Former Eagles Linebacker Makes Film Debut in The North Star

Benjamin Jones (Jeremiah Trotter) carries Lewis (John Wooten) in The North Star.

The feature film debut of former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Jeremiah Trotter will premiere at the Perelman Theater at the Kimmel Center on September 17th. It is Trotter’s first film acting credit.

The North Star was helmed by first-time film director Thomas K. Phillips, who wrote, directed and produced the film. It was shot over 24 days in Bucks County in the summer of 2012 and tells the story of Benjamin Jones (Trotter) and Moses Hopkins (Thomas C. Bartley Jr., a Washington, D.C. native). The two characters are slaves who escaped from Virginia to Buckingham, Pa., in 1849.

“My wish is that The North Star will resonate positively with its audience and show the good of humanity at such a dark time in American history,” Phillips said in a release. “I hope that The North Star will create a dialog with its audience about how people came together for the cause of abolishing slavery; people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds who heard the word of God in their hearts and risked a great deal by their actions. I believe it is still relevant in solving some of today’s issues.”

Trotter, Phillips and producer Benjamin Chavis Jr. (a former NAACP executive director) will be at the premiere on September 17th. Tickets for the 5:30 p.m. screening or the 8 p.m. red-carpet premiere are available at the Kimmel Center’s website.

The movie will come out on streaming and DVD later this year; the rights were picked up by RLJ Entertainment (BET founder Robert L. Johnson’s company).