Woody Harrelson Once Thought ‘Cheers’ Would Be the End of His Film Career
Actor Woody Harrelson made a name for himself by starring in the hit television series Cheers. But he figured the classic sitcom might be the peak of his career after he couldn’t find any more work.
Woody Harrelson couldn’t find acting work for years while starring in ‘Cheers’
Before he was known for his film career, Harrelson was recognized for his work as Woody Boyd in the 1980s sitcom Cheers. Ironically, the actor wasn’t completely sold on lending his talents to the small screen. But he auditioned for the role, anyway.
“I was 23, and I kind of had an idea that I didn’t want to do television because I generally didn’t like the quality,” Harrelson told The Hollywood Reporter in a 2017 interview.
Harrelson revealed that his Cheers audition successfully, and perhaps surprisingly, convinced the casting director that he suited the role. The show that Harrelson didn’t think he’d be a part of, ended up defining an era in the actor’s life. Even after his movie career flourished, Harrelson remained a cast member for the hit show for all of its 11 seasons.
Transitioning from television to film roles wasn’t easy, however. Harrelson confided that he initially came up short when trying to achieve movie stardom.
“Well for six years during Cheers I couldn’t get another job,” Harrelson once told MovieHole. “So I was getting to the mindset of, ‘Wow, so this is it. I thought the career was just starting and apparently it’s just over.’ Fortunately then, I got a role in Doc Hollywood and then White Men Can’t Jump. Those I was doing during my hiatus from Cheers, and then I did Indecent Proposal during my last hiatus. And then Indecent Proposal came out literally the day after we wrapped Cheers. And then I started work on Natural Born Killers.”
Woody Harrelson took a long break from acting after ‘Cheers’ because of self-destructive desires
Harrelson noticed that he was going down a dangerous path after his Cheers fame. He admitted that the success he received from the show and subsequent film roles wasn’t enough. The Zombieland star wanted more from the film industry, and ironically, the more he got the emptier he felt.
“In Hollywood, whatever you have, it is never enough. I was on Cheers, doing as well as some people can ever hope. Yet I wanted more–wanted to do movies. Then maybe I want to direct movies, succeed in music, as a playwright. It’s all about this self-destructive desire, self-destructive in the sense it never allows you to be comfortable hanging out having a conversation,” Harrelson once told the LA Times.
Afterwards, for the sake of his own mental health, Harrelson decided he needed to take a long break from acting.
“So my decision was, at the end of Cheers, I was doing all that press and I was doing a play that I wrote and directed and acted in that nearly killed me, Furthest From the Sun which played in Los Angeles at the Tiffany Theatre last spring,” Harrelson added. “And then went right into doing Natural Born Killers with Oliver, then doing Cowboy Way right after that. I was ready to be done with it. I moved down to Costa Rica and I haven’t really worked since. I decided I was taking ’94 off. Past that I don’t have any plans.”
Did Woody Harrelson ever consider leaving ‘Cheers’ early?
With his film career taking off, Harrelson could’ve stepped away from his hit sitcom without worrying about hurting his momentum. But instead, The Hunger Games star stuck with the franchise until its very last episode. And in an interview on Take2MarkTV, Harrelson shared that he never once thought about leaving the show early.
“Why leave Cheers? That’d be crazy,” Harrelson said. “Nothing against [Cheers star Shelley Long], I didn’t mean to say it like that. I just never saw the sense of it. It was a great experience from start to finish.”
