With assistance from translator Maxine, new Wrexham AFC owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney launched an official trailer across the club and their personal social platforms to announce the commissioning of a new FX docu-series called ‘Welcome To Wrexham’.
WELCOME TO WREXHAM | FX Entertainment orders docuseries
⚪️ #WxmAFC
— Wrexham AFC (@Wrexham_AFC) May 18, 2021
The two-season show tracks the hopes and dreams of the people and football players of the North Wales town as they seek to support the team on its journey towards European football’s elite and is part of the Hollywood duo’s objective of leveraging their club ownership into a compelling underdog story the whole world can root for.
The an access-all-areas show takes viewers from the pitch to the changing room and from the boardroom to the pub, as Rob and Ryan undergo a crash course in football club ownership and seek to seed serious community change.
The trailer was posted across the club and the owner’s digital and social platforms on 19 May and its sees owner actors seek to engage their Welsh fanbase with the help of a recently-recruited translator, but their efforts are derailed after the duo’s well-meaning words are undermined by savage off-script observations.
The ad sees rogue translator Maxine try (and fail) to help the pair sell their vision to help struggling Wrexham to the locals.
So happy to be part of #WelcometoWrexham on @FXnetworks with @RMcElhenney. He’s everything you’d want in a Co-Chairman but, for the record, he is only ‘mostly' sunny. pic.twitter.com/SD0ak6FCrG
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) May 18, 2021
The initiative was created by Maximum Efforts Productions, the agency led by Reynolds and former McCann creative George Dewey.
The trailer stars Welsh broadcaster and former BBC News journalist Maxine Hughes.
“A few people were sending me a flyer that was asking for Welsh speakers in Hollywood- I thought it was a joke actually. I called them initially because a friend of mine was interested in it. They said they were looking for a female for the role and said they were having trouble finding a Welsh speaker who was based in the US and has experience of acting and broadcasting… We spoke a bit more and they asked me to try out for the role,” explained Hughes who flew out to Los Angeles and landed the part.
“They’re really lovely people, very funny in real life. They were amazing to work with – it was a rather different experience to me. A bit different to doing some news. Ryan was directing a bit for it while we were filming and we were trying out new things- at the end of the video it’s actually us trying out some improv and having fun.”
According to Hughes, the duo’s commitment is “100% genuine and they “really care passionately about Wrexham, about Wales and about the Welsh language too” and it was key that the spot was respectful to Welsh and primarily makes fun of the two of them.
Hughes even revealed that McElhenney was learning Welsh and can sing the national anthem. Reynolds and McElhenney also recently further ‘Welshified’ their identities by changing their Twitter names to ‘Wryan’ and ‘Wrob’ as a mark of their newfound appreciation for Welsh culture.
Comment:
‘Welcome To Wrexham’ is the latest piece of partner content from glamorous, yet unlikely football club owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds who took over the Red Dragons – one of the oldest teams in world football founded in 1864, yet sitting in the fifth tier of the English league – last year.
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.