Ted Danson Admits He Was Unsure if He Could Play Sam Malone on ‘Cheers’
In the sitcom Cheers, Ted Danson famously played womanizer Sam Malone for 11 seasons. Now, it is one of Danson’s most recognizable roles, but it wasn’t always easy for him to play the part. In fact, he recently admitted that he cried after filming the first episode and almost quit for fear that he couldn’t play the character. He added that it took him over a year and a half to truly feel like he was portraying the character well.
Danson explained, “I did not know what arrogance meant. I had never been to a bar. I did not pick women up. I was not a womanizer. Maybe I wanted to be, but I wasn’t. Women had to be standing opposite me naked for me to go, ‘Oh, me? You’re talking about me? Oh, wow …’ That’s the opposite of Sam Malone.”
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After the first episode, Danson said that he talked to director James Edward Burrows and broke down crying. He felt like his performance was awful and that he wasn’t getting into the character. Danson said that Burrows listened but then laughed and walked away, showing that he believed Danson was overreacting. He shared that he wasn’t prepared for that kind of reaction and kept his emotions to himself after that. Luckily, it all worked out, and he became a beloved character on the show.
Remind While the Cheers universe now lives on in the Frasier revival, its star Kelsey Grammer recently confirmed that the Cheers bar is now gone in his eyes. Grammer has hinted at a Cheers reunion on the new Frasier, but it seems that it won’t take place at the iconic bar. He said, “There’s a sense of respect that we owe him and the idea [of Frasier] exists in another world. It’s gone, the bar is gone.” Grammer added that he hopes to bring Danson and Shelley Long (who played Diane Chambers) on Frasier at some point.
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Watch Cheers and the new Frasier on Paramount+.
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