Jessalyn Gilsig on Why She Loves Working With John Stamos on ‘Big Shot’ (VIDEO)
Behind every Big Shot, there should be a Jessalyn Gilsig.
In Disney+’s winning new dramedy, John Stamos‘s Marvyn Korn may be the titular muckety-muck — a disgraced NCAA basketball coach reduced to leading a team of strong-willed teens at an elite all-girls school — but it’s Gilsig’s assured and empathetic assistant coach Holly Barrett who really knows the score.
“At first, she is really excited that Coach Korn is there and she thinks there is so much to learn,” says the Vikings actress. “And then I think, as they get to know each other, Holly realizes, ‘Wait…I’ve developed skills that he doesn’t have.” As the episodes play out, so too will the fact that Holly’s capabilities clearly should have earned her the top spot that Marvyn was handed at Westbrook High. “It will come up,” she promises. “It will be a topic of conversation.”
Most likely, that talk will happen during one of Holly and Marvyn’s frequent post-practice drinks at the local bar, which have so far been our only peek into what this woman has going on outside of the job. “I think she is actually one of those people where the school is her life and the kids are her life,” notes Gilsig of Holly’s lack of extracurricular activities. “At this point, she doesn’t have a great work-life balance, which again, becomes something that we are going to explore.”
A veteran of Shot creator David E. Kelley’s Boston Public, Gilsig has definitely nailed that teacher/coach vibe when it comes to championing the young actresses who play the Westbrook Sirens, while also serving as a cheerleader for Stamos. “I love working with John because he’s kind of like a theater guy, it’s all about working it and bringing that level of energy to it,” she raves. “And for a lot of these girls, it’s their first job…so to have him as an example of that standard? It’s almost like a master class.”
Big Shot, New Episodes, Fridays, Disney+
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