Robin Roberts on why you won’t hear her voice in ‘Breaking Glass: The Pat Summitt Story’: ‘It’s not about me’

Robin Roberts executive produced the film Breaking Glass: The Pat Summitt Story, which premieres on ESPN Sunday. The documentary explores the life and career of Pat Summitt, the legendary former Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball coach who helped pave the way in women’s college basketball. While many people are interviewed specifically for the doc about Pat’s impact on women’s sports, Robin only appears through past interview clips and photos. Despite their close friendship, she explains why she chose not to have a leading voice in the documentary.

“It’s not about me,” Robin says, joking “you already see the different hairstyles” over the years in photos. “This is what I love about this documentary and working with [director] Dawn Porter, because this is what she does,” she explains. “It’s the people that she impacted and, more importantly, hearing Pat’s voice. You don’t wanna hear my voice, you wanna hear Pat’s voice.”

That, she adds, is the heart of the documentary.

“I get chills when I hear Pat’s voice. When I started hearing it again, when we were going through all the cuts and everything and I was like, wow,” Robin says. “So it was intentional because there’s nothing that we wanted to take, there was no way we could take away from someone as powerful. She is the story.”

The inclusion of Pat’s voice was made possible thanks to Sally Jenkins, who had previously interviewed her for the book Sum It Up: A Thousand and Ninety-Eight Victories, a Couple of Irrelevant Losses, and a Life in Perspective.

The Pat Summitt Story is also streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.

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