Oscar winner William Goldenberg aims to inspire with his directorial debut, Unstoppable.

When William Goldenberg was growing up, he learned how to multitask while working at his dad’s deli. He didn’t know it at the time, but it turns out the deli was an ideal training ground for making movies.

“It was good training for multitasking when I was an assistant film editor, where I had to do 18 things at one time,” the Oscar-winning film editor-turned-director recently explained. “I was a short-order cook there, and I would run the place in the summer when my dad would go on vacation. … It was solid training for life in general.”

Goldenberg is celebrating the release of Unstoppable, his directorial debut. Previous accomplishments include an Academy Award for the film editing of Argo, which starred and was directed by Ben Affleck, as well as nominations for his work on The Imitation Game, The Insider, Seabiscuit, and Zero Dark Thirty.

Unstoppable follows an underdog named Anthony Robles (played by Jharrel Jerome), who was born with one leg. His indomitable spirit and unbreakable resolve, along with unwavering support from his mother Judy (Jennifer Lopez), help Robles defy the odds and earn a spot on the Arizona State wrestling team. He then realizes he must give everything, physically and mentally, if he is to achieve his ultimate goal: becoming an NCAA Champion.

We spoke with Goldenberg about underdogs, imposter syndrome, and what he learned about himself at Temple University.

Since Unstoppable is such an underdog story at its heart, have you ever felt like an underdog at times in your life?

I didn’t grow up super confident, and nobody in my family was in the arts. We were in the deli business so I always felt like I had imposter syndrome. I always feel like an underdog, like everybody knows more than me, but I guess it made me work harder. In a sense, that’s what Anthony did. He just worked harder than everybody.

Do you believe that with perseverance, family support and the right attitude that nothing is impossible?

Of course, some things are impossible. You can’t heal a sick person by having a great attitude, but I think people are always surprised by what they can accomplish when they just put their heads down, work harder, work smarter, try to live an honest life and treat people with respect. I just think it just elevates you. I think that having a positive can-do attitude is a very helpful thing.

Why were you compelled to make this movie and tell this story?

I love sports movies or movies that involve sports. I read Anthony’s book and I learned a lot about him and I thought: What a great story, and it might be a perfect first movie for me. Then I went to Arizona to spend four days with Anthony and met his mom, Judy. I’ve pretty much never met anybody like him. The person you see in the film is who he is. He radiates goodness, generosity and grace.

What was that experience like for you stepping into a more active role behind the camera?

It was terrifying, but what was so great about it was I am going to do both now, both directing and film editing. It was an incredibly calm and happy set, because I was calm and happy. It was a great experience to be around all of those incredibly talented people. Every single person cared so much and brought so much to make the movie better.

Before you got into the industry what was one of your more memorable moments?

I had this class in my senior year and we took an essay test for the final. I wrote it and thought: Okay, that seems to be the right answer to me. When the teacher graded them and gave them back, she started talking about one person in the class who answered the question with a different response than what she thought was going to be the right answer, but when she read it, she thought: This is also correct. When she started reading my answer, it made me feel really good about myself. That was an academic highlight for me.

What was it like being able to screen the film for people in your hometown Philadelphia?

We screened the movie for 250 high school kids and they loved it! They were screaming and cheering. There was an entire contingent from where I went to high school. I took a picture with 15 of them and a teacher, and it was really nice. I don’t know about being a conquering hero, but I felt appreciated.