The logical choice for a director to helm an emotional film about tragedy, loss and recovering from the grief thereof, is not exactly the bouncing ball of energy known as Joseph McGinty Nichol (AKA McG). However, those who worked with him on his most recent film, “We Are Marshall,” which tells the heartbreaking story of a college in West Virginia whose entire football team perished in a plane crash in the 70′s, have nothing but good things to say about the man who directed them. Additionally, McG explains why he took on the project in the first place.

“I’ve always been known as a sort of hyperbolic cheerleader guy, and I’m just so desperately trying to get away from that,” McG said recently of his own transition, while taking a break from putting the finishing touches on “We Are Marshall” at a Los Angeles postproduction house.

As for the skeptics, “it’s the privilege of everyone to work in shorthand,” he noted. ” ‘Oh, he does this, she does that. He’s that guy.’ I’m not known for ‘Let’s tell a very methodical story and make ‘em cry.’ I know that ‘Let’s get McG to do it’ is not a natural place to go. But I went in, and I had a very specific take with regard to what I wanted to do with the film, and they went for it.”

Good for him for breaking out of that stereotype. Now, if I could just figure out a way to convince people that I’m more than just a pretty face, maybe I could finally break out of this pattern of people constantly assuming I’m a model, and let me prove that I can be so much more than that–like a spokesmodel.

The Full-Throttle Flash Guy Is Gone (Cue Violins) [The New York Times]