Everybody knows the movie, Major League. A group of lovable losers is brought together with the intention of tanking a season for Cleveland Indians ownership so the owner can sell the team and move them to Miami.
It was released nearly 35 years ago.
The movie gave us some incredible one-liners: “Juuuust a bit outside,” uttered by Bob Ueker’s character Harry Doyle, the broadcaster for the Cleveland Indians, on a pitch about 5 feet off the plate comes to mind.
I’m willing to bet you’ve heard people deliver that line to this day.
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Rene Russo Got Her Start
Besides Uecker, the movie saw actors Charlie Sheen and Wesley Snipes make early contributions to their resumes as players for the MLB team.
What you may not have known is that the world-renowned actress Rene Russo made her acting debut in the movie Major League.
She played Lynn Weslin, the girlfriend of former baseball star, Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger).
Russo would go on to star in countless movies, including Ransom and Lethal Weapon 3 and 4 alongside Mel Gibson. She has a net worth of over $40 million.
But there were some hiccups coming out of the gate.
Had To Have Her Hands Tied … Literally
According to writer-director David S. Ward, Rene Russo had to have her hands tied down to keep from flailing around wantonly during the final scene in Major League.
“The only problem we had with her was she’s Italian,” he explained on the podcast Hollywood Gold.
“And when she gets going there’s a lot of the hands, a lot of the talking with the hands, you know? And they would be flying across her face.”
I can laugh at that. Why? Because my wife is Italian. And there is a zero percent chance she’d argue that claim.
In fact, it was so bad according to Ward, that they tied her hands down at one point.
“I said, ‘Rene, you’ve got to keep the hands down,'” Ward explained in discussing the final scene. “And finally what I did is, I tied them down.”
“I tied them down for the first take and she said, ‘Okay, I think I got it.’ And then I untied them and she was fine,” he added. “Every once in a while I’d have to remind her again.”
Major League is a popular movie choice among guys who enjoy sports, humor, and engaging characters. It’s a chance to see some huge stars at the beginning of their careers. Bounding Into Sports highly recommends re-watching this classic.
