The cast that instantly envied Woody Harrelson: “We wanted to kick his ass”
Woody Harrelson might be the most unusual movie star ever.
He doesn’t fit your typical ‘leading man’ role, but not fitting in is one of his greatest strengths. He’s made a career out of defying expectations, veering widely between roles that no one actor has any right to play back-to-back. Big movies, small movies, great movies, terrible movies, he can do them all, and you’re never quite sure what he’s going to do next. Then there’s his personal life, which is a whole different story.
Of course, it all started with Cheers. It’s strange to watch old episodes of the classic sitcom knowing what Harrelson would go on to become. A bright-eyed sitcom actor with a goofy smile on his face and a funny quip loaded in the chamber, it’s a stark contrast to the man who would go on to receive three Oscar nominations.
The first character to interact with Harrelson’s, who was also called ‘Woody’ on the show, was Sam Malone. He was played by Ted Danson, who joined his former co-star on Conan O’Brien’s podcast many years later. Most of the Cheers cast were in their 30s when a 24-year-old Harrelson joined. His youth made them all quite envious, so they decided to try and put the youngster in his place.
“It was more not like hazing him, we just wanted to kick his ass in anything we could find,” Danson clarified. “We started with basketball, and as you later found out in life, he’s a really good basketball player, so he kicked our asses there… I literally have a bad elbow to this day cause I wouldn’t give up arm wrestling. I did finally give up, because he was kicking my butt. So then we moved to chess.”
Harrelson has something of a reputation for being good at everything. His basketball skills were clearly already in place by the time he starred in White Men Can’t Jump, but he improved his abilities so much over the course of that movie that his trainer said he was on the same level as a collegiate star.
That probably won’t mean much outside of the US, but it’s a good thing. The one skill he couldn’t pick up for a movie was bowling, which plays a key role in the Farrelly brothers’ comedy Kingpin.
The youngster’s arrival on Cheers didn’t shake things up on screen, but behind the scenes too. He was unlike anyone else in the cast. Danson revealed in a separate interview that Harrelson was a unique presence from day one, arriving on set for the first time having just been in a bar fight. His boisterous personality only got bigger after he became a star, leading to more stories that often defy explanation.
You’d expect a story about a new, young star waltzing onto the set of an established TV show and humiliating all of the regulars would only end one way. However, Harrleson’s innate charm and charisma deflected any possibility of payback. Also, if anyone tried to mess with him, he’d probably just humiliate them again.
