The film arrives in theaters on Christmas Day

NEED TO KNOW

• David Krumholtz plays former New York Giants equipment manager Julius “Whitey” Horai in Mr. Irrelevant
• Whitey drove rookie running back John Tuggle to medical appointments after returning from retirement
• Mr. Irrelevant stars David Corenswet as Tuggle and arrives in theaters on Christmas Day

David Krumholtz will do anything to get into character.

The actor plays Julius “Whitey” Horai in the upcoming biographical sports drama Mr. Irrelevant, in theaters on Christmas Day.

During a Q&A after a screening of the film attended by PEOPLE on Oct. 5, the actor recalled how director Jonathan Levine approached him about the role and how he prepared.

“John called me. I’ve known John for a few years,” recalled Krumholtz. “He’s wanted to work with me. I’ve wanted to work with him, and he called, and he said, ‘I have a strange role for you. Are you willing to play a 63-year-old man?’ “

“And I said, ‘Of course,’” said Krumholtz. “And I don’t think you needed me to look exactly like Whitey looked, but when I saw the picture of Whitey, I thought, ‘We’re going for it.’ He had no eyebrows. He had zero.”

“So I trimmed them as much as I could and left a little because I thought it would look weird if I was just totally eyebrowless,” said Krumholtz. “And bleached the hair white. That’s not a wig or anything or makeup. And walked around like that for quite some time.”

Levine said, “No part of this was any request on my part.”

For Krumholtz, it all served to tell the story.

The biopic tells the story of real-life New York Giants running back John Tuggle (David Corenswet), who was the last selection in the 1983 NFL draft, earning the nickname of “Mr. Irrelevant” that year.

After playing one impactful season, he tragically died of cancer in 1986 at only 25.

While speaking exclusively with PEOPLE at the screening, Krumholtz shared more about Whitey, explaining that he was the equipment manager for the Giants for about 20 or 30 years.

“And he had just recently retired,” he explained. “And they needed someone to drive John Tuggle to and from his doctor’s appointment. So they called Whitey, and they said, ‘Hey, you know, we know you’re retired. Do you wanna rejoin the organization?’ ”

“And Whitey was like, ‘Yeah, you know, you’ll have me back.’” says Krumholtz. “He was 63 at the time, I think. And, he didn’t know what he was in for.”

Krumholtz says the bond that developed between Whitey and Tuggle was like no other.

“He didn’t know that he was gonna be driving this kid and spend the last year and a half of his life with the kid almost daily watching him wither away,” continues Krumholtz. “So it became this very special relationship, close relationship, and very hard for Whitey.”

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Mr. Irrelevant will be released in theaters on Dec. 25.

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