In the upcoming survival drama Not Without Hope, audiences will watch one of the most tragic accidents in modern sports history, a fishing trip gone horribly wrong, taking the lives of three professional football players and one close friend, and leaving only one man alive to tell the tale.
What begins as a casual excursion in the Gulf of Mexico becomes a harrowing 43‑hour fight for survival when their 21‑foot boat capsizes after a simple anchor mishap.
Among those lost were former NFL players Marquis Cooper and Corey Smith, along with friends Will Bleakley and Nick Schuyler. The story, originally recounted in Schuyler’s memoir, has gained even greater visibility in the new film adaptation, now allowing a wider audience to bear witness to a bond forged in sports and friendship, tested by nature, and ultimately torn apart by tragedy.
For Quentin Plair, who portrays Cooper, this film wasn’t just another acting job; it was a calling. “I felt called to play Marquis, I felt really called to it,” he shared in our interview. “When I read the script, they actually wanted me initially to audition for another role in the movie, but I was like, nah, I’m feeling really connected to Cooper.”
As a former college football player himself, Plair knows that connection comes from understanding the bond those men had, the bond of teammates, of friends, of brothers.
“That camaraderie, that brotherhood is something that athletics usually leans into,” he explained. “You go through all these trials and tribulations with your teammates… It creates a real rapport. You’re spending time together, you’re eating together. You’re fighting together.”
In football, you share victories and defeats. On that fateful trip in February 2009, they shared a nightmare, a capsized vessel, violent seas, freezing water, and no guarantee of rescue. Their background as athletes didn’t save them from the Gulf’s fury, but it did inform their refusal to give up.
“I really wanted to honor all of his life—not just the last moments,” Plair said. “These were real human beings that had full-fledged lives.”
That decision to honor lives, not dramatize death, has shaped how Plair approached every scene.
The real‑life incident happened on a 70‑mile fishing trip, leaving Clearwater, Florida, in the early morning and expecting a simple day at sea. The anchor got stuck. In a rush to leave, they tried to free it the wrong way, tying the anchor line to the boat’s stern and revving the motor.
The result was catastrophic. The stern sank, the boat flipped, and the four men were thrown into the open ocean, their boat quickly inverted, leaving them clinging to its hull.
Water began rising over the partially submerged hull. Waves, reported to reach six feet and more, struck relentlessly. The Gulf grew colder. Night fell.
The men, all trained athletes familiar with physical challenge, found themselves fighting for every breath. Hypothermia, dehydration, despair, and distance from land became their enemy.
Over the course of more than 40 hours, one by one, the men succumbed. Their bodies were never recovered. Only Schuyler remained, holding on until the coast guard finally found him.
At its core, Not Without Hope is about endurance, both physical and emotional. “I hope people see the performances and relate to the struggle and the sense of not giving up,” Plair said. “Hope is the strongest thing we have.”
He also shared a powerful takeaway from co-star Zachary Levi: “Cut the anchor in your life.” The metaphor not only connects directly to the tragedy, but it also speaks to the emotional burdens we all carry, anchors that keep us stuck when we’re trying to move forward.
While Not Without Hope highlights a life lost too soon, Plair’s other standout role this year brings life lessons from the sidelines. In Hulu’s Chad Powers, now officially renewed for a second season, Plair plays Coach Byrd, the moral compass and steady hand behind a college football underdog story starring Glen Powell.
It’s a full-circle moment for the actor. “When I stopped playing football, I thought football would be my way into acting. But none of my early roles had anything to do with it,” he said. “Now, I’ve had this full-circle moment where my last couple of roles have been so much about football.”
As a diehard University of Miami fan (“I’ve got all my Miami gear facing the screen in my living room right now”), Chad Powers hits home for Plair. “Being able to film something you’re already passionate about just makes the days that much better,” he said. “It’s the most fun I’ve ever had on a set.”
Beyond the emotional depth of Not Without Hope and the humor and heart of Chad Powers, Plair’s focus remains the same: telling stories that matter.
“This is the project that I’ve had the most fulfillment from,” he said of Not Without Hope. “I tried to open myself up… if Marquis had anything he wanted to say, I wanted to be a vessel for him to say it.”
As for his full-circle moment? It came when he learned the film would be screening at the same Colonial 18 theater in Lawrenceville, Georgia, where he fell in love with movies as a kid.
“That’s where I had my first date. That’s where I met Jamal Anderson. That’s where I decided I loved cinema. And now my movie is playing there,” he said, smiling. “It’s just cool. Really cool.”
Not Without Hope hits select theaters on December 12. Check out the full interview.
Photo Credit: Instagram – QuentinPlairJr
