'Hometown Hero' Anthony Sadler ready to work with Hollywood legend
Sadler to graduate from Sacramento State
Updated: 6:19 PM PDT May 18, 2017
Vicki Gonzalez
WEBVTT ♪MORE THAN 5000 SACRAMENTO STATESTUDENTS ARE COUNTING DOWN THEHOURS TO GRADUATION.>> IT IS PRETTY SURREAL.WITH HIS COLLEGE EXPERIENCETAKING A EXTRAORDINARY DETOUR.>> IT IS KIND OF WEIRD, IF YOULOOK BACK ON IT SEEMS LIKE IT ISQUICK, AT THE SAME TIME IT SEEMSLIKE IT IS ON 10 LIFETIMES.>> IN 2015, HE AND HIS CHILDHOODFRIEND ARE RESPONSIBLE FORSUCCESSFULLY MORNING A TERRORISTATTACK ON A FRENCH DRAIN.TACKLING AND TYING UP THE GUNMANOF FOUR KILLING PASSENGERS.>> I AM IT'S REALLY GRATEFULTHAT IT HAPPENED IN THE WAY ITHAPPENED.>> HERE IT WAS HIM IMMEDIATELYCATAPULTING THEM INTO THESPOTLIGHT.>> MY FIRST ONE WAS JIMMY FALLONAND I KNEW HE WOULD BE COOL.A HOMETOWN HERO AND A PARADE,A BOOK.HE TELLS U WRITING - WRITINGTHE TRAIN TO PARIS WAS THIRDUNIT.>> IT IS THE FIRST CHANCE I GETTO REFLECT ABOUT HOW WE FELTABOUT IT.>> A TRUE STORY NOW BECOMING AMOTION PICTURE DIRECTED LIKECLINT EASTWOOD.>> THAT INSTEAD OF THE BIG THINGBETWEEN THE THREE OF US, WHO ISGOING TO PLAY US IN THE MOVIE.>> THE EXTRACURRICULARACTIVITI INCLUDE A HOLLYWOODMOVIE.>> IT IS A BLESSING THAT IT ISSTILL RELEVANT AND THE FACT THAT
"Hometown Hero" Anthony Sadler will soon become a Sacramento State graduate. The 24-year-old was among a trio who thwarted a terror attack on a French train in August 2015. Sadler, Spencer Stone and Alek Skarlatos took down a heavily armed gunman on the train from Amsterdam to Paris. Their heroic actions were written into the book "The 15:17 to Paris," which is now being made into a motion picture directed by Clint Eastwood. KCRA caught up with Sadler right before his last final, as he was counting down to the degree in kinesiology he will receive Saturday at the Golden 1 Center. Q: Are you excited about graduating? SADLER: It's a surreal feeling, because I've just been in school for so long, and I took a couple breaks for the incidences that happened. It's been pretty crazy actually, just with the news of the movie coming out and trying to finish out my senior year. It's been a challenge but I'm glad that we're here now. Sac State is everything to me. Q: How have the past two years been for you? SADLER: It's kind of weird. If you look back on it, it feels like it's gone by quickly. But at the same time, it feels like we've lived 10 lifetimes in that short two years because so much has happened. I definitely feel like it's flown by, but we are grateful for all of the experiences we've had along the way. They last a lifetime. Q: How did this experience shape you as a person? SADLER: It changed me completely, really, but at the same time I still feel like I'm me. We just matured a lot in the past two years. It just opened up my world -- made it, like, bigger. Q: What sticks out most to you? SADLER: Writing a book. We never thought we would do that before this happened. And then once it actually came out, and was printed in stores, it was a pretty cool feeling. That was actually good therapy for us, because we were on such a whirlwind for the first few months that having the book was actually our first chance that we actually got to sit down to reflect about how we felt. Q: What brought Clint Eastwood into the picture? SADLER: (He) read the book and he was really interested in it, so he decided to pick it up on a movie. We've met him a few times, actually. He's just a legend of a guy, like, really cool guy in person. And we're really confident he wants to do the story right, just like he does any other movie, so we're pretty excited for that. Q: The three of you are consultants for the movie, correct? SADLER: Yeah, it's an exciting time. It's in the initial process right now, so we're just trying to dive in. The big thing between the three of us is who's going to play us in a movie. Q: Who would you like to see play you? SADLER: Michael B. Jordan or Keith Powers. Powers is from Sacramento, so that would be cool to see another Sacramento kid in it. Q: Have you been back to Europe? SADLER: Yeah, we've been back probably two or three times -- for the one-year anniversary, and we got to reunite with some people on the train. And then actually just came back a couple weeks ago from Europe. It's kind of like conquering it to go back over and over again. I feel like we'll go back in the future as well. Q: Do you look back on that day differently now? SADLER: No, I'm just extremely thankful that it happened in the way that it happened -- just the fact that nobody got seriously hurt or there was loss of life. I'm just thankful that we're able to tell a story today and that people still resonate with it.
"Hometown Hero" Anthony Sadler will soon become a Sacramento State graduate.
The 24-year-old was among a trio who thwarted a terror attack on a French train in August 2015. Sadler, Spencer Stone and Alek Skarlatos took down a heavily armed gunman on the train from Amsterdam to Paris.
Their heroic actions were written into the book "The 15:17 to Paris," which is now being made into a motion picture directed by Clint Eastwood.
KCRA caught up with Sadler right before his last final, as he was counting down to the degree in kinesiology he will receive Saturday at the Golden 1 Center.
Q: Are you excited about graduating?
SADLER: It's a surreal feeling, because I've just been in school for so long, and I took a couple breaks for the incidences that happened. It's been pretty crazy actually, just with the news of the movie coming out and trying to finish out my senior year. It's been a challenge but I'm glad that we're here now. Sac State is everything to me.
Q: How have the past two years been for you?
SADLER: It's kind of weird. If you look back on it, it feels like it's gone by quickly. But at the same time, it feels like we've lived 10 lifetimes in that short two years because so much has happened. I definitely feel like it's flown by, but we are grateful for all of the experiences we've had along the way. They last a lifetime.
Q: How did this experience shape you as a person?
SADLER: It changed me completely, really, but at the same time I still feel like I'm me. We just matured a lot in the past two years. It just opened up my world -- made it, like, bigger.
Q: What sticks out most to you?
SADLER: Writing a book. We never thought we would do that before this happened. And then once it actually came out, and was printed in stores, it was a pretty cool feeling. That was actually good therapy for us, because we were on such a whirlwind for the first few months that having the book was actually our first chance that we actually got to sit down to reflect about how we felt.
Q: What brought Clint Eastwood into the picture?
SADLER: (He) read the book and he was really interested in it, so he decided to pick it up on a movie. We've met him a few times, actually. He's just a legend of a guy, like, really cool guy in person. And we're really confident he wants to do the story right, just like he does any other movie, so we're pretty excited for that.
Q: The three of you are consultants for the movie, correct?
SADLER: Yeah, it's an exciting time. It's in the initial process right now, so we're just trying to dive in. The big thing between the three of us is who's going to play us in a movie.
Q: Who would you like to see play you?
SADLER: Michael B. Jordan or Keith Powers. Powers is from Sacramento, so that would be cool to see another Sacramento kid in it.
Q: Have you been back to Europe?
SADLER: Yeah, we've been back probably two or three times -- for the one-year anniversary, and we got to reunite with some people on the train. And then actually just came back a couple weeks ago from Europe. It's kind of like conquering it to go back over and over again. I feel like we'll go back in the future as well.
Q: Do you look back on that day differently now?
SADLER: No, I'm just extremely thankful that it happened in the way that it happened -- just the fact that nobody got seriously hurt or there was loss of life. I'm just thankful that we're able to tell a story today and that people still resonate with it.