![Kevin James]()
Undeterred by the lukewarm reception of
Home Team in which he played longtime New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, veteran actor Kevin James is stepping back into the arena of sports-related projects to tackle the role of a lifetime.
Deadline reported on Friday that James is slated to star in a miniseries that covers the life of two-time major champion golfer John Daly, who's one of the most singular personalities in all of professional sports.
https://twitter.com/krolljvar/status/1796588156810395945
With
Happy Gilmore 2 on the horizon at Netflix — possibly featuring a John Daly cameo — and James' prior working relationship with the streamer on
Home Team, it wouldn't be surprising to see this Daly biographical production housed there as well. It also depends on how much the miniseries blends drama and comedy. Because while Daly's affability, long drives, and stunning achievements on the course are worth celebrating, he's battled his share of demons. Whether it's been bouts with heavy drinking, fluctuating body weight, tumultuous personal relationships, the inconsistency and decline of his golf game, or more recently, dealing with bladder cancer, Daly has lived a lot of life in his 58 years on Earth. He's also quite the entrepreneur and philanthropist.
I really do wonder what the tone of the series will be. Daly has a one-of-one golf swing that James will be hard-pressed to replicate, for one. Upon further review: KJ has some game and even has a decent past-parallel foundation of his swing to build from in emulating JD's signature move.
https://youtu.be/Ak41DP8BDj0?si=MR6J2W9NUT_0bPTD&t=85
Plus, based on his long career in front of the camera, it's easy to see how James could tap into Long John's charisma. It'd also be interesting to see if the miniseries works in anything about Daly's career as a country musician. Seems doubtful, since it'd take a whole other level of singing and guitar chops for James to be able to pull that off, although of course he could always go through the motions/lip sync with Daly's actual vocals and music as the backing track.
The fact that there are so many potential avenues to explore in Daly's life makes a miniseries the ideal format to tell his story. A two-hour movie wouldn't come close to capturing his essence.
I'm sure most of us wouldn't want Daly to change a thing since he's one of the most universally beloved public figures in sports. However, the fact that he won the 1991 PGA Championship as a ninth alternate and backed it up with a triumph at the 1995 Open Championship at St Andrews hints at the immense upside Daly has always had. He only got a fraction out of his potential, yet still won 19 tournaments worldwide to go with those two major titles.
Kevin James is stepping into some massive shoes, but if he nails it, the
King of Queens star would garner a whole new respect as an actor across the industry. Can't wait to see this when it comes out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcrpIp-mM7E
