Calling his former costar “astounding,” Danson said Harrelson “bites off these big chunks of life”
Unique Nicole/Getty
Woody Harrelson and Ted Danson attend the Oceana’s 5th Annual “Rock Under The Stars” Event on August 12, 2023 in Hollywood, California.
There’s really no predicting what Woody Harrelson might do.
The 63-year-old actor is what Ted Danson calls a “whimsical creature” — so much so that one of Danson’s “favorite Cheers stories” involves Harrelson doing something quite unexpected.
On Jimmy Kimmel Live on Nov. 14, Danson, 76, recalled the cast of the ’80s sitcom “waiting” around for Harrelson to show up for rehearsals one day, “and he got to be about 30 minutes late for rehearsal. And half an hour is when you’re late back then…. And we were going, ‘Well, what the hell?'”
Related: Ted Danson, Woody Harrelson and the Cast of Cheers Once Played ‘Hooky’ with an ‘Extraordinary Amount of Mushrooms’
“And someone came running in and said, ‘Woody called. He’s in Berlin. The wall is coming down and he didn’t wanna miss it,'” Danson said, recalling the truly incredible excuse his costar had for being late in November 1989.
“That’s the whimsical side of Woody but also the magnificent side. He just bites off these big chunks of life. He’s just astounding.”
NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
Ted Danson as Sam Malone, Woody Harrelson as Woody Boyd on ‘Cheers’
The former costars teamed up recently to launch a joint podcast venture, Where Everybody Knows Your Namewhich Danson previously told PEOPLE is “so much fun” to make.
“We get to reminisce and share and catch up with each other, which is alone enough, but we also have met many people between us who we can talk to and find out what they’re doing, including Senator [John] Kerry who had a small [role] in Cheers and we can talk to him about climate change,” Danson said before the podcast’s premiere. “We can really go anywhere with it.”
Related: Will Arnett and Woody Harrelson Joke Ted Danson Had ‘BDE’ on Cheers (Exclusive)
NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty
ohn Ratzenberger as Cliff Clavin, Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Frasier Crane, Rhea Perlman as Carla Tortelli, Ted Danson as Sam Malone, Kirstie Alley as Rebecca Howe, Woody Harrelson as Woody Boyd, George Wendt as Norm Peterson on ‘Cheers’
The podcast has also offered Harrelson a platform to reflect on the many incredible things he’s done in his life — including naked snowboarding with his longtime friend, the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea.
“I have footage of Woody Harrelson and I snowboarding stark naked down a big snowy mountain,” Flea admitted during an August appearance on the podcast.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Harrelson called it “great footage” before admitting his wife Laura “cautioned [him] against” letting Flea post the video on Instagram.
