Jay Baruchel plays Carter, with Ed Helms as engineer Dick Keller, Ben Foster as rival Evel Knievel, and Laurence Leboeuf as Carter's partner Gloria; the cast matches the era, location, and documented figures without any race, gender, or sexuality alterations to established characters. This faithful approach to the source documentary The Devil at Your Heels keeps every character and event grounded in the original historical record rather than introducing modern revisions. Traditional themes of ambition, rivalry, fear, and legacy drive the narrative without any identity politics or systemic-oppression framing.

Casting and production choices remain fully organic to the historical Canadian setting, and the project contains zero creator statements or plot elements pushing DEI, gender fluidity, or social justice messaging. The result is a clean biopic focused on personal obsession and human cost, free of extraneous ideological overlays that could distract from the core story of underdog ambition.