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Brian Cox on Playing Golf With Serena Williams for ‘Caddyshack’-Themed Super Bowl Commercial

'That was daunting to start with, to stand next to Serena Williams and watch her fully concentrate playing golf with as much commitment as she played tennis,' the Succession star says of his latest Michelob Ultra clip

By John Lonsdale

John Lonsdale

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February 12, 2023

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Michelob ULTRA - Brian Cox-Serena

Courtesy Michelob ULTRA

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When Golden Globe winner Brian Cox appears in Michelob Ultra’s Caddyshack-themed Super Bowl commercial on Sunday, fans might have a hard time believing the Succession star isn’t exactly a big golfer. “I’d have to take up golf in a very quiet and a very secluded place so I don’t make a total tit of myself,” Cox tells Rolling Stone with a laugh of picking up the sport after starring in the ad.

Inspired by the the Eighties comedy classic starring Rodney Dangerfield, Chevy Chase, and Ted Knight, the new ad sees Cox hitting the links with costars including tennis legend Serena Williams, as well as athletes like Jimmy Butler, Alex Morgan, Tony Romo, Nneka Ogwumike, and Canelo Alvarez.

“I was particularly delighted to be channelling Ted Knight because I’m huge fan of Ted Knight’s,” Cox says. “And you know from the Mary Tyler Moore Show I remember him as that sort of hysterical announcer he played in that show — very funny … And in Caddyshack, he’s the engine really by which the film comes to its conclusion, so I was delighted to be doing that.”

Cox continued, “And it was daunting, the idea that I’m going to be playing golf with — I mean, I’m not a golfer by any stretch of the imagination, and thank god she’s not a golfer either — one of the greatest female athletes of all time. So that was daunting to start with, to stand next to Serena Williams and watch her fully concentrate playing golf with as much commitment as she played tennis. Now I’m not sure she is completely in love with playing golf but I didn’t go there [laughs].”

When the Michelob Ultra spot airs during Sunday night’s game, it’ll mark Cox’s debut in a Super Bowl commercial. Although Cox says he “literally grew up 15 minutes from where golf was created in St Andrews,” he says he wasn’t exactly sure if he was going to take the gig right away. “I had no idea what the Super Bowl meant, I mean, because as you can hear by my accent I’m Scotch. Our football is over a different variety all together,” Cox says, laughing.

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After he got the offer, the Emmy winner says his sons ultimately convinced him to do it. Over a few days of filming in Miami, Florida, Cox explains that he was “mainly trying to focus on my golf swing, to be honest with you. … As long as I get my swing right, as long as they don’t see me contacting the ball, I’ll be fine. And that’s what they can do, I can do my swing, cut, hit the ball, and then off! So I knew that the editor would be on my side trying to make me look as good as possible. Not too good because I have to lose. So in a way I was in the hands of the production very much so in that way. And it was a very joyous occasion.”

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You can watch Cox and Williams go head-to-head in Michelob Ultra’s Caddyshack-themed commercial when the Super Bowl airs on Feb. 12 on Fox, or by watching the Super Bowl livestream with a fuboTV free trial.

Buy Stream Super Bowl on fuboTV $69.99

Following the Super Bowl, Cox will reprise his award-winning role once again as Logan Roy when Succession Season Four airs March 26 on HBO Max.

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