Cheech Marin (The War with Grandpa) is heading to the fairway in the upcoming golf drama The Long Game. He’s joined by actor Oscar Nuñez (The Office) to tell a true story about a group of young Mexican-American caddies-turned-golfers in Texas during the mid-1950s.
According to Deadline, The Long Game will follow the story of five caddies who work at an “exclusive golf club where the discriminatory laws of the era forbade them from playing.” Determined to play golf, the boys built their own course in the Texas desert and went on to win the Texas State High School Golf Championship in 1957.
Deadline reports that Marin will play a golf course groundskeeper named Pollo “who sets the young caddies on their journey.” Nuñez’s role is still unknown. Four of the Latino golfers will be played by Gregory Diaz IV (In the Heights), Miguel Ángel Garcia (Promised Land), Christian Gallegos (Dreamer) and José Julián (Narcos: Mexico).
Last week, Gallegos posted a photo of himself at a golf course with the caption, “The gentleman’s game.”
Other Latines who have already been cast in the film include Jay Hernandez (Magnum P.I.), Jaina Lee Ortiz (Station 19) and Jimmy Gonzales (Mayans M.C.). The Long Game will be directed by Julio Quintana from a script adapted from the book Mustang Miracle by Humberto G. Garcia.
In 1996, Cheech Marin starred as Romeo Posar, a golf caddie in the comedy Tin Cup. The film starred Kevin Costner (Dances with Wolves) as a former golfer living in West Texas who attempts a comeback to the sport.