Vince Papale's Spouse Janet Cantwell Is Not a NY Giants Fan as Depicted in 'Invincible'

Vince Papale's biopic Invincible hit the theatres in 2006. In the film, his spouse, Janet Cantwell-Papale, was portrayed as a New York Giants fan.

The reality couldn't be far from it. Cantwell is not a Giants fan — the movie creators changed her character and tweaked a few other things.

Janet Cantwell-Papale's Persona in Movie

In Invincible,Ted star Mark Wahlberg played Papale and Charlie's Angels star Elizabeth Banks portrayed Cantwell. 

As per the story, Cantwell is a huge Giants fan and a bartender. She meets Papale while joining a bar where he used to work.

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Off-Screen Reality

The Pennsylvania native has been married to Cantwell for over 25 years. The pair got married on August 14, 1993. They have two children — daughter Gabriella and son Vincent.

Vincent is a licensed realtor in Pennsylvania and Florida. Gabriella is inclined to culinary arts and runs a cooking show on Instagram.

According to Papale's official site, the mother-of-two is not the same person depicted in the biopic, Invincible. Cantwell "never was and never will be" a Giants' fan. Also, she was never a bartender. 

The real Cantwell is a businesswoman, former gymnast, diver, and real estate agent. If we have to keep those things in order, she was first a gymnast, then a diver, then a businesswoman, and, finally, a real estate agent.

More About Janet Cantwell 

Cantwell is the oldest of her parents' nine children. She grew up in a family where all her siblings were athletes.

At 16, she fixed her spot in the USA World Gymnastics Team. She took part in the World Games in Yugoslavia and competed in Hapoel Games.

As per Papale's official site, she could not participate in the Munich Olympics because of an ankle injury. The injury ended her gymnastics career. But she wasn't the one to give up.

While studying at the Penn State University, Cantwell got into diving. She broke all the Penn State Women's diving records while also graduating with a bachelor's in physical education.

Following that, she taught gymnastics, first at State College High School and then worldwide.

She created amateur gymnastics programs for countries like Malaysia, South Africa, and Bermuda. She returned to the US, where she became the first Gymnastics Coach at the University of Pennsylvania. She kept the job from 1976 to 1988.

While coaching there, she also did post-graduate work at the Wharton School of Business and then retired from her coaching position to enter the world of real estate.

Why Was Cantwell Portrayed Differently?

According Papale's official site, the first plan for the movie was to portray Janet as she was. Brad Gann, who wrote the film's original script, had planned to show her as a world-class gymnast who had just returned from a trip to South Africa.

However, the movie had to get the NFL's endorsement. So, the NFL suggested the film's creators to make Janet a Giants fan and add in the bartender role to add conflict and humor in the story.

The movie crew did as suggested and got the authorization from the NFL.

The page also says that a few other "minor" changes were made, which did not affect the actual story. The biopic was, as claimed, not meant to be a documentary but an attempt to catch the journey of Papale making it to his dream team, the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Movie Didn't Impress Everyone

Despite the claims that the changes made in the characters and the plot of the movie did not affect the actual story, a few people disagreed — including Papale's second ex-wife Sandy Bianchini.

The movie shows his first ex-wife, Sharon, who threw him out of the house. However, Sandy Bianchini is not shown at all.

As per a 2007 article published in Los Angeles Daily News, Sandy was Papale's wife from 1977 to 1983. She already had a son at the time they got together.

She was reportedly the one who stood by him when he was trying out for the Philadelphia Eagles. She was also there during his short-lived career and after the career ended.

Sandy expressed discontent with her omission from the movie by sending letters to media outlets after the movie was released in 2006.