Heels star Mary McCormack revealed that she was not well versed in professional wrestling prior to landing her role as Willie Day, but was initially drawn in by the stories and the “little moments” in the script.
During her appearance at San Diego Comic-Con at Home, Mary McCormack compared Heels to Friday Night Lights, noting that she wasn’t a football fan but ended up becoming a huge fan of that show, and hopes Heels has the same effect with fans now.
McCormack recently spoke with WrestleZone ahead of the series premiere of Heels and was asked if that sentiment grew or changed after filming had wrapped up. McCormack, who plays promoter Willie Day on the show, said that it all comes down to wanting to see a human connection, and that’s what the show does well.
“I think that still holds. I think people watch—no one is watching anything for the obvious stuff. We’re watching it for the connections or watching it for those little moments. You walk into a church you want to know who was married there and who was killed there and who was—you don’t go ‘ooh, look at the buttresses.’ We want to as human beings, we are interested in human beings, we want to sort of see them connect and hurt each other and make up, and all those things. So when I first picked up the script, that’s what hit me.”
“I mean, I was not versed in wrestling at all and I know a lot more now, and I have a great respect now that I didn’t really have before, but I was really attracted to the stories—the family dynamics, the small town, the sort of little moments that are written beautifully by Michael Waldron and Mike O’Malley. I just think they did a great job with that like Friday Night Lights did. I didn’t care about football, I mean not one bit. I didn’t want to watch Friday Night Lights and then I watched one and then I was in, so I hope people feel that way about this. I know I did so I think it will relate. I hope so.”
Heels premieres on STARZ on August 15. You can check out our interviews with other castmembers from the show, including CM Punk talking about creating his Ricky Rabies character at this link, and actor Chris Bauer’s inspiration for his role as Wild Bill Hancock at this link.
.@marycmccormack says she was attracted to the family dynamic and small-town stories on #HeelsSTARZ, and hopes fans see it’s more than just a wrestling show in the same way that #FridayNightLights wasn’t just about football. pic.twitter.com/pepbwhSEk7
— WrestleZone (@WRESTLEZONEcom) August 13, 2021
