Actor Luke Wilson Says He's Nervous for His Super Bowl Commercial Debut
*By Chloe Aiello*
Luke Wilson is taking a short break from Hollywood. A commercial break. The "Rushmore" and "Old School" actor is starring in his first Super Bowl commercial, and he says the 30-second Colgate spot will probably get more views than any of his movies.
"I think more people will see this than any movie I've ever been in for sure," Wilson told Cheddar on Friday.
Wilson stars in Colgate's humorous, 30-second spot as an office "close talker," walking and talking in uncomfortably close proximity with his colleagues. He said the process of filming the commercial was like "doing a good SNL skit, while at the same time trying to get \[across\] the point of Colgate Total and that it does more for your mouth."
Wilson might be a veteran of the big screen, but even he admitted "it's definitely nerve-wracking" to star in a commercial that [more than 100 million people](https://cheddar.com/videos/pepsi-frito-lay-cmos-preview-brands-super-bowl-commercials) are expected to watch.
"In the old days there might be one or two commercials that people mentioned, but nowadays they're as popular as the game and people talk about them as much as the game," Wilson said.
And that's a good thing for the brands, which can pay up as much as $5 million for a 30-second spot, [according to Statista](https://www.statista.com/statistics/217134/total-advertisement-revenue-of-super-bowls/). It's Colgate's second year running an ad in the Super Bowl ー and the stakes are high. The oral hygiene company is relaunching its flagship brand, Colgate Total, and wanted to do it with a bang. The goofiness of Wilson's commercial in stark relief to the more serious ad Colgate aired during the 2016 Super Bowl, which implored people to conserve water as they brushed their teeth.
"Usually seems like the \[commercials\] with humor do well ーthose are the ones where people kind of repeat them or they can become kind of those zeitgeist moments," Wilson said, adding that he hopes the Colgate commercial will be one that sparks discussion.
So which team is Wilson backing this Sunday? The "adopted Angeleno" said he'll be rooting for his home team, the underdog Los Angeles Rams.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/luke-wilson-talks-first-super-bowl-commercial).
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This comes just a few weeks after the NFL was rocked by leaked emails showing now-former Las Vegas Raiders Head Coach Jon Gruden using racist, sexist and homophobic language. He resigned soon after the emails came to light. We can't forget, though, that those emails come from a much broader investigation of the toxic work environment in the offices of the Washington Football Team. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said this week the league wouldn't publicly release anything from its investigation of the team, but lawyers for many of the women interviewed in the case say they want a public report.
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If you believe in the phrase "where there's smoke, there's fire," professional sports is a five-alarm blaze.
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