Adam Scott Says He Thought There Was 'No Way' He Would Land Role in “Step Brothers” Until Another Actor 'Had to Bail'

Adam Scott is sharing more about landing his role in the 2008 film, Step Brothers

NEED TO KNOW

• In a new interview, Scott says another actor was originally slated for the role, but "had to bail"

• Scott plays Derek Huff, the successful and arrogant younger brother of Brennan, played by Will Ferrell

Adam Scottis pulling back the curtain on how he landed one of his most memorable early comedy roles.

Speaking on a recent episode of theBig Bro With Kid Cudipodcast, theSeveranceactor, 52, revealed that getting cast in the 2008 comedyStep Brothershit comedy alongsideWill FerrellandJohn C. Reillycame down to unexpected timing.

The film, directed by now–Oscar winner Adam McKay (The Big Short), tells the ridiculous story of two middle-aged man-children: Brennan (Ferrell) lives with his mom Nancy (Mary Steenburgen) and Dale (Reilly) is still at home with dad Robert (Richard Jenkins). The two butt heads when Nancy and Dale get married, merging the two families under one roof.

Scott plays Derek Huff, Brennan's successful and arrogant younger brother,

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“Man, that was so exciting gettingStep Brothers. Oh my god. I did not think I would get that part,” Scott said on the podcast. “And I think that's probably part of the reason I just went into the audition and just kinda went for it is because I was like, ‘There's no way.’ ”

As he explained, he wasn’t the original choice for the role.

“Someone had the role and then scheduling, they had to bail, so they had to cast it pretty quickly,” he explained. “So I got the part, and suddenly I was like, ‘Holy s----, I'm in this like Will Ferrell movie.’ ”

The comedy was a hit thanks in large part to its absurd humor and heavy reliance on improvisation — something Scott admits he was not prepared for at the time.

“And John C. Reilly and Adam McKay [were] directing, it was a big deal. It was so fun,” Scott said. “It was kind of terrifying because those guys ... they improvise a lot, and they're like the best improvisers in the world.”

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He continued: “And I didn't know what I was doing. I never really even been in a comedy before. I couldn't get auditions for like sitcoms and stuff. Like, I just had no kind of comedy credentials whatsoever.”

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Thrown into the deep end of improv comedy, Scott said he had to learn on the fly.

“So I was there, and so kind of had to learn to figure it out, figure out improvisation on the set ofStep Brothers,” he said. “So I equate it to, like, learning how to do the high jump at the Olympics. You know? It was crazy.”

Despite the initial nerves, the experience ultimately became a turning point.

“But I felt like, I went from having no idea what I was doing to, by the end of the four months or however long the movie took, I felt like I was starting to get the hang of it,” Scott shared.

He added that moment in particular felt like something of a breakthrough.

“I think it was like the dinner scene, and John Reilly and I started improvising about something — I don't think it's even in the movie, but we just started kind of going back and forth and kind of just flowing,” he recalled. “And you're not even thinking about it, you're just going.”

He added: “And towards the end of the shoot, and I remember after cut, John C. Reilly was like, ‘Alright. That was fun. Like, wasn't that cool? That was fun. Right?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, man.’”

Read the original article onPeople

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May 02, 2026

Adam Scott Says He Thought There Was 'No Way' He Would Land Role in “Step Brothers” Until Another Actor 'Had to Bail'

Adam Scott is sharing more about landing his role in the 2008 film, Step Brothers NEED TO KNOW In a new interview,...

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David Allan Coe, Country Music Outlaw and 'Take This Job and Shove It' Songwriter, Dies at 86

David Allan Coe has died at the age of 86

NEED TO KNOW

• Coe died at about 5:08 p.m. on Wednesday, April 29, his representative said in a statement to PEOPLE

• Coe was part of country's outlaw movement in the '70s and was widely criticized for his use of slurs and racial stereotypes in his songs, as well as frequently using the Confederate flag

David Allan Coe has died at the age of 86.

Coe died at about 5:08 p.m. on Wednesday, April 29, his representative said in a statement to PEOPLE.

"David was a Country Music treasure and loved his fans," his rep said. "Most importantly, he was a true outlaw and A great singer, songwriter, and performer."

The country singer-songwriter found fame in the ‘70s as part of the outlaw country music scene, with songs like "You Never Even Called Me by My Name" and "Longhaired Redneck." In the '80s, he scored country hits with "The Ride" and "Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile.” Coe was widely criticized for his use of slurs and racial stereotypes in his songs; he claimed he was not racist. He was also criticized for frequently using the Confederate flag.

Coe was born in Akron, Ohio, in 1939. At age 9, he was sent to reform school and then spent much of the next two decades of his life in correctional facilities. His interest in music began while he was incarcerated. After he was released in 1967, he headed to Nashville to pursue a music career, busking on the street for money.

Coe released his debut album,Penitentiary Blues, in 1970. Though he struggled to find success as a singer, others had hits performing songs he wrote. In 1973,Tanya Tuckercovered his composition, “Would You Lay with Me (In a Field of Stone),” which was a No. 1 country single. Johnny Paycheck also hit No. 1 on the chart in 1977 with Coe’s “Take This Job and Shove It.” The song also garnered Coe his only Grammy nomination.

Coe’s 1974 albumThe Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboywas his first country record. The name was taken from his attire at the time: he would wear a mask and bedazzled jacket and hat for performances.Once Upon a Rhyme, released the following year, had his first successful single, a cover of Steve Goodman's “You Never Even Called Me by My Name" that hit the country Top 10.

In 1976, he releasedLonghaired Redneck, with the title track directly referencing the outlaw country genre. A year later, he releasedRides Again. However, he never found the same sustained mainstream success as others in the sub-genre, likeWillie Nelson. “I did it," he told thePhoenix New Timesin 1993 of his outlaw credentials. "I was singing that stuff for years. I was living it for years. Willie,Waylon [Jennings]— they just got more famous. I was the original outlaw.”

Consistent commercial success continued to elude him in the late '70s and into the early '80s. Then he had a major comeback in 1983 withCastles in the Sand; its single “The Ride" was a Top 10 country hit. "I like good music, I don't care what it's about, as long as it's good music," he toldThe Oklahomanin 1985 about selecting songs. "I'm not limiting myself to singing protest songs. I just know when I hear it if it's a good song or not, or whether I want to sing it or not."

In 1984, he releasedDivorced, which produced the No. 2 country hit “Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile,” his highest-charting single as a performer. “She Used to Love Me a Lot” from 1985'sDarlin', Darlinreached No. 11.

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Coe used slurs and racist stereotypes in his songs throughout his career. Most notably, he released two underground albums in the late '70s and early '80s that made liberal use of hate speech.The New York Timeswrote in 2000, “In the early '80's the outlaw country singer David Allan Coe released very small quantities of two underground albums of songs that are among the most racist, misogynist, homophobic and obscene songs recorded by a popular songwriter.” After the songs were bootlegged for years, Coe began selling them on his website in 2000, though without his name on them.

Coe claimed in a 2000 interview withCountry Standard TimethatThe New York Timesmischaracterized the songs and did not give him a chance to respond. He said that off the record, he had told the outlet “they couldn't call me a racist or White supremacist because that wasn't true."

"I've got a Black drummer who's married to a White chick," Coe toldCountry Standard Time. "I've got [Black former heavyweight boxing champion] Leon Spinks pictures all over my bus, pictures he took with my family. My hair's in dreadlocks. I'm the farthest thing from a White supremacist that anybody could ever be. I'm really [ticked] off, ya know." He claimed that he had previously sold the rights to all his songs in bankruptcy proceedings and that he was no longer making money off of them.

The Austin Chroniclereported at the time that Coe wrote a letter on his website explaining why the albums existed. “I was a young man living with a motorcycle club. . . . I had given up on any commercial success and country radio wouldn't play my songs anyway. . . . I made these albums for bikers to play at parties . . . . Not everyone appreciates biker humor, even in music,” he wrote, adding, “I don't apologize for these albums, because they are very funny, but don't expect me to sing these songs at my shows!"

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Coe released over 40 studio albums in total.

Coe was married six times. For a time in the ‘80s, he claimed to be a Mormon polygamist. In 2010, he married sixth wife Kimberly Hastings, perThe Boot. He had four children, Tyler, Tanya, Shyanne and Carson, with ex-wife Jody Lynn Coe. He also had a daughter Shelli. Tanya also became a musician. Coe’s son Tyler hosted the country music podcastCocaine & Rhinestonesand was Coe’s band leader until his father dismissed him in 2013. Tyler toldGQin 2021 that they had not spoken since.

In 2015,he pleaded guiltyto obstructing the IRS from collecting taxes. In 2016, he was ordered to pay nearly $1 million, per theAssociated Press.

Coe is survived by his wife and children.

Read the original article onPeople

byNito

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May 02, 2026

David Allan Coe, Country Music Outlaw and 'Take This Job and Shove It' Songwriter, Dies at 86

David Allan Coe has died at the age of 86 NEED TO KNOW Coe died at about 5:08 p.m. on Wednesday, April 29, his rep...

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Tori Spelling says this future Oscar winner was 'hysterically crying' after being fired from “Beverly Hills, 90210”

Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth are looking back on Hilary Swank's firing from season 8 of Beverly Hills, 90210.

Key Points

• Spelling recalled the moment Swank broke the news to her on a recent episode of her 90210MG podcast with Garth.

• "She comes into my dressing room, we shut the door, and she said, 'I just got let go. I'm being fired from the show,'" Spelling shared. "And she was hysterically crying."

The road to Oscars glory is apparently paved with disappointment and rejection.

At least it was for Hilary Swank, herBeverly Hills, 90210castmate Tori Spelling detailed on a recent episode of the90210MGpodcast, which she cohosts with former costar Jennie Garth.

The teen soap brought in a stable of fresh faces for its eighth season in 1997, with the star of the crop being Hilary Swank. She'd made a splash as the scrappy single mother Carly Reynolds, and was only three years out from achieving the highest recognition in the field, when she won the Academy Award for Best Actress in the searing dramaBoys Don't Cry.

But Swank only lasted a season on90210before being fired. "Now, everyone out there, please," Spelling cautioned on the podcast, "this is from my perspective and my memory, so I'm not going to get it verbatim, what she said. But this is how I saw it go down."

"We were all in our dressing rooms. Hilary and I had become quite close. I had gone out with her and Chad and we had hung out," Spelling recalled, referencing Swank's then-husband of only a few months, Chad Lowe.

"I was kind of her safe place on set, and she would talk to me about everything," Spelling continued.90210producer Paul Waigner had apparently called Swank in for an impromptu meeting, which got the actress nervous. On this, Spelling had no insight.

"So she goes in and she comes back and she's crying. She comes into my dressing room, we shut the door and she said, 'I just got let go. I'm being fired from the show.' And I was like, 'What?' Because I hadn't heard any of this. We didn't know. And she was hysterically crying."

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Spelling recalled Swank worrying aloud, "'Oh my God, if I get fired off of90210, I'm never going to make it.' And the ironic thing is, if she had stayed on90210, she would not have been able to audition forBoys Don't Cry. She would not have been able to get that role, do that role, and then win the Academy Award."

Garth sagely added, "Things always work out."

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Things did work out for Swank, who gained entry to the exclusive club of actors with multiple Academy Awards only a handful of years after herBoys Don't Crywin, when she won again for her role in Clint Eastwood's boxing drama,Million Dollar Baby.

90210, meanwhile, ran for another two seasons after Swank's exit. The series wrapped following its 10th season in 2000, with Garth and Spelling being among a small group of original stars to remain in the core cast throughout its run.

You can listen to Spelling and Garth's full discussion on the90210MGpodcast above.

Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly

byNito

in

May 01, 2026

Tori Spelling says this future Oscar winner was 'hysterically crying' after being fired from “Beverly Hills, 90210”

Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth are looking back on Hilary Swank's firing from season 8 of Beverly Hills, 90210 . Key Points ...

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