Recommendations of the Editorial team
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There are some notable cameo appearances in “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story,” the 2004 comedy starring Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn. David Hasselhoff appears briefly as the angry German coach of the Blitzkrieg team. Lance Armstrong plays himself and convinces Vaughn’s character Peter LaFleur not to give up. “I once thought about quitting when I was diagnosed with brain, lung and testicular cancer – “all at the same time,” he tells him. “But I’m sure you have a good reason to stop!”
The biggest appearance in the film, however, is made by Chuck Norris, who plays himself – as a member of the arbitration board of the American Dodgeball Association of America (ADAA). At the Las Vegas International Dodgeball Open, Vaughn’s team Average Joes is forced to withdraw from the match, making the Globo Gym Purple Cobras – Ben Stiller’s team under the name White Goodman – the winners. But as Stephen Root’s character notes to Dodgeball Chancellor William Shatner, the judges can overturn the ban on the game.
The other two judges—Mr. Chelsea and Mrs. Lewis—vote a tie, and Norris shatters the standoff like a jawbone in karate. It’s a crucial moment because with his vote, Norris lets the underdogs win. He holds up both thumbs. “This is BIG nonsense!” Goodman shouts, while LaFleur smiles and says, “Thanks, Chuck Norris.” A winking Norris salutes. “Thanks you“Peter.”
Norris initially refused
When Norris looked back on the role in 2012, he said he initially turned down Stiller. “I was in LA when they asked me to do the cameo – I said no at first because it would have been a three-hour drive to Long Beach,” he said. “Then Ben Stiller calls. He says, ‘Chuck, please, you have to do this for me!’ My wife said he should send me a helicopter and that’s exactly what happened. I didn’t read the script, I just did my part where I gave the thumbs up. When the movie comes out, we go see it. It’s cute, a little risqué in places.”
Norris also talked about the end credits scene in which an obese Goodman eats junk food and watches TV – a commercial for LaFleur’s newly renovated Average Joe’s Gym is playing on the TV. “Fuckin’ Chuck Norris!” Goodman says to himself. “My mouth stayed open,” Norris said. “I said, ‘Holy shit!’ That was a shock, Ben hadn’t told me about it!” A year after “Dodgeball” hit theaters, the “Chuck Norris Facts” became an internet sensation and made him one of the first meme stars ever.
Mostly they featured Norris from his “Walker, Texas Ranger” era, with over-the-top jokes about his kicks or his masculinity in general (“Chuck Norris has to get the flu shot once a year,” was one of them). Norris’s appearance in “Dodgeball” played no small part in this, and the Internet shouted “Fucking Chuck Norris!” quoted just as enthusiastically as “Nobody makes me bleed my own blood” or “If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball”.
With the news of Norris’ death at age 86, we all remember that unforgettable cameo and are grateful that Stiller sent that helicopter out at the time. Thank you, Chuck Norris.
