Mary Steenburgen Does Not Feel Bad if You Lost Your Tennis Court to Pickleball

Pickleball, as you might have heard, has in recent years been considered the fastest-growing sport in America. So the combination of the sport’s name, how it’s played—on a tiny court, with a ping-pongish racket, and a wiffle-ish plastic ball—and surging popularity makes it ripe for parody.Enter The Dink, a new comedy directed by Josh Greenbaum (Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, Will & Harper), co-produced by Ben Stiller, and starring Mary Steenburgen, Ed Harris, and Jake Johnson. The film, which debuts on Apple TV on July 24, serves as a sweet ode to this burgeoning pastime, while still poking fun at its foibles. For example, the cast, which also includes Stiller, the late Lynne Marie Stewart, Aaron Chen, Chloe Fineman, and Cleo King, offers intentionally corny, and thus amusing, jokes about “the kitchen,” the pickleball zone in front of the net that participants absolutely cannot enter to hit volleys. TIME caught up with Steenburgen, the Oscar winner and comedy stalwart—and real-life pickleball enthusiast—to talk about the sport, The Dink, and a humanitarian cause dear to her heart. (This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity)When and why did you star...