‘I think I tapped into my father, who was a pretty loud, proud Greek man’
John Stamos plays against type as a tough coach in Big Shot, he tells Georgia Humphreys
When John Stamos first read the script for Big Shot, he didn’t understand why he’d been asked to play Coach Marvyn Korn.
The 10-part Disney+ Original follows a stoic, “unlikeable”, “unfriendly” men’s basketball coach who, after getting fired, is given a chance for redemption with a new job – at an all-girls high school.
And, as a talkative, affable guy, playing someone who’s not good with people was tricky for California-born Stamos, 57.
But, the actor says, he had to trust in the writing – and also trust that he was “interesting enough to not do a lot of shtick and bits and funny voices”.
“I told the director, ‘Please if you see me dipping into any old tricks of mine, stop, yell cut’,” he recalls.
“The challenge was to just stay in that character, don’t move around too much… I think I pulled it off. It’s hard to be still, right? It’s hard to trust that you’re interesting enough being still.”
Stamos is a notably chatty interviewee; on a call with a group of international journalists, he takes his time with his answers, often sharing anecdotes about his travels around the world.
His worldwide fame is largely thanks to his role in the US sitcom Full House, which starred Mary-kate and Ashley Olsen and saw him play the loveable Uncle Jesse. The show ran from 1987 to 1995 – plus a spin-off that launched on Netflix in 2016, called Fuller House.
In comedy-drama Big Shot, we see him playing a man who has to learn to be more empathetic and vulnerable, as he tries to connect with his teenage basketball players.
Essentially, Coach Korn is a hothead with a temper. So, does Stamos see the character as a departure in his career?
“I feel like a lot of people’s reaction so far is that it’s a stretch,” says the actor, who also starred in hit medical drama ER.
“To me, a lot of people haven’t seen a lot of the theatre I’ve done, or maybe some of the more serious work I’ve done here and there in smaller things."
He follows: “I think I tapped into my father, who was pretty loud, and a big, proud, Greek man. As I played the character, I got closer and closer to him, and who he is.”
Big Shot was originally planned to air on a more traditional TV network; about seven years ago, comedian Brad Garrett – of Everybody Loves Raymond fame – thought up the idea for the show. But it didn’t go anywhere at the time.
And so, when Disney+ started, and the executives asked if there were any pilots people had liked over the years, David E Kelley (creator of Ally Mcbeal and Big Little Lies) and Dean Lorey (who’s worked on Arrested Development and My Wife And Kids) decided to develop Big Shot.
“We took a few months because I think there was a debate about how dark, how edgy, how deep [the show should be],” says Stamos. “And I’m glad they figured it out because I think what we replaced with edge, we filled up with heart and emotion.”
● Big Shot is available to watch now on Disney+