Scott Bakula and Kathy Ireland talk 'Necessary Roughness' at 30

Necessary Roughness stars Scott Bakula and Kathy Ireland look back at the football film 30 years after its release.

Video Transcript

- Tattoo somebody.

- Hey, over here.

- Let's go, Max.

Move it. Move it. Come on. Hit it. Hit it!

KEVIN POLOWY: Happy 30th birthday to one of your babies-- The 1991 sports comedy "Necessary Roughness," one of the better football movies made in my humble opinion. It definitely the opinion of 12-year-old me when I first saw it in 1991. 30 years later, how do you look back at this one now?

SCOTT BAKULA: It was a great experience. And it was insanity. But I don't regret it for a second because we had a ball. What a bunch of characters, some great friendships that I've had from that movie to today. And it had kind of as held up. I think you know, I haven't seen it in a while, but people are always stopping me on the street, and talking about "Necessary Roughness."

KATHY IRELAND: It was so much fun making "Necessary Roughness." And it's-- it's hard to believe it was 30 years. And my character, Lucy Draper, she was a kicker. And it took years for that vision to manifest itself. But I'm so excited that it happened with the amazing Sarah Fuller in 2020, when she became the first woman to score in a power 5 game. And what a champion she is.

KEVIN POLOWY: At the time, there had never been a woman to play college football. Did that feel oppressive to you, guys, at the time?

SCOTT BAKULA: Oh, yeah. Nobody had even contemplated it. And of course, the fact that they cast Kathy to do it was-- in the tone of the piece, it was perfect. That was early on in the female reporters in the locker rooms, and we had a female athlete in the locker room. And when you look back on, it's like, well, that's relevant. And certainly, she did a great job with that.

KATHY IRELAND: I'll tell you something that-- that I don't share because it's a little bit embarrassing. When I read the script, I didn't realize it was a comedy. I thought it was a drama. It's like, well, yeah. She's a kicker on a football team. I was telling one of my husband's friends. It's like, "oh it's a comedy, right?" "No. It's a drama."

[LAUGHS]

And I'm very literal. And it was so much fun. I was basically in football camp for two months, and I learned to kick a football through the 30 yard line. I had an amazing stunt double. Such a brave high school kicker, who took on that role, and got teased a lot because he had to shave his legs, and wear a wig, and all that.

But-- but I did actually get to do some serious kicking. And it was an amazing experience.

KEVIN POLOWY: The movie didn't get great reviews when it came out, much to-- much to the chagrin of-- of young me at the time. It has like a 33% on Rotten Tomatoes. Well, I feel like there's a lot of love for this movie, especially when you look back at it. How did that feel at the time, though? Did you get-- do you, guys, feel like it was like a little underappreciated at the time?

SCOTT BAKULA: The movie changed a little bit in the course of making the movie, and the Major League did up, if you will.

- Just a bit outside.

SCOTT BAKULA: So having been in that franchise, I wish they hadn't done that. But all of a sudden, things that weren't ever in a script that I read were all of a sudden on the screen. And I don't know if it would have been more successful if it didn't have some of the goofiness that they kind of added. But that wasn't my-- certainly my call to make.

- By the way, quarterback Paul Blake is the only armadillo who was alive when the Beatles were still together.

KEVIN POLOWY: What can you say about how this project first came into your life? I mean, you've done a couple of other movies and television projects by this point, right? How confident did you feel in your acting, at the time?

KATHY IRELAND: Not-- not at all. You're very kind. And I-- I share with people I'm not an actress. I have the movies to prove it. I love this movie. There are certainly actors who were far stronger than me in this. My goodness. But what a fun experience. And it helped me pay my bills, and I'm very grateful for that.

KEVIN POLOWY: It almost feels like a rite of passage, like every actor has to do a sports movie. I mean, were you a big sports guy?

SCOTT BAKULA: Oh, yeah. Yeah. I played all kinds of sports growing up. So it actually felt perfectly natural to me, although football wasn't my-- my first sport. I would have been more handy in a tennis movie or a soccer movie.

KEVIN POLOWY: I mean, it looks like you're legitimately throwing spirals. I mean, did you feel-- did you feel like you-- you-- you upped your game for this?

SCOTT BAKULA: I upped my game for sure. But I had a lot of help too. So all I can remember is the first day of-- I guess it was practice. We're out there, playing all these semi pro football players and a bunch of college players, and I'm not a football player. And I was never a quarterback when I played football.

So I was nervous. And my first pass, you know, was-- was not good. And all I heard were the duck calls going up all over the field.

[LAUGHS]

You do the best you can, and then they have somebody come in and throw the bombs for you that are gorgeous.

- He got it in and out of his hand.

SCOTT BAKULA: And I got hurt the first day of shooting football. The first scene was I get blindsided by 2 linemen. I did a lot of my own stuff in that movie, and the two guys that landed on me, and they were doing it with care but they were still 250 pounds each or whatever. My right shoulder was underneath them.

And I remember just hearing little violin strings plucking away in my shoulder. And it was day one. And then I had to throw for the rest-- for the next 8 weeks, or 10 weeks, or whatever it was. My shoulder is never the same. That's never been the same.

KEVIN POLOWY: At one point, you guys scrimmage against the Texas State Penitentiary, whose members were all played by these NFL greats. You had Dick Butkus, Jerry Rice, Jim Kelly, Tony Dorsett, Ed "Too Tall" Jones. You said you were just becoming a big football fan making this film. But were you excited to meet those guys?

KATHY IRELAND: What great guys. I mean, every one of them. And it was funny because they're dressed as a prison team, and they were good actors. Because these guys were tough and just fierce. But you know, once you got talking to them, really kind guys, all of them. It was a lot of fun. And they were great sports, doing this.

SCOTT BAKULA: So I think we only shot one-- one day. It's just a surreal thing. And it's one of those experiences you could never imagine as an actor being involved in, and then lining up across from these guys. And they're going into their-- their rage, and they're acting. You know, and I'm thinking I hope nobody forgets it's a movie, fellows.

As they were spitting and growling and doing their whole thing. And I'm going--

KEVIN POLOWY: They already y ruined my shoulder.

[LAUGHS]

SCOTT BAKULA: Yeah. I'm going to get you, and they're coming for me, you know. Again, on the bad football team. And I just remember looking across it Too Tall Jones, and having to saying like, "he's not really going to kill me, is he? You know, he's not. He's just-- he's going to do that-- he's doing-- he's going to play his part And. " We just had it. It was a ball. It was really, really a ball.

- I don't feel so good. I think I swallowed a finger.

[MUSIC PLAYING]