Growing up, the 1996 comedy Happy Gilmore was on high rotation in my household. Somehow, the story about an angry, terrible hockey player with a penchant for golf managed to tick the boxes for the whole family: There was me, a precocious eight-year-old who had an uncanny obsession with Adam Sandler, my two older brothers who didn’t even like golf and my parents, who were probably just happy my brother’s fixation on Ace Ventura was over.
For years, the quips and punchlines from the film have become mainstays in my own vernacular. So, when Uber reached out with the opportunity to interview Christopher McDonald — AKA the one and only Shooter McGavin — at a fkn driving range, I felt like it was my calling, especially with the Happy Gilmore sequel mere months away.
You see, Chris had come Down Under to film a tongue-in-cheek ad to promote Macca’s being available on Uber’s membership program Uber One. And let me tell ya, the campaign is a hole in one.
You can check it out below.
Although I was excited to chat to a legend, I did have one issue: I can’t play golf for shit. Truthfully, I think golf is a good walk ruined. But I wasn’t going to let this stop me. After getting some golf-swing tips from the lovely videographer (it turns out, Chubbs Peterson was wrong? It’s not all in the hips?) I was ready to go, armed with fresh knowledge and wearing my best Shooter McGavin t-shirt.
“Woah, look at that,” he said, copping a look at my cheeky little shirt.
For Chris, it’s pretty surreal that one of his silliest characters has had such longevity with fans more than 25 years after Happy Gilmore’s release.
“It feels amazing,” Chris tells PEDESTRIAN.TV.
“It’s lovely to have a film that has that breadth and width, and people love it generationally. It’s kind of amazing and it’s been a thrill. I can’t go many places without people going ‘Shooter!’ It kind of stops you in traffic a little bit, but I like meeting the fans and making their day.”
For years, the Emmy-nominated actor has paid loyal fan service for his role in Happy Gilmore, which isn’t something all actors are happy to do. But for Chris, the role has been pretty influential in his life.
Plus, as an avid golfer who at one stage had a handicap of six (very good, for the non-golfers), it’s allowed him to lean into one of his passions and play charity golf to raise money for charities such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation or the St Jude Foundation.
More recently, though, Chris has appeared as Marty in Hacks alongside Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder. According to Chris, the comedy series is “the best writing we’ve had for the longest time”.
“It’s like, pinch me right now because I can’t get over how great the writing is,” the 70-year-old admits.
“Acting with Jean Smart, or should I say, reacting to Jean Smart, that’s all you need to do. The girl is a genius, and she’s won every award. I wish I had more to do with the latest season. However, I was busy filming Happy Gilmore 2 so I popped in towards the end.”
Yep, you read that correctly. In case you hadn’t heard, a sequel to the beloved golf comedy is in the works and not only do Chris, Adam Sandler, Julie Bowen and Ben Stiller reprised their beloved roles, but a bunch of hot new talent has joined the cast for the follow up, including Travis Kelce, Bad Bunny and Margaret Qualley.
According to Chris, it was incredibly easy to step back into Shooter’s shoes after all these years.
“Shooter’s still in me, somehow,” he quipped.
Although Chris couldn’t give me all the tea on the sequel (he signed an NDA), he promised we’re in for a treat.
“I can say it’s going to be good. It’s going to be funny,” he said, playing it safe.
“There are a lot of my heroes in this thing and I think they’ve been leaked. There’s Travis Kelce and Bad Bunny, and they’re really funny people. He’s actually a very good actor, Mr Kelsey, and too damn good looking.”
After waiting more than 25 years for a follow-up on our favourite hot-tempered golfer, Netflix has confirmed that the sequel will be released on July 25.
“It’s going to be huge,” Chris adds.
“Netflix has really gone above and beyond doing this thing. They love Adam Sandler, as we all do, and the whole thing was just a great, great experience. I’m so glad we finally got it done because I’ve been trying to get this thing made for 25 years, so it was a fun thing to do. The fans are going to love it.”
Finally, while Shooter McGavin may be famous for eating pieces of shit like you for breakfast, Chris says that’s not exactly his speed.
Instead, he’s more of a burger for breakfast kind of guy, who would use Uber One to order a cheeky Big Mac and revel in that luxurious $0 delivery fee. You know, if he ever found himself in that position.
Huge move, big dog.
