![\"Megan](\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-deadline-2019\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n\tIn one sense, soccer star Megan Rapinoe \u201ccame here to play.\u201d She\u2019s an Olympic champion and two-time FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup winner as a leading member of the U.S. women\u2019s national soccer team. In another way, though, she didn\u2019t come here to play \u2013 meaning, when it comes to standing up for equal pay for women, LGBTQIA+ rights and other vital social issues, she doesn\u2019t back down.<\/p>\n
\n\tRapinoe is the star of Rapinoe, the documentary directed by Rebecca Huntt that just held its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. Shortly before the premiere, both director and protagonist stopped by the Deadline Studio in Toronto at Bisha Hotel.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cNo hesitation about allowing the cameras in,\u201d Rapinoe said of agreeing to participate in the documentary. \u201cMy only hesitation was about the kind of film that we were going to make. That was even before Rebecca and I linked up. I didn\u2019t want to just kind of make a standard athlete doc. So, once I linked up with Rebecca and we sort of shared the vision about what we wanted to do, I was like, \u2018Okay, it\u2019s yours. Go for it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tHuntt addressed how she made Rapinoe different from typical sports documentaries.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI feel like a lot of [those] docs, no shade, but they become a kind of long-form content,\u201d Huntt observed. \u201cIt\u2019s just sort of a specialty edited way of what we\u2019ve already seen through Instagram, YouTube and all of these channels that we have with social media. And I really wanted this to feel personal and intimate. I wanted for us to be able to understand the sort of inner moment that Megan was in while we were shooting the film. It was important for the fans and just for the archive.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tMegan Rapinoe<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of TIFF<\/p>\n
\n\tThe documentary explores how \u201cdissociation\u201d helped Rapinoe maintain focus on the field at moments of greatest tension, with victory on the line. And it delves into the coming out process for Rapinoe, who grew up in the conservative town of Redding, California, in a religious family. Embracing her identity helped her become a complete person and better athlete, she says.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI feel like the whole world sort of went from a little bit out of focus and not quite making sense to just like, \u2018Oh, that\u2019s who I am,\u2019\u201d Rapinoe said. \u201cAnd I think from then I just really could settle into myself and understand myself a lot better. And also, being gay is amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tIn the Deadline interview, Rapinoe speaks to the intense backlash she faced after supporting the Black Lives Matter movement by taking a knee during the playing of the national anthem. Watch the full video above.<\/p>\n