NEED TO KNOW
Ben Stiller executive-produced the new HBO Original Documentary Series Born to Bowl, which follows five bowlers on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour
Although he admits he’s not the best bowler, Stiller tells PEOPLE the sport has a special place in his heart
The series airs weekly on HBO, with its final episode dropping April 13 at 9 p.m. ET
Ben Stiller is a successful actor, producer and director, but when it comes to bowling, he could use a little more practice.
“I’ve had to bowl in public a couple times, the last time being at the premiere for this show [Born to Bowl] where the guys asked me if I would do the ceremonial first ball and I gutterballed it… of course,” Stiller tells PEOPLE of the HBO Original Documentary Series Born to Bowl, which he executive-produced.
Still, the sport, which is the subject of the five-part series that premiered on March 16, served as an important part of the multi-hyphenate’s career.
The ‘Born to Bowl’ poster.
Credit: HBO
“The first short film I made that I ended up getting on Saturday Night Live when I was starting out was a takeoff on The Color of Money, the Martin Scorsese and Tom Cruise movie about pool that was a sequel to The Hustler that I made with my friends about bowling,” he says. “So, I have a real warm place in my heart for bowling.”
Stiller sold his film The Hustler of Money to SNL before joining the cast for a four-episode-long stint in 1989.
More than three decades later, Stiller revisits the sport with the docuseries that follows five bowlers on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour, revealing the realities of life on the road.
“These guys who are the best in the world — the best in the U.S. — and what the reality of their lives is, which is pretty much 180 degrees from the reality of these other people who are at the top of their sport,” Stiller says of the players, who win $100,000 at the PBA Championship versus the more than $4 million purse at professional golf’s Masters Tournament. “It was a little bit shocking to me that these guys have to do what they have to do just to survive on the bowling tour.”
Ben Stiller at the ‘Born to Bowl’ premiere.
Credit: Marion Curtis / StarPix for HBO
Kyle Troup, a 12-time PBA Champion, says he hopes the series helps bring more attention to the sport.
“I’ve been grinding for a long time. We have our monthly salaries from our sponsors and stuff that can make a nice living. But at the end of the day, we’re bowling week-in and week-out for $30,000 or $100,000 for a major,” Troup tells PEOPLE. “So, I think that’s going to help the documentary and just the show itself to show what we’re going through for what we can win and then the people that we are and the hearts that we have. And I think that’s just going to make people fall in love with the documentary and bowling even more.”
Bowling has been a part of Troup’s life since he was a kid. Known as the “Pro with the Fro” due to his signature hairstyle, Troup grew up watching his father Guppy Troup bowl in competitions around the country. In 2026, Guppy became a member of the PBA Hall of Fame.
“It’s fun,” Troup says of the sport. “Heck, I mean, you get to have some pizza, have some good bowling alley food, go bowl, get competitive with your family and obviously for my family, it was more than competitive, it was my dad’s job…. but I feel like it’s just such an easy, accessible sport.”
Kyle Troup in ‘Born to Bowl’
Credit: HBO
Stiller acknowledges that the accessibility of bowling might be why some Americans take the sport “for granted a little.”
“So it’s nice to see these guys getting the attention that they deserve and the respect that they deserve,” he says.
“We all are trying to do our thing in life and you’re not always going to get the attention or the respect or maybe how you might think that people should react to something you’re doing,” Stiller adds. “But these guys, they do it because they love the sport, they’re dedicated to it, and they want to be the best…. I support giving them their flowers, as they say.”
Born to Bowl airs weekly on HBO, with the final two episodes airing April 6 and April 13 at 9 p.m. ET.
Read the original article on People
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