we find this fun sort of happy middle place towards the end of the season that makes it really, really sort of interesting.

John Betancourt: There are a lot of messages present in the story this season, what is the number one message you hope audiences take away from season two?

Josh Duhamel: Well, I think that… you know, for me, I agree with a lot of the things that my character believes in, because I am, I was always in sports, I love competing, you know? It's a very competitive world out there. So, you got to know how to win, but you also got to know how to lose, because you're definitely going to take “L’s” too, and you'll take a lot more of those probably than you will wins. But, you know, for me, it was really, what I think the overriding theme is that you know, you can have both. You can excel at something, but you can still be humane about it, and you can evolve and be happy outside of what it is that you're trying to excel in. And I think that's really what, you know, my character learns from this, and I think that’s what Lauren and her Mighty Ducks sort of teach me and my institute… is that you know, there are other things in life than just winning and being excellent at something, you know? You have to be a human. At the end of the day.

Lauren Graham: I think the show is really about team spirit this year, it’s about being a part of something. Being a good team player, you know, and realizing that… your individual accomplishment, of course, feels fantastic, but it's also… a person of character is there for their teammate, for their friend, for their mom, for their dad, you know, for whatever. I think I think that's one of the themes that is sort of amplified this year.

This interview has been lightly condensed and edited for clarity.

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