Norm Macdonald was a strange guy. Honestly, that’s why we loved him. When he showed up as Frank in Billy Madison, most people didn't really know what to make of him yet. It was 1995. Adam Sandler was just starting his transition from "the guy on SNL who sings about Chanukah" to a global movie titan. Norm? He was the guy at the back of the class making everyone uncomfortable by staring a second too long.
In the movie, Norm plays Frank. Frank is basically a professional loiterer. He spends his days sitting by a luxury pool, wearing a dirty t-shirt, and wondering if a donkey would enjoy a beer. It’s a small role. Tiny, really. But for a certain generation of comedy fans, Norm Macdonald in Billy Madison is the secret ingredient that makes the whole movie work.
He wasn't acting. Well, he was, but barely.
The "Method Acting" of a Lazy Genius
There’s a legendary story about Norm on the set of Billy Madison. Sandler actually told this one to Conan O'Brien a while back. They were filming one of the pool scenes—you know the ones, where the "sunscreen" looks like white house paint. Sandler said his line and waited for Norm to "ping-pong" the dialogue back.
Nothing.
Sandler waited. He figured Norm was just "milking" the pause. Norm loved a long, awkward silence. But then Sandler looked closer. Norm was actually asleep. Just dead to the world in a lounge chair while the cameras were rolling.
👉 See also: The Entire History of You: What Most People Get Wrong About the Grain
When they woke him up, Norm didn't apologize. He just said the director told him to play a "lazy, drunk guy," so he decided the best way to do that was to get actually drunk and fall asleep. He called it method acting. Director Tamra Davis later admitted she wasn't even sure who he was at first. She thought he might be a homeless guy who wandered onto the set.
That’s the essence of Norm Macdonald in Billy Madison. He existed in a completely different reality than the rest of the cast. While Bradley Whitford was playing a high-stakes corporate villain and Sandler was doing his "baby talk" routine, Norm was just... there.
Why Frank Still Matters
Most comedies from the mid-90s aged like milk. They're loud, they're frantic, and they try way too hard. Frank doesn't try at all.
Think about the "Meg Ryan or Jack Nicholson" scene. It’s a classic Norm bit. He asks Billy who he’d rather "bone": Meg Ryan or a 1974-era Jack Nicholson. It’s a bizarre, non-sequitur question that serves no plot purpose. But the way Norm delivers it—with that specific, Canada-inflected gravel in his voice—makes it the funniest ten seconds in the film.
He had this way of making the most "insanely idiotic things" (to quote the movie’s principal) sound like they were deeply important.
✨ Don't miss: Shamea Morton and the Real Housewives of Atlanta: What Really Happened to Her Peach
The Weird Chemistry of the "Sandler Circle"
People forget how much Billy Madison was a family affair. You had:
- Adam Sandler (The star and NYU alum)
- Chris Farley (The legendary bus driver)
- Robert Smigel (The SNL writer and voice of Triumph)
- Norm Macdonald (The dry-wit anchor)
Norm and Sandler were close. They shared a specific, "low-brow" sensibility that critics absolutely hated at the time. The New York Times didn't get why a grown man burning a bag of dog poop on a porch was funny. Norm got it. He knew that the funniest thing in the world is often the thing that makes "serious" people the angriest.
Behind the Scenes Chaos
It wasn't all lounging by the pool. Filming took place in Ontario, Canada, during a time when the SNL cast was basically a traveling circus. They all stayed at the same hotel—the same one where Chris Farley and David Spade were filming Tommy Boy at the very same time.
Can you imagine that lobby?
Tamra Davis recalled parties that would turn into impromptu sketch sessions. One night, Farley supposedly stripped naked in a hallway just to see if he could make Sandler laugh. Norm was usually the observer in these situations. He’d sit in the corner, take a drag of a cigarette, and say something so cutting and dry that it would stop the room.
🔗 Read more: Who is Really in the Enola Holmes 2 Cast? A Look at the Faces Behind the Mystery
His character, Frank, was supposed to be a loser. But in Norm's hands, Frank became a philosopher of the mundane. When he says, "October," after Billy asks what day it is, he isn't just being dumb. He’s playing a man for whom time has no meaning because he has no responsibilities. It’s aspirational, in a weird, gross way.
What Most People Get Wrong
A lot of "retrospectives" try to claim that Norm Macdonald in Billy Madison was a calculated career move. It wasn't. Norm didn't do "calculated." He did things because his friends asked him to, or because he thought it would be funny to get paid for sleeping in a chair.
He didn't care about "building a brand." If he had, he probably wouldn't have spent his entire time on Weekend Update making jokes about O.J. Simpson until the NBC executives fired him. He was a "comic's comic." He was the guy other comedians watched from the wings.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Creators
If you're a fan of comedy, there are a few things you can actually learn from Norm's performance here:
- Commitment is everything. Even if the role is "lazy drunk," commit to it so hard that the director thinks you're actually a vagrant.
- The "Slow Play" works. In a world of fast-paced TikTok humor, the "Norm Pause" is a superpower. Don't be afraid of the silence.
- Surround yourself with "your" people. Sandler didn't cast the "best" actors for those roles; he cast the people who made him laugh the most. That chemistry is why the movie is a cult classic 30 years later.
If you haven't seen the movie in a while, go back and watch Frank. Don't look at Billy. Just look at Frank in the background of the pool scenes. He’s usually doing something weird—staring at a swan, nodding at nothing, or looking like he’s trying to remember if he left the stove on in a house he doesn't own.
Norm Macdonald didn't need a lead role to steal a movie. He just needed a lounge chair and a very specific question about Jack Nicholson.
Next Steps:
- Watch the "Meg Ryan" clip on YouTube to see the exact timing of Norm's delivery.
- Compare Frank to Norm’s later role in Dirty Work to see how he evolved from a "freeloading buddy" to a leading man (who still acted like a freeloading buddy).
- Look up the 1995 SNL episodes filmed around the same time to see the "high-energy" Norm vs. the "pool-side" Norm.