If you’ve been watching the March Madness coverage on TV lately and wondering who on earth is that quirky, old-timey guy showing up in the Capital One commercials looking confused by a t-shirt cannon – your not alone. Millions of viewers across the country have been scratching their heads and asking the same question: who plays Dr. Naismith in the Capital One commercial?
Well, the answer might suprise you, especially if your not super familiar with the world of comedy television. The man behind the victorian-era costume and the bewildered facial expressions is none other than Will Forte – a veteran comedy actor and former cast member of Saturday Night Live. And honestly, once you know it’s him, the whole thing makes perfect sense.
Let’s dive deep into everything there is to know about this commercial, the character of Dr. Naismith, Will Forte himself, and why this casting choice is actually kind of genius.
The Capital One March Madness Commercial – What’s Going On?
Every year, Capital One goes absolutely all out for March Madness. There one of the biggest sponsers of the NCAA Tournament, and they’ve been doing these elaborate, star-studded commercials for over 16 years now. The ads usually feature a rotating cast of celebrities, athletes, and comedic personalities doing funny things related to basketball and brackets.
For the 2025 and 2026 campaign, the lineup has been pretty stacked. We’re talking about Charles Barkley, Samuel L. Jackson, Magic Johnson, Jennifer Garner, and basketball phenom Caitlin Clark. That’s already a lot of star power packed into one commercial series. But Capital One apparently decided they needed something a little more… historical.
Enter Dr. James Naismith.
Will Forte plays Dr. James Naismith – the inventor of basketball – in the Capital One March Madness ads. In the commercials, he learns about a T-shirt cannon, eats nachos, and holds a sign that reads “I Traveled From 1891, to be here.”
It’s a brilliantly simple concept when you think about it. Naismith invented basketball back in 1891, so imagine how his head would explode seeing what his little indoor gym game has become – a multi-billion dollar industry with sold out arenas, professional leagues, and yes, a massive NCAA tournament thats basically a national holiday. The fish-out-of-water comedy practically writes itself, and Forte is the perfect person to bring that kind of absurdist humor to life.
The sign alone – “I Traveled From 1891, to be here” – is the kind of deadpan comedy gold that makes you laugh every time you see it. And the image of this nineteenth century gentleman discovering the joys of nachos and t-shirt cannons? Priceless.
So Who Exactly Is Will Forte?
If your someone who watches a lot of television or enjoys comedy movies, chances are you already know Will Forte, even if you don’t immediately place the name to the face. He’s one of those actors who’s been everywhere for decades, often playing characters that are a little bit weird, slightly pathetic, but deeply loveable.
Orville Willis Forte IV – known professionally as Will Forte – was born on June 17, 1970, and is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He served as a cast member and writer on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live for eight seasons, from 2002 to 2010.
But here’s the thing a lot of people don’t know about Will Forte – his path to comedy stardom was not exactly straigthforward. His career path wasn’t straightforward at all. He worked briefly as a financial broker before switching to comedy in his late twenties. That’s right – this guy was sitting in an office doing finance stuff before deciding to pursue laughs for a living. Which, honestly, is a pretty bold and brave decision to make in your late twenties.
After obtaining a history degree from the University of California, Los Angeles and becoming a financial broker like his father, Forte changed his career path to comedy and took classes with the improv group The Groundlings. He worked as a writer and producer on That ’70s Show before joining Saturday Night Live.
The Groundlings, for those who don’t know, is one of the most prestigious improv and sketch comedy theaters in Los Angeles. It’s essentially a comedy factory that has produced tons of SNL cast members and comedy legends over the years. The fact that Forte came up through there says a lot about his natural comedic instincts.
His SNL Years and the MacGruber Legacy
When Will Forte finally made it to Saturday Night Live, it took him a little while to find his footing. By his own admission, he was nearly fired after his third season. But he stuck it out, and eventually became one of the most distinctive voices on the show.
One of Forte’s most memorable SNL roles was a hapless, mullet-sporting special ops agent named MacGruber. The sketches lampooned the hit action series MacGyver and often found the bumbling title character locked in a control room while attempting to diffuse a ticking time bomb.
The MacGruber sketches became so popular that they eventually spawned a feature film in 2010, and later a streaming television series in 2021. The character became totaly synonomous with Forte’s brand of comedy – absurdist, committed, and genuinely willing to go to uncomfortable places for the sake of a laugh.
But MacGruber isn’t the only thing Forte is known for. Forte also created and starred in the sitcom The Last Man on Earth from 2015 to 2018, for which he received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations – two for acting and one for writing. Three Emmy nominations is no small thing. It speaks to the fact that Forte isn’t just a sketch comedy guy – he’s a genuinely talented actor with real dramatic chops when the situation calls for it.
His dramatic range really came to light when he starred in the Alexander Payne film Nebraska in 2013. He was cast in Nebraska in August 2012, beating out higher-profile actors such as Casey Affleck and Paul Rudd. That’s a pretty remarkable thing – beating out Oscar winners and A-list stars for a dramatic role when you’re primarily known as the MacGruber guy. It shows that the industry really does respect Forte as a versatile performer.
Why Will Forte Was Perfect For This Role
Here’s what makes the casting of Will Forte as Dr. Naismith so smart. The commercial isn’t trying to be a serious historical piece. It’s absurdist comedy – the kind where the joke is just the situation itself, and the humor comes from the character’s reactions to the insanity around them.
Will Forte has spend his entire career mastering exactly this type of comedy. He plays confused, earnest, slightly bewildered characters better then almost anyone in the business. When you put him in a victorian-era suit, surround him with Charles Barkley and Samuel L. Jackson, and ask him to stare in wonder at a t-shirt cannon, it just works.
Forte, who plays Naismith in Capital One’s March Madness TV ads, is a funny actor. Even critics who weren’t fans of some of the broadcast segments featuring the character agreed on that much. His timing, his facial expressions, and his ability to play “fish out of water” sincerely rather then ironically is what makes the whole conceit land.
There’s also something fitting about the fact that Forte himself had kind of an unusual, roundabout path to success – just like how basketball itself had a strange, unexpected origin story. A guy who used to do finance, who almost got fired from SNL, who beat out A-listers for a dramatic film role, playing the inventor of a sport that nobody thought would become the most popular game in the world. There’s a certain poetry to it.
The Real Dr. James Naismith – A Little Backstory
Of course, to fully appreciate the character Forte is playing, it helps to know a little bit about the real James Naismith.
James Naismith was a Canadian-American physical education director who, in 1891, invented the game of basketball as a way to make physical education more enjoyable and less dangerous.
The Canadian-born physical education instructor James Naismith made an indelible mark on sports history when he invented the game of basketball in Springfield, Massachusetts, in December 1891. With a soccer ball, two peach baskets, a ladder, and ten written rules, Naismith created the sport within two weeks, after he was asked to come up with an indoor game to keep students active during the severe New England winter.
Think about that for a second. The entire sport of basketball – the NBA, March Madness, all of it – came from one dude who needed to keep some restless students busy in the winter. The game was invented in two weeks. And the original equipment was literally a soccer ball and some peach baskets. Not exactly the stuff of legend, at first glance.
Naismith created 13 basic rules and started out using 10-foot high peach baskets as the goals for each 9-player team. They actually needed a stepladder to get the ball out of the basket every time someone scored a point, because the bottoms of the baskets weren’t removed yet. Can you imagine? Every time someone scored, someone had to climb a ladder. The game must of been extremely slow.
Naismith lived to see basketball adopted as an Olympic demonstration sport in 1904 and as an official event at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He died in 1939, meaning he got to see his invention go from “peach baskets in a gymnasium” to an international Olympic sport within his own lifetime. That’s a pretty incredible thing to witness.
The sign Will Forte’s character holds in the commercial – “I Traveled From 1891, to be here” – is a nod to the fact that the first basketball game was played in December 1891. So the idea is that this man who invented the sport more then 130 years ago has somehow traveled forward in time to witness March Madness. And he’s eating nachos while he processes all of it. Brilliant.
The Commercial’s Reception and Public Reaction
The Dr. Naismith character has generated quite a bit of buzz since the commercials started airing. Social media have been full of people asking “who is that guy in the Capital One commercial?” – which, honestly, is exactly the kind of reaction any advertiser hopes for. If people are talking about your commercial, your doing something right.
The latest edition of Capital One’s annual ad series includes Charles Barkley, Samuel L. Jackson, Magic Johnson, Jennifer Garner, Caitlin Clark, and Will Forte, marking the 16th year Capital One has sponsored the tournament.
The ensemble is genuinely impressive. You’ve got Samuel L. Jackson, one of the most recognisable actors on the planet. You’ve got Charles Barkley, whose been a beloved television personality for decades. You’ve got Magic Johnson, a literal basketball legend. Jennifer Garner, who brings a warm, relatable energy to everything she does. Caitlin Clark, the biggest name in women’s basketball right now. And then you’ve got Will Forte, in victorian era clothes, eating nachos and being amazed by everything.
The contrast is part of what makes it funny. Everyone else in the commercial is a modern celebrity who completely understands the world around them. Forte’s Naismith doesn’t understand any of it – and yet he seems to be having the time of his life.
Will Forte’s Other Work You Should Check Out
If the Capital One commercial is your first introduction to Will Forte and you want to see more of him, there’s plenty to choose from.
MacGruber (2010 film and 2021 series) – If you want to see Forte at his most unhinged and committed, this is where to start. The original SNL sketches are on YouTube and the movie and streaming series are both available to watch. It’s very weird, very funny, and very uniquely Will Forte.
Nebraska (2013) – For a completely different side of Forte, watch this Alexander Payne film. He plays a middle-aged man driving his elderly father across the midwest to claim a sweepstakes prize. It’s quiet, moving, and a genuinely beautiful film. Forte is extraordinary in it. This is the role that proved to everyone that he was more then just a sketch comedy guy.
The Last Man on Earth (2015–2018) – Forte created and starred in this Fox sitcom about a man who appears to be the last survivor of a global pandemic. The series debuted to strong critical response and ran for four seasons. It’s clever, weird, and has a lot of heart underneath all the absurdity.
30 Rock – Forte had a recurring role on this beloved Tina Fey sitcom, playing a character named Paul L’Astnamé. It’s a small role but very funny, and it shows how well he fits into ensemble comedy environments.
Conclusion: Mystery Solved
So there you have it. The quirky, confused, nacho-eating, t-shirt-cannon-marveling man in the Capital One March Madness commercial is Will Forte – a 55-year-old comedy legend who spent eight years on Saturday Night Live, earned multiple Emmy nominations, transitioned into serious dramatic work, and has now added “time-traveling basketball inventor” to his list of memorable portrayals.
It’s a fun piece of casting that rewards people who reconize Forte immediately, while also being accessible enough that people who don’t know him can still enjoy the joke. And now that you know who he is and what he’s been up to for the past three decades, hopefully you’ll have a greater appreciation for the dead-pan genius he’s bringing to those 30-second spots.
Capital One has always had a knack for putting interesting people in their commercials – Samuel L. Jackson has been there for years, Jennifer Garner has become a fan favorite, and Charles Barkley just seems like a natural. But adding Will Forte as the ghost of basketball’s inventor might honestly be one of the smartest casting decisions they’ve made yet.
Now, if only someone could explain to Dr. Naismith how the shot clock works. That might take a while.