“37-Year-Old Kevin Costner Movie Every Studio Rejected Was ‘Ted Lasso’ Before Ted Lasso”
Before Ted Lasso, Kevin Costner Brought Heart, Humor, and Grit to a Sports Movie Every Studio Turned Down
Long before Ted Lasso warmed hearts with its quirky optimism and locker-room wisdom, Kevin Costner starred in a film that carried the same spirit — minus the mustache and Premier League charm. Nearly 37 years ago, Bull Durham quietly delivered what would become one of the most beloved underdog sports stories ever put on screen. But at first? Hollywood wanted nothing to do with it.
Back in the late ’80s, Costner took a swing at a project that didn’t follow the rules — of baseball films or romantic comedies. Bull Durham wasn’t about winning the big game. It was about love, failure, and figuring out who you are in the minor leagues of life. Studios passed. Twice. Even with Costner — hot off The Untouchables — attached, the film was seen as too talky, too offbeat, and too baseball-specific for mainstream success.
But one glowing New York Times review for another Costner film (No Way Out) changed everything. Orion Pictures saw the rising star potential and greenlit Bull Durham within 24 hours. The result? A cult classic that blended wit, wisdom, and weirdly poetic monologues about “dying quails” and “long, slow kisses.”
Bull Durham Was the Sports Movie That Didn’t Follow the Playbook
Released in 1988, Bull Durham was written and directed by Ron Shelton — a former minor league ballplayer who poured his own experience into the script. The story centers on Crash Davis (Costner), a jaded veteran catcher mentoring a hotheaded young pitcher (Tim Robbins), all while navigating a complicated romance with Susan Sarandon’s Annie Savoy — a baseball groupie with a spiritual bent and a penchant for quoting Walt Whitman.
It wasn’t your typical sports movie. There were no grand slam finales or teary halftime speeches. The drama happened in motel rooms, minor league dugouts, and philosophical batting cages. But that’s what made it resonate.
Shelton’s story had heart and soul — just like Ted Lasso, decades later — and it wasn’t afraid to embrace its oddball tone. Studios didn’t know what to make of it. Fortunately, Orion Pictures took a gamble, and it paid off.
How Vodka Shots and Batting Practice Got Costner the Role
Before he officially landed the part of Crash Davis, Kevin Costner didn’t just read for the role — he earned it in the most old-school way imaginable: with vodka and swings.
Director Ron Shelton once shared that the two of them threw back a couple of vodka shots, drove to a batting cage behind a mini-golf course in Van Nuys, and started hitting balls. “We put a bunch of quarters in the slot,” Shelton recalled. “People were walking by him all the time… They didn’t know who he was yet.”
It wasn’t a glitzy audition. But it proved Costner wasn’t just pretending to be a ballplayer — he was Crash Davis.
Bull Durham Was a Long Shot That Became a Classic
Today, a film like Bull Durham would probably be pitched as a quirky streaming series. But back in 1988, it hit the big screen with a unique voice, an unorthodox love story, and characters who talked like real people rather than Hollywood clichés.
That rare mix of authenticity and charm gave Costner one of his defining roles and set the stage for Dances with Wolves just a few years later.
Studios didn’t believe in Bull Durham. But audiences did — and just like Ted Lasso, it reminded us that stories with heart, humor, and honesty never go out of style.
