From co-creator/showrunner Dean Lorey, the 10-episode Disney+ original series Big Shot follows Marvyn Korn (John Stamos), a men’s basketball coach who has an outburst that gets him booted from the NCAA and the only job he’s able to find is at an elite private high school with a group of teenage girls who lack the confidence they need to live up to the potential they clearly possess. Learning how to connect with his players seems like an impossible task for Coach Korn, until he realizes that a little empathy can go a long way toward helping the team shine.
During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, Stamos talked about why he initially found this project intimidating, channeling his father for the role, how he sees this as falling somewhere between his more family-friendly fare and the edgier work he’s done, why he feels Marvyn Korn deserves a second chance, and how much he loved working with this ensemble. He also talked about the memorable experience he had on Grandfathered, and why he thinks Never Too Young to Die should get the Rocky Horror Picture Show cult viewing treatment.
Collider: When this show came your way, what was the appeal of it for you?
JOHN STAMOS: Sports was the last thing on my mind. To this day, I’ve never been athletic. I’ve never been into sports or watched sports. And then, along came this show. I got a call from my agents and managers. Everybody was on the phone, so you know something good is coming. They said, “You’re gonna get an offer on the new David E. Kelley show.” And I was like, “Oh, my God, I love David Kelley. I’ve always wanted to work with him. Am I playing lawyer, or playing with those dark characters on Big Little Lies Pt. 3?” They said, “No, it’s about basketball. I was like, “Oh, no!” I’ll never forget the moment. I was so bummed out. I said, “Do I play? Am I a player?” They said, “No, you’re a coach.” I was like, “What do they do?” And they said, “Just read the script.”
So, I read it and, to be honest, it was very intimidating, reading these coaching scenes. It starts off with him coaching college kids in the NCAA. I was like, “I’ve gotta figure out how to pull this off.” I did everything I could. I met with a lot of coaches and I spent time with people that were with Bobby Knight, who I did a deep dive on. He threw a chair and he was very loud. He was very boisterous and polarizing, like my guy is. I went to a practice with Jerry West and the Clippers, which was great. I just did a lot. I had that big scene that you saw in the opening of the pilot, at the same time I was doing Fuller House. It was the last day there and we were doing a wedding, with DJ and everybody, and it was emotional. I couldn’t wait to get it over with. I was so nervous about the coaching because I really had to sell it, and you can’t really practice that stuff. You get on a set and you go, “I hope I can yell and scream and be like these guys.” I worked on the walk and I worked on how he held his hands. I think I pulled it off.
After that, I felt like, “Okay, I can do this.” I showed a couple episodes to my family the other day, and they were, like, “That doesn’t look anything like you. Who is that guy?” In the second episode, I get called an entitled jock and my family started laughing. I was like, “What are you laughing about?” And they said, “Well, we get the entitled part, but jock? No one has ever called you a jock.” I watch it and I think I’m channeling my father, which is really nice. He could be very rough. My mom used to say that he had the roar of a lion and the heart of a lamb because inside he was a softie, and I think that’s Marvyn.
You’ve embraced your legacy as Uncle Jesse, but you’ve also gotten to do more edgy stuff like You, and Big Shot falls in that more family-friendly kind of category. Do you want to also push further into the more adult side of things, or is finding a balance between the two the ideal thing for you?
STAMOS: I feel that this is a balance of the two. It’s not Sesame Street and it’s not Breaking Bad. It’s somewhere in the middle, and it’s quality. What this show does in not being as edgy, it replaces with heart. I think it’s a very warm, heartfelt show, and it’s not too sappy or sentimental. I think people feel like this is a different role for me, and that it is more serious, more adult, and a little edgier. When I read it, I was like, “I don’t connect with this guy. He’s not likable. He’s not famous, he’s infamous. No one likes him. He’s not a people person. He has no charm and no communication skills.” The first couple of weeks, I purposely didn’t mix with the cast very much, and certainly the girls, because I didn’t want to feel comfortable with them yet, at all. I think that plays off. I remember telling the director, “Tell them I’m not a jerk.” That was hard. It was hard to just trust the writing and trust the situation, but I’m glad I did. We didn’t plan on it, but this show is of the moment now. We didn’t know that there was gonna be all of these issues with college basketball not being equal. We didn’t know there would be a pandemic. We didn’t know that the world was gonna need a show like this right now. That’s pretty good timing.
This is a show of second chances, with all of the characters. Why do you feel that this guy deserves this second chance that he’s getting?
STAMOS: That’s a good question because certainly, that’s a topic that is very prevalent right now. I can’t speak to any other cases, but I think in Marvyn’s case, he deserves a chance to redeem himself. Yes, he threw a chair and he lost control, but in his mind, he’s doing it for the team. He’s not doing it for any other reason. He wants to win, but he’s also willing to learn and to listen. It’s bold, putting a character like me in a show like this, with an all-girl cast. It could have gone terribly wrong, but the reality of him releasing his assumptions of these girls and connecting with them, that’s breaking down stereotypes. Because of that, hopefully, you’ll go, “Okay, this guy deserves a shot. Don’t screw it up, Korn.” And he could at any moment, but I think he does the right thing.
Do you feel that, by the end of the season, not only will audiences have a different opinion of Marvyn Korn, but he might also have a different opinion of himself?
STAMOS: A hundred percent. That’s very observational. And I think it goes for everybody. When you put a guy like this, into that situation, it knocks everybody off their game and pushes them out of their comfort zone. Everybody is challenged to take a real good look at themselves and maybe try to grow, if they need it, or change, or do whatever it is because there’s a energy going through them that’s not gonna let them be complacent and is not gonna let them get away with not being their best. I love that speech when he talks about just being their best and trying their best. That’s something that we all need to do, certainly right now during the pandemic. We have to be the best versions of ourselves. We have to be kind and helpful, and look out for our brothers and sisters. I sound like Oprah. This pandemic has turned me into Oprah.
What’s it like to be surrounded by this almost entirely female group that you have on this set? How did you find where you fit in with their whole vibe?
STAMOS: Aren’t they great? We have to take a minute and I have to praise them because you could get a couple of bad eggs in these casts and we didn’t get any, especially with the girls, and also with Jessalyn [Gilsig] and Yvette [Nicole Brown], who are such super pros. The girls were interesting. Most of them didn’t have a lot of experience. This was the first show for some of them. And to come in with such bravado and such fearless energy, I was like, “Oh, man, I used to be like that.” I loved it. I just loved it. I love feeding off that energy. I learn from that. I try to watch them and see how and where it comes from. They’re a funny group. After awhile, once we got to know each other and I let my guard down, they just take the piss out of me, any chance they get. They goof on me and make fun of me. Sometimes I’ll have crackers in my pocket because I might get hungry in the middle of the scene, and they laugh at that. They just laugh at me, the punks. They’re good kids. My daughter on the show, Emma, is a superstar. The show really becomes about me being a dad and not knowing how to be a dad. Sophia [Mitri Schloss] is so talented and so smart. I’m so proud of her. They’re great kids.
Have they given you any concrete ideas or plans for what Season 2 would look like?
STAMOS: No, it’s still a bit premature. Disney+ has been so supportive. Bob Iger has been great. He loves the show. I have a good feeling about coming back, but it’s premature.
Grandfathered was also such a fun show, and was one of those shows that felt like it ended too soon. How do you feel, at this point, about the cancellation of that show? Do you think that Fox was wrong to let it go?
STAMOS: I think very simply that it was on the wrong network. I was grateful to Fox and, by the way, I’m working with Dana Walden now. I remember when that show got canceled. I was in Europe with my then-girlfriend (now wife) Caitlin and they pulled the plug on it. I wrote a scathing email to the president, Dana Walden, who’s a very good friend of mine. I wrote the email, but I did the smart thing and I paused. I thought about it and I waited until the next day, and then I looked at it again and I hit delete. I rewrote the thing saying, “Dana, I’m so grateful for the time that we had. I appreciate you letting me do my own show.” I just said nice things about her and I said, “I hope we get to work together again.” Two weeks later, she says, “Do you wanna come do Scream Queens with Ryan Murphy?” And I was like, “Yes.” So, that’s how that went. It’s all part of the deal. I think I was meant to meet Josh Peck. Josh Peck was a big inspiration in my recovery. Right around that time, I was going down the wrong path and I had to straighten out. And then, I’m on this show with this guy who was then in recovery for many, many years, playing my son. That part was meant to be. I wouldn’t be alive, if I hadn’t straightened up, and he was certainly part of it. So, that’s what I think about with that show.
You said a while back that your feelings toward Never Too Young to Die had changed and that you’ve even made attempts to buy the rights to that over the years. It feels like that’s something that there could be a real cult audience for. Have you made any progress toward making that happen? Is that something you would still like to do?
STAMOS: That’s the funniest question. Someone asked me [recently], “Do you have any regrets in your career?” And I was like, “No.” Most of the things that I should regret, I think they’re so funny, like that one. I haven’t lately. I just haven’t had the energy. But I remember years ago, I did try. I talked to Gene Simmons about it, but I can’t remember what happened. Even since then, it’s picked up a lot of steam. I think it should be like a Friday night Rocky Horror thing. I certainly show it to all my friends. I was having a birthday party last August and we set up a screen in the backyard and I wanted to show that, but I thought it would be too egotistical. But I’m gonna do it this year.
My co-worker had to buy his VHS copy on eBay.
STAMOS: Tell him sorry. You know what I have? I have three hours of behind-the-scenes making of that thing. I had someone following me around with a camera.
As someone who’s a big Disney theme park fan, what did you find yourself missing when the parks were closed?
STAMOS: That’s a good question. When things got funky in the world and you were having a dark day or two, which we had a whole year off, you could always run down to Anaheim and as soon as you walked in those gates, the rest of the world went away. Not having had that escape to go to, it’s nice to have that come back.
Big Shot is available to stream at Disney+.