Why Austin Nichols Cast Reggie Bush In His New Movie ‘The Salamander King’

For Nichols, it’s his feature directorial debut, while Reggie — an ex-NFL star — makes his acting debut in the film.

Speaking with TooFab following the movie’s world premiere at the Dallas International Film Festival, Nichols and star Adrianne Palicki opened up about casting Bush in his first acting role, Nichols’ underdog story inspiration for the project … and which of them actually has a killer golf game.

The Salamander King is an indie-comedy film following Ray Mueller, the owner of an Austin golf course who comes together with friends to save the beloved business from closing down for good.

One notable cameo in the film comes from Bush, who appears in a commercial the friends create help save the course. However, the director revealed that Bush’s appearance wasn’t originally a part of the plan.

“It was really interesting because it wasn’t really in part of the original script,” he said. “But we started talking to Reggie because we were looking for … there’s this scene in the movie where Adrianne has a fight about a famous football game, so we kind of started the possibility if we could get Reggie or maybe some other players. And we hadn’t written it yet, but we kind of had a plan.”

“And then once we realized that Reggie was interested, we dove in, we wrote it, and the whole thing came about, but it came about late in the game,” he continued. “I think we’d already, during pre-production, we already started shooting before we knew if it would really happen.”

Nichols went on to call Bush’s cameo a “happy accident.”

“It was one of those things that is scary, but was a happy accident,” Nichols told TooFab. “And then it turned out really funny and we were so happy to have him and he’s just so lovely.”

Bush’s wife Lilit Bush also makes an appearance in the film — with Nicols saying he had her audition after finding out she was an actress.

“He and his wife, they’re both lovely and we’re so happy they’re in the movie,” the One Tree Hill alum added.

With its hilarious plot and diverse characters, Nichols said he drew inspiration from underdog stories he’s always loved.

“One that I think about a lot that is like a big studio version of our movie is Dodgeball,” he said. “And it was something we talked about because there are similarities.”

The 45-year-old actor/director said he was also inspired by another “deep cut movie,” the 1983 film Local Hero starring Burt Lancaster and Peter Riegert.

“It’s one of the most charming, lovable movies you’ll ever see. I ask, I beg everybody to watch it,” he said. “It really, really inspired me.”

Palicki then cut in, jokingly adding, “You never asked me to watch it! I’m just hearing about this now!”

TooFab had to ask about the pair’s off-screen golf game.

“Well, I can putt! I think I did it four times in two of the four,” exclaimed Palicki.

Although her golf game looks natural on-camera, Palicki said she felt the intimidation of being in the spotlight doing it in front of a large group during filming. “And the sun’s going down and it was like so much pressure,” she said, before praising her golfer-director.

“He’s also a great coach because he plays golf and he knows what he’s doing,” she said. “So you just made one adjustment and I made it. And that reaction in the movie is a genuine… absolute genuine reaction of me going, cause I had no idea I could ever do that.”