Christopher McDonald Talks ‘Happy Gilmore’, ‘Dirty Work’ And More

Actor Christopher McDonald has done everything in his career. He’s starred in timeless dramas like Quiz Show, Requiem for a Dream, *61 and the Perfect Storm. He also showed his range playing the antagonist in goofy comedies like Dirty Work and Happy Gilmore - the latter of which he’s been unable to shake his association with since its 1996 premiere - and that’s okay.

Forbes caught up with McDonald, 64, at a Brent Sopel Foundation event at Ruffled Feathers Golf Club in Lemont, Illinois to benefit people battling dyslexia.

When you first started reading the script for Happy Gilmore after the work you had done earlier in your career, did you think, ‘What did I get myself into?’

Well not at all. It was just since day one on that movie [that] I knew I was with some really funny people with Judd Apatow writing it (uncredited script re-writes) and with Adam Sandler. And so once I sat down with Adam and got the lay of the land I just said, ‘I got to do this,’ because A: They're paying me to play golf and B: I can pull this off.

I mean I wasn't a great golfer at the time, I got to be quite good during it because I had Mark Lye on my shoulder helping me with my swing and my all-around-game, course management as it were. But, my game got better [and] at the same time I had a lot of fun doing it and we're all up in Canada shooting it up by Whistler and all kinds of great places.

So it was a treat. And it's generational now. So you got to love in an actor's career to have a movie that basically people know you instantly from because it's on a loop on television, which is great. People seem to like it from all ages. So I say more power to them. 

It doesn’t get annoying to hear about one role every day of your life?

The worst case scenario for an actor is just like, 'What do you do?' 'I'm an actor.' 'Oh, have I seen you in anything?' I couldn't imagine that being any fun. But thankfully I've been blessed to do a lot of other great movies. 

It's the great directors you work with: the Ridley Scott's, and I did the Perfect Storm with a brilliant, brilliant Wolfgang Petersen. I mean these are brilliant directors; Robert Redford in Quiz Show, and working with these people it was a real treat, and working with Dennis Dugan on [Happy Gilmore], he just knew his comedy.

So it was it was a treat all the way around, and yes, I get it every day. I learned a long time ago to embrace it and go along for the ride and be blessed that people like the character so much because you don't really have the movie unless you have the antagonist, Shooter McGavin.

What do you remember most about shooting Happy Gilmore?

Well, the very first scene I did was I went to his house and I was bidding on the property and you know, 'You're going to beat me at golf? I eat pieces of s*** like you for breakfast.' And then he says, 'You eat pieces of s*** for breakfast?' and I just had the, 'Uhh, no.'

I took off from that kind of petulant, kind of spoiled, entitled golf pro and that was the first thing I did. I always remember that and people always, always want me to write that on a picture or something. 'You eat pieces of s*** for breakfast?'

My favorites were where the script says, 'Happy makes a 20-footer, Shooter misses a nine-footer and that kind of thing. The best way to miss a putt is to try to make it, of course, because they flip out here or they go a little left, go a little short... But, I ended up putting a lot of them in; 'Sorry, I'll do that again and miss it.' 

And then in the editing room, they went, 'It's really kind of great when Shooter's got a great, hot putter and he's pulling out those guns.' So they left a lot of the ones that I made in and especially the last one, I really didn't want them to cut to the hole and the ball going in.

I'm on that crazy botanical garden. You can watch the ball bumping here because no self-respecting golf course will let us on with a Jeep and on the green, wasn't going to happen so they did a botanical garden up in Canada and I got seven tries and that was the fifth try and they left it in the movie. So it's all good. 

What were some of the scenes where you'd remember there had to be a lot of takes because you or somebody else was laughing?

The scene where, 'I'll see you by the bay, listen to what I say...' We were biting our cheeks from not laughing. That was really funny. Carl [Weathers] doing his thing was really funny.

When went to our happy place, that was a really fun sequence to do. You know choking on Gene Simmons' tongue, Grandma, and then going with the fabulous Julie Bowen... Just to have her coming out in that little skimpy outfit carrying a couple of pitchers of beer and just being the nemesis that was Shooter.

With the collar up and just being like, 'Hey man, I'm in you're happy place, I'm in your head, man.' So it was really fun. Those scenes were a blast. 

What’s your approach when playing a villain in a silly comedy?

When the writing's good like that, you play it totally safe. It's really bad form to try to make something more funny by pushing it. I've certainly done that too in a couple of things. 

I know both sides of it, so the more sincere you can be, the material will hold up hopefully and you'll get the laughs. You'll unexpectedly get great laughs because it has a long life after that.

There's a moment you do it, it's fresh and everything, but then they get those takes and then you keep doing it again and again, you try different things and give them a lot of choices in the editing room. 

Would an R rating have helped Dirty Work hit its stride?

We push the envelope a little bit there. What did I have Chihuahua pee in my mouth? But I had a lot of fun doing it.

Great working with great people. That's when I first met Chevy Chase, that's when I was working with Jack Warden.

These are great actors and iconic figures. So of course Norm [Macdonald] and Artie Lange, he was so funny too.

What was working on a movie with Norm like?

He's a very good actor. He's a very, very dry comedian. That kind of humor is really tough in a big, big catch.

You almost have to be very animated and that's really not his style, his style is smart humor. So I really appreciate that in Norm and I'm a big fan and working with him was a treat.

We had just a lot of laughs doing that stuff and Artie Lange being the more demonstrative of the two. But the subtle humor is what lives on and on in that movie I think, and I take my hat off to Norm for that. 

Were you surprised to see Adam Sandler become a titan of the entertainment industry after working with him early on?

Nothing surprises me about show business it changes like the weather. I'm not surprised at all. He's got a big film coming out now [that] they are talking could be an Oscar nomination.

And you know you get stopped and people [say], 'What do you think about that?' Never underestimate Adam Sandler, he's a player, he's got a great team behind him at Brillstein entertainment and he's got that super sweet deal with a studio called Netflix, that doesn't hurt, and he makes very funny movies.

I think one of his best of course was Happy Gilmore because it just has the widest appeal, he's had a couple with Jennifer Aniston, they're very funny, and they give him enough money to really make a splash. I take my hat off to him, I'm very happy for him.

I wish I could work with him more often but he always says, 'Dude, you're always going to be "Shooter.”’ It's like, 'What? You have 10 guys around you all the time, they play 15 different parts. I can do 150 different [parts]. He throws me a bone now and then, we have a good relationship. I just don't see him enough. We're not in the same circles. 

Is Quiz Show one of the projects you’re most proud of?

It's arguably one of the classiest movies I've ever been involved with. It still holds up, they teach it in colleges. It was the loss of innocence of America because people do cheat for the almighty dollar. And that was when it first came to light.

The tragedy of Charles Van Doren is a true story and when you have someone like Robert Redford, a brilliant, brilliant filmmaker, making it, every detail was exquisite. Dave Garroway played by the director of Diner, Barry Levinson, was such a treat. 

You had several scenes with Dwayne Johnson [in Ballers], what was it like working with him?

Well there's no question about it and it couldn't happen to a nicer guy, Dwayne outworks everybody. He doesn't take 'No' for an answer, he'll find a way to make it happen.

Again, a great team. And I mean that team behind him, he's become the number one movie star in America, in the world, maybe.

He's one of a kind because of the size of the guy. So you know he just loves working out. From the first time I worked with him he was pretty big, but now he's added four inches to each shoulder, it's unbelievable. He's an animal that way.

I learned a lot from him, funnily enough. I mean, I've been doing this a long time, but he comes at it with a sincerity and an honesty and that truth comes through because he believes it. And I would say you look and the good guys do finish first.

So he's one of the great guys of the world. And I learned a little bit about tequila from him, a little bit about how how he eats his meals as these people come out and they feed him like five, six times a day. His cheat day is a big deal, Oh look at that, man! Good for you, Sundaes.