Denis Leary, who played Smalls’ stepdad Bill, had no idea what he was signing up for—in a good way.

Demolition Man and Judgment Night—the biggest movies he’d shot to date—hadn’t come out yet when he got the call about “this little baseball movie,” the Rescue Me star recalled on The Rich Eisen Show in 2021. “I got the script and I was like, ‘Wow, this is literally about a bunch of kids playing baseball.'”

But being a sports guy who cried watching Field of Dreams, Leary took the part against his better judgment. “They always tell you,” he cracked, “you don’t work with dogs and kids, and I’m working with a giant dog and all kids.”

But these young actors were “really fantastic, Leary recalled, though for him, meeting screen legend James Earl Jones—who played not-so-scary sandlot neighbor and former ballplayer Mr. Mertle—took the cake. He was “the kindest, nicest, sweetest guy,” Leary said. “And that voice…When I think of the voice of God I think of James Earl Jones.” 

The kids, naturally, thought of Star Wars. “When he showed up, we were like, “[Darth] Vader is here!” Guiry recalled of seeing Jones for the first time. And once again the elder actor won rave reviews for being “such a nice guy.”