In his playing days, John McEnroe was the bad boy of tennis. While he lived up to his moniker, he even backed up his talk with tremendous success in both singles and doubles. The seven-time Grand Slam Champion in singles mesmerized the masses with his exquisite volleying skills at the net and also his iconic catchphrases. If a tennis fan were to come across the words, “You cannot be serious,” they may hear or read it in McEnroe’s voice. 

It is this voice that has remained in everyone’s heads as the tennis legend entered the commentary box and the showbiz world after he hung his racket. Among his many credits is the Netflix Original Series – Never Have I Ever. 

The show features McEnroe as the narrator/inner voice for the teenage Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan). Akin to the three-time Wimbledon champion who serves as her inner voice, she portrays an impulsive hot-headed figure. Hence, the pairing works well and may even appear amusing, as McEnroe appears as a voice of reason at times. 

As McEnroe is serving as the narrator for a high school student’s story, he was quizzed about who he would pick to narrate his own teenage years.

In an exclusive chat with the Los Angeles Times, John McEnroe said, “Jack Nicholson. He’s my favorite actor, so I’d love to hear what his thoughts would be, like [mimicking Nicholson], “Johnny, what are you doing?””

This may not be possible as the three-time Academy Award winner has been on a hiatus since 2010s How Do You Know. 

John McEnroe Even Named Backups to Narrate His Teenage Years

Jack Nicholson (85), serving as the narrator, would have been something extraordinary. However, McEnroe revealed some other names he would pick to serve as the voice of his teenage years. This included two names from the 1970s Charlie’s Angels. 

The tennis legend said, “I love “Charlie’s Angels.” So if we’re going to do something completely bizarre or total opposite where it’s a girl that’s doing teenage John McEnroe thoughts — I mean, it gets complicated with Farrah [Fawcett] because I have a connection… Jaclyn Smith might have been my favorite.”

Besides names from Tinseltown, McEnroe even named an athlete who could provide the words to a potential show about his life in the 70s. This was three-time NBA champion and Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird, with whom he appeared in a 1979 7Up commercial.

“I probably would have thought of someone that was another athlete, like Larry Bird or something, because Larry Bird and I are completely different,” concluded the 4x US Open champion. 

The likes of Jack Nicholson, Jaclyn Smith, Larry Bird, and Farrah Fawcett are huge names. From the quartet, Nicholson, Bird, and Smith could still be approached to narrate a bio series. It could focus on John McEnroe’s high school years and culminate with his insane run from the qualification tournament to the Wimbledon semis as an 18-year-old. 

Such a series about an elite athlete’s younger days is not new or surprising. Audiences have seen it with names such as The Rock (Young Rock) and Michael Jordan (The Last Dance). 

What do you make of John McEnroe’s picks to narrate his teenage times? Could such a series get a green light?