In theaters, 'Who Is Stan Smith?' tells the story of the man behind the shoe

A five-time US Open champion across singles and doubles and former world No. 1 in both disciplines, Stan Smith is best known outside tennis circles for his iconic sneaker. The American, who authored a book titled "Some People Think I’m A Shoe," embraces that irony with humility and humor—qualities that also underpinned a lifetime of humanitarian efforts.

Beginning on May 3, the story of the man behind the famous Adidas footwear will be told in movie theaters throughout the U.S. with the theatrical release of "Who Is Stan Smith?", an UNINTERRUPTED documentary. (Watch the trailer here.)

"There's a bit of a mystery with my name, whether there's really a person behind it," said Smith, who contributed reels of personal footage for the film. In telling the story of the former Wimbledon champion’s life, the documentary details the impact he had on the many historic events that unfolded during and after his tennis career—and the effect those events had on him.

"I was fortunate to be in that era with the transition from amateur tennis in 1968 to Open tennis, and there was a lot going on during that time," he told USTA.com. "Not only tennis-wise, with Arthur Ashe winning the first US Open, but there was the war in Vietnam, there was an assassination of Kennedy and there were civil rights issues going on. There was a lot happening in the world."

Executive produced by LeBron James (among others) and featuring interviews with stars ranging from John McEnroe to Run-DMC and Pharrell, the film is set to open in more than 50 markets nationwide through distributors Monkey Wrench Films. The breadth of interview subjects highlights the extent of Smith's legacy, which transcends both sport and fashion.

"We all know the shoe. We all know the name," director Danny Lee said, describing his thought process in mapping out the documentary. "But let's unpack the mythology behind the shoe."

After opening with some of the more familiar aspects of Smith’s life—a riveting, deep dive into his tennis career and the explosion of his Adidas sneaker—the film begins to fill in the blanks around the other parts of his ever-evolving story.

"We start to reveal that behind the tennis champion was this humble man who became an unexpected humanitarian, whose heart was drawn to these different causes—and not out of the need to be seen as this man of virtue," Lee explained. "He really just genuinely knew what was right and wrong."

Throughout the filmmaking process, which began in spring 2021, Lee shot footage at locations ranging from Smith’s home and the Smith Stearns Tennis Academy in Hilton Head, S.C., to the All England Club at Wimbledon.

In addition to working with Smith on the film, Lee also had the privilege of hitting with the former world No. 1 during off days, even receiving some helpful coaching. (On the one-handed backhand, he recalled Stan’s advice: “It's like unsheathing a sword, where you have your thumb in your left pocket.”)

Many of the relationships explored in the film had an opposite trajectory, starting with tennis and then expanding into other aspects of life. These include his decades-long love affair with wife Margie, his deep connection with Davis Cup teammate Arthur Ashe and his support of South African tennis-player-turned-author Mark Mathabane, who Smith helped escape from apartheid with the aid of a college tennis scholarship.

While the documentary looks back at history, Smith is looking forward with hopes that the film will serve an inspiration to young kids—whether their ambitions lie in tennis or, like Mathabane, their success on the court translates to other fields.

"It'll be interesting to see how the kids react to it, because obviously unless they've really studied the history of tennis, they're not going to know some of the names and some of the people and some of the events," Smith said.