AEW commentator and former WWE star Paul Wight has revealed that he landed his memorable role as Captain Insano in the 1998 comedy The Waterboy entirely by accident.
Paul Wight, formerly known as Big Show in WWE and The Giant in WCW, portrayed the eccentric wrestler in the Adam Sandler film, creating a character that remains popular with wrestling fans more than 25 years later.
Speaking with Scott Johnson on News4JAX’s Going Ringside, Wight said he is still developing Captain Insano and hopes to present the character in the best possible way.
“Captain is a lot of fun. We’re still working on that actually. I have a lot of fun with it. Of course, that character was iconic in the movie Waterboy,” Wight said. “I’m going through a lot of hard work to bring that character out, to present that character in its best possible format.”
Wight also praised Sandler, calling him “fantastic” to work with, before explaining the unusual circumstances behind his casting.
Paul Wight Recalls Unexpected Captain Insano Audition
According to Paul Wight, the opportunity came up while WCW was taping a show at Disney in Orlando, Florida. An open casting call was taking place nearby, with several wrestlers auditioning for the Captain Insano character. Wight initially assumed fellow WCW performer Jim Duggan would be the ideal candidate and decided not to audition himself.
“They were doing reads for it in Orlando at Disney. We were doing a [WCW] Worldwide taping then, I think, and I heard that Jim Duggan had read for it because it was on the board,” Wight recalled. “The entire locker room read for it because they were reading all the wrestlers, and it was a open casting call, and their studio was right next door to where we were posted up.”
Wight explained that he thought Duggan’s larger-than-life personality would make him a natural fit for the role. However, an unexpected encounter with the casting director changed everything. While visiting the restroom in the same building, Wight was approached by a woman who recognised that he hadn’t participated in the auditions.
“She says, ‘Who are you?’ And I went, ‘I’m Paul Wight. I’m the Giant.’ She goes, ‘You haven’t read for me.’ I said, ‘No, ma’am.’ … She says, ‘Everybody’s read. Will you please read for me?'”
With no preparation and little knowledge of the character, Wight improvised using an impression of Hulk Hogan.
“I was not prepared at all, like, you know, so I just looked at the, you know, I went in there, looked at the script, and I just said, well, I’ll just rip off Hulk, cuz that’s what I knew at the time,” Wight explained. “So, I went in and did Captain Insano with a Hulk Hogan voice and really didn’t think two seconds about it.”
To his surprise, the casting director immediately told him he had the part.
“And then she says, ‘Oh, congratulations, Captain Insano.’ I’m like, ‘What?'”
Paul Wight recalled returning to Orlando approximately two weeks later to film his scene. He also discussed his earlier acting experience in Reggie’s Prayer, a film featuring Reggie White, Pat Morita and MC Hammer.
“I was the only Caucasian in the film and I was the town drug dealer. So it’s a bad one,” Paul Wight joked.
Despite securing Captain Insano’s original appearance through an unexpected audition, Wight’s latest comments suggest that he remains interested in further developing the character decades after its introduction.
