Comedy legend Danny McBride uprooted his life in Hollywood to build his dream production studio, Rough House Pictures, in Charleston in 2017. Now, the actor, producer and writer best known for his television roles in HBO’s Eastbound & Down, Vice Principals and The Righteous Gemstones is trying his hand at a new venture: tequila.
Why? It’s something he and his friends love. So enter Hollywood, err, Charleston.
In a 2024 GQ article on McBride’s life in the Lowcountry, he said, “I drink a lot of tequila, everyone in my circle drinks a lot of tequila, and so we’re like, ‘Let’s make one.’” GQ writer Sam Schube notes, “Nearly everyone in McBride’s world I spoke to mentioned his affinity for the spirit. ‘He’s good at tequila,’ (said) his Gemstones costar Edi Patterson.”
The thing that may set McBride’s new Don Gato tequila apart from other celebrity liquor brands is the way he’s going about promoting it. He recently took a group of friends and collaborators to Guadalajara, Mexico, where he filmed an ad campaign that he’s calling the “tequila sagas.”
Through this series of videos, McBride is sharing the story of the legendary Don Gato, for whom the tequila is named.
Don Gato is a Mexican luchador (wrestler) with a deep love for fighting, cats and tequila. (It’s a character who may or may not have been created by McBride — it seems all archival footage of Don Gato’s wrestling days have suspiciously been lost, with some rumors suggesting a coalition of his embarrassed opponents could be behind an effort to bury his legacy.)
According to McBride’s press release, the don really is quite legendary: “After retiring, (Don Gato) moved to a remote estate near Guadalajara where he pursued his non-feline passion: distilling amazing tequila. He eventually made it big in a pyramid scheme and traveled to Vegas where he lost most of his money.
“While sipping on a complimentary tequila in the casino, Don Gato felt his strength return as he savored the agave-rich nectar of his homeland and proceeded to win big in roulette. He returned to Jalisco and used his winnings to buy an agave field where he later began distilling Tequila Don Gato – a tequila without any additives and all that other bullsh*t.”
What a Hollywood beginning.
Now, after having “spent time in Mexico following Don Gato,” McBride said he decided to film and share the experiences through these videos, overseen by director and McBride’s longtime collaborator David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express).
In the tequila sagas, McBride parties in Mexico with the masked – of course, he’s masked – Don Gato, who is often pictured holding a cat and/or sipping on tequila. Check it out on Instagram at @dongatotequila.
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