Cleo King on The Dink Movie: How She Booked Gail on a Pickleball Court, Learned the Game from Brad Gilbert, and Never Put the Paddle Down

We all love a Gail. We've met her at open play, we've been her on a bad-line-call day, and we've absolutely texted the group about her afterward. We love her enough that we tracked down the woman behind the Gail character in the movie, The Dink, and brought her to your favorite pickleball happy hour podcast. In this episode, we sit down with Cleo King, the actress who plays Gail in The Dink, to talk about how a same-day audition turned into the role everybody quotes, what a month of learning pickleball from Brad Gilbert looked like before cameras rolled, and what the pickleball community has been telling her since the film came out. We also get into pickleball etiquette, because Cleo has opinions about people who aim at people. Until Jake Johnson called, she'd picked up a paddle twice in her life. Now she plays three times a week, packs three paddles when she travels, and belongs on any honest list of celebrities that play pickleball. In this episode, we talk about: The phone call from Jake Johnson that turned an ordinary drive to Palm Springs into an audition on an actual court Why the casting team wouldn't let Cleo talk to the other women reading for Gail, and what she did anyway What Cleo was more nervous about at the audition, and it wasn't the eleven pages she'd memorized overnight What most of The Dink movie cast had in common before those lessons started, and who the exception was The one adjustment that fixed Cleo's return of serve, which every regular already knows and nobody had told her Where the "do the dishes while you're in there" line came from, and what director Josh Greenbaum said when she asked to try it Why Cleo's pet peeve has nothing to do with the rules and everything to do with where you aim How Casie and Lauren's Dallas screening crowd reacted to the pickleball movie, and the two lines they quoted on the way out The fantasy foursome that includes Ron Howard and Oprah, and the reason Michelle Obama didn't make the cut If you've ever had a Gail in your group, or suspected you might be the Gail, this conversation will make you love her a little more. Pour something cold and press play. Cheers, Casie and Lauren Dinks on Tap Drew Brees Celebrity Pickleball Tournament: https://delmar.wine/event/drew-brees-celebrity-pickleball-tournament/ (Promo Code: DINKSONTAP20 — 20% off Pickleball spectator tickets only) Del Mar Food & Wine Festival: https://delmar.wine/ (Promo Code: DINKSONTAP15 — 15% off all Grand Tasting ticket tiers.) Let’s keep the conversation going! Connect with us: Instagram: @dinksontap Facebook: @DinksonTapWebsite: dinksontap.com Connect with Cleo: Instagram: @cleoking5404  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cleokingactress  Watch Cleo as Gale in The Dink on Apple TV. She's the one running the country club, and the dishes line is worth the price of admission on its own. Cleo plays Big Mama in Nemesis, an eight-episode crime thriller on Netflix. It's already renewed for season two, so there's time to catch up.