Jake Johnson goes head-to-head with a tennis hall-of-famer—the 2003 U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick—in the big, climactic scene of The Dink, a new sports comedy that began streaming on Apple TV today.

“Andy can place the ball exactly where he wants every time,” Johnson told Decider, in a recent junket interview. “I think our director, Josh [Greenbaum], figured we both could. But that was not a natural skill I had! So that was a lot of anxiety.”

Lucky for Johnson, it wasn’t tennis balls that Roddick was serving up. It was plastic, pickle-green, with holes like Swiss cheese—in other words, a pickleball. The Dink, directed by Greenbaum and written by Sean Clements, stars Johnson (who also produced the film) as Dusty, a washed-up, former pro-tennis player who, like most tennis players, looks down on pickleball. But when a series of events leads him to start playing the game himself (alongside co-star and potential love interest Mary Steenburgen), he comes to appreciate the sport as more than just as an easy game for old people.

Dusty’s old rival, Andy Roddick—who plays himself in the movie—does not agree. “I think Andy Roddick is similar to the character of Andy Roddick, and he thinks [pickeball] is just like tennis, but worse, and easier,” Johnson told Decider with a laugh.

Johnson and his Dink co-star Aaron Chen—an Australian stand-up comedian who plays Dusty’s loyal friend PJ—spoke to Decider about playing a tennis pro in pickleball, and the alternate ending where Johnson and Steenburgen’s characters almost got together.

DECIDER: Aaron, what was your impression of PJ when you first read the script? And Jake, as a producer on the film, why did Aaron felt like the right person to play him?

AARON CHEN: I read it and I was kind of shocked that [PJ] was so similar to my comedic sensibilities and voice. I didn’t have to really stretch much to play PJ. I just kind of read it out loud, and it was funny to me. 

JAKE JOHNSON: He brought a lot of extra heat, too. Let’s be honest. Sean [Clements], our writer, wrote such a funny movie, and PJ was always the breakout. When we started doing table reads, we were trying to find it. There were so many different variations of PJ. Everybody was funny with it. But I had personally been a fan of Aaron for about a decade. I really thought he would have a really unique spin on the character. And boy did he. I think it’s the real secret sauce of the movie. 

AC: It was down to the wire. It was, like, the final two for the role was me and [Emmy-winning Scottish actor] Brian Cox, and we really–

JJ: They did a chemistry read. 

AC: In the end- 

JJ: You beat him. 

AC: He said I was the better actor. 

[Laughs.] You weren’t feeling it with Brian?

JJ: Well, we were. Brian Cox declined. He said, “No one can outdo Aaron Chen as PJ,” and he walked out of the room. 

AC: [Laughs.] Yeah, and he was crying a little. 

JJ: And the network was like, “We already offered it to you, Brian!” [Laughs.]

Jake, I have to ask, did you and Andy Roddick—who won the 2003 US Open and plays himself in the film—play a real pickleball game? What does Andy think of pickleball? 

JJ: We didn’t really play a real game, because it was all choreographed. But we actually had to play every point. So it was even weirder. Everything would be scripted where the ball was supposed to go, and we were expected to do that. if I was with another actor, we would have the pressure taken off—like, we’re both figuring it out. But Andy can place the ball exactly where he wants every time. I think our director, Josh [Greenbaum], figured we both could. But that was not a natural skill I had! So that was a lot of anxiety.

I think Andy does not have a lot of respect for pickleball. [Laughs.] I think Andy Roddick is similar to the character of Andy Roddick, and he thinks [pickeball] is just like tennis, but worse, and easier. 

What is it like getting by Mary Steenburgen?

JJ: A dream come true.

Were there many takes where she went a little harder?

JJ: I kept asking for more. I thought it was wonderful. I think everything working with her was great. She is so funny and so talented, and just the kindest person. So being slapped by somebody who’s genuinely a good person somehow feels better.

Maybe I’m a romantic, but I was actually rooting for you guys to have a real romance. Would you have been on board for real romance between those characters? 

JJ: It’s funny, this is the first time it’s come up, but in different versions of the draft, we had different endings. There was a version that Candace and Dusty at the end are giving it a shot. Right before we started, the director polled a bunch of people in the production office. He’s said, “My gut’s telling me we don’t go that route. It’s a different movie and it is less fun.” And a part of me was like, “Aww.” But in seeing it, I go, “Yeah, that’s what it should be.”