By Sean P. Ray | Managing Editor

More than 2,000 miles might separate the Northside from Hollywood, but it’s a distance Chimechi Oparanozie was able to cross to see his dreams come true.

A Northside native (he grew up in various Northside neighborhoods, but cites Manchester as his main one), Oparanozie recently had his big screen breakthrough acting in the film “Unstoppable,” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and will have its wider release in December. Oparanozie performed alongside several big name Hollywood stars for the film, including Jharrel Jerome, Jennifer Lopez, Michael Peña and Don Cheadle, and the film’s producers include heavy hitters Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.

“I almost shed a tear seeing it up there,” Oparanozie said of watching the film’s premiere.

Oparanozie lived on the Northside until 2016. Besides Manchester, he also grew up alongside North Charles Street and Perrysville Avenue. When he started looking at options for college, two very different life paths set themselves before him.

“I was getting recruited to play football,” he said. “I had multiple options, but I always wanted to become an actor.”

He credits his love of the performing arts to the TV show “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.” Growing up with limited television channels — Oparanozie’s family had an antenna TV — it was one of the few shows he was able to consistently watch, and he grew to love it, even being able to recite the intro from heart.

“I just loved everything from the production and how real it felt as a storyline,” he said of the show.

Deciding he needed to get closer to Hollywood to have his acting dreams come to fruition, Oparanozie accepted an offer from Santa Monica College, taking him to the west coast.

As may be expected from a college located just outside of Los Angeles, there were several students at the school trying to get into the film industry. Oparanozie got his first big break when one student was able to get him a role as an extra.

“One of my friends, he had been on the show ‘All American’ doing the stunt work and he said ‘Man, you’d be perfect for this,” he said.

“All American” is a football sports drama about high school and college students seeking to become professional football players.

Working on the show enabled Oparanozie to get his feet wet in the acting world, and also helped build connections. One of the producers on the show set him up for an audition for “Unstoppable,” not that he knew it at the time.

“It was crazy,” he said. “I didn’t even know what the movie was called. I didn’t know who the actors were in it.”

Oparanozie (far right) poses with some of the other actors from ‘Unstoppable,’ including, from left, Jordan Wallace, Jharell Jerome and Johnni Dijulius. Contributed photo

Nevertheless, his tryout impressed the filmmakers and he was invited for a more formal audition and eventually earned the part.

“Unstoppable” is a sports film, though about wrestling rather than football. It is based on the true story of Anthony Robles, a one-legged wrestler who won the 2011 NCAA individual wrestling championship.

In the film, Oparanozie plays Brian Corwin, whom he describes as Robles “goofy friend” who supports him on his journey.

Oparanozie wrestled in high school and so had a good deal of experience for the role. However, the film was his first speaking part and having to act alongside big name Hollywood actors proved intimidating at first.

“I walk up to do my lines and Don Cheadle is right there, waiting to do his lines,” Oparanozie said.

Cheadle has starred in a wide variety of films, but is perhaps most well known these days for his role as James “Rhodey” Rhodes in the “Iron Man” films as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He also was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for the 2004 film “Hotel Rwanda.”

Despite his nerves, Oparanozie said he was able to relax after the first couple of takes, and developed a sense that he was “meant to be there.” He was able to get along with the bigger names on set by being his “goofy self” and said many were amazed at how natural he was in his first speaking part.

Still, he described seeing himself on screen at the film’s premiere as “surreal.” He said people from the Northside don’t often have the most amount of opportunities, so getting the chances he’s had was an emotional experience.

His first speaking role has already started to pay off. Oparanozie said he’s been approached by an agency after the film’s premiere, and has started auditioning for more parts.

“Big things are on the way,” he said. As for people who want to follow in his footsteps, he has some words of advice.

“You have to thousand-percent see it and believe it’s going to happen, and put yourself in the place where it’s going to happen,” he said.

For those wanting to see Oparanozie on the big screen, “Unstoppable” will have its wide release on Dec. 6. The film is directed by William Goldenberg and is based on the book “Unstoppable: From Underdog to Undefeated: How I Became a Champion” by Anthony Robles and Austin Murphy.