Even if you're not a football fan, it's hard to escape its addiction. America's Sweethearts: The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. The latest Netflix docuseries, which premiered June 20, follows the Cowboys’ cheer squad — colloquially known as the “DCC” — from tryouts, to training camp, to the end of football season.
The seven-episode series comes immediately after C.M.T. Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the TeamA reality show that featured many of the same characters, including DCC director Kelly Finglass, ended in 2021 after 16 seasons. By comparison, america's sweetheart It has a more professional sheen, which comes courtesy of director and executive producer Greg Whiteley, the man behind Netflix docuseries hits such as cheer And last chance u
“It has a certain prestige [the Dallas Cowboys] Whiteley explained what attracted her to the project was “the community that comes from being in that classroom, but it also demands everything from you.” “I found it all fascinating, and I thought it was an interesting world for us to explore; it was a huge privilege to be given the access we needed to do that.”
While CMT's show was more superficial, Whiteley and her team take a deep look at all aspects of life as a member of one of the NFL's best cheer squads. For many members of the team, and even aspiring members of the team, a lot of sacrifice is required. Some of the women give up their lives – including jobs and relationships – so they can move to Texas to train; others grin and bear it as their bodies literally break down under the strain of demanding dance moves like the jump split (which is exactly what it sounds like).
Meanwhile, most of the dancers work full-time jobs to make ends meet, arriving at practice after 9 to 5, where they dance until after midnight. But it's not all high kicks and smiles. Fineglass and her team, as well as Cowboys executive vice president and chief brand officer Charlotte Jones, often criticize the girls' looks, from their makeup to their weight, sometimes with disastrous results.
These are the moments that may infuriate viewers the most. “The world is moving in one direction, and here's an institution that's been largely the same since 1972 but is still hugely popular and hugely successful … it's an interesting dilemma,” Whiteley says. “I don't know what you do about it.”
read ahead Glamour Full conversation America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Director Greg Whiteley.
glamour: What interested you in telling DCC's story? Was there anything specific about the Dallas Cowboys franchise?
Greg Whiteley: I wasn't interested. Cowboy reached out initially, and I thought, oh, we'll never get the editorial control that we need for the kind of filmmaking that we want to do. So I said to my agent, “Hey, politely, tell them thank you for their interest, but I don't think this will work.” It was [executive vice president and chief brand officer of the Cowboys] Charlotte Jones came back and said, “We're willing to give away editorial control. We'd like to meet Greg first.” And I thought, well, I'd never turn down a meeting with Greg. Charlotte Jones of the Dallas Cowboys. So I went there, and I was so impressed that it made me look at this world more deeply.