Chris Jericho went after the role of Jinx in “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” didn’t get it and still managed to force his way into the show. The producers liked his audition enough to create a new scene and write Jericho into the series as himself.
Jericho revealed the wild casting detour during an interview with The Wrestling Classic. He originally wanted to play Jinx, but losing the role didn’t end the conversation.
“Yeah, it was great. I actually auditioned for the role of Jinx and, obviously, I didn’t get it. But with the audition, they really liked what I did, so they actually wrote that scene, wrote me into that scene and wrote that kind of part in there.”
Hollywood still got its cut in. Jericho said his part was originally much bigger before the editing process chopped it down. He also wasn’t immediately thrilled by the idea of playing himself and wrestling on the show. Then he heard Nicole Kidman, Nick Offerman and Elle Fanning were involved, and that hesitation disappeared real fast.
“Originally, it was bigger, but that’s the Hollywood experience. A lot of times, they edit stuff down. At first, I was like, ‘I don’t know if I want to play myself and wrestle.’ Then it was Nicole Kidman, Nick Offerman and Elle Fanning. I was like, ‘Where do I sign up?’ What an amazing experience.”
Jericho wasn’t brought in to teach the cast how to wrestle because Chavo Guerrero already had that job locked down as the show’s wrestling coordinator. Instead, Jericho’s job was to make the audience believe he and Jinx had some serious history.
“It wasn’t so much bringing wrestling knowledge there because Chavo Guerrero was the wrestling coordinator for all of them. For me, it was more about doing a good scene, and that’s what it was all about.”
“My part wasn’t so much the wrestling. It was more of the backstory between Jinx and Jericho. You see a glimpse of that, and you know that these guys have a history.”
The final scene only runs about two minutes, but Jericho isn’t treating it like some disposable cameo. The part didn’t exist before his audition, and he believes the reaction proved the producers made the right call by finding another way to use him.
“It went over really well. Man, that show is super, super popular and very much has a spotlight shown on it. It’s the old adage: there are no small parts, only small actors. Even though it was a small part, it was still a two-minute scene that I was involved in, and it went really well.”
Jericho also isn’t shutting the door on coming back. The show only gave viewers a taste of what happened between him and Jinx, and he believes there’s plenty of meat left on that bone.
“Like I said, it was not supposed to be in there. They added that for me. So, who knows? Maybe there’ll be more. If they wanted to do more of the backstory of Jinx and Jericho, there’s definitely a lot we could do.”
Then Jericho slipped in one more tease. He said the two-day shoot may have already helped him land more Hollywood work, but he kept the details to himself.
“Either way, it was an awesome experience just to be involved with actors of that caliber. You learn from people like that. Once again, it was still a two-day shoot, so you’re learning. It was a really big opportunity for me, and it hopefully will lead to some more—and it kind of already has in a lot of ways.”
Jericho walked in trying to become Jinx and walked out with a role created specifically for him, a scene opposite a loaded cast and more acting opportunities already brewing behind the curtain. That’s one hell of a consolation prize.
Should “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” bring Chris Jericho back and dig deeper into his history with Jinx? Drop your thoughts and feedback in the comments.
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