NBA: 30 NBA players you forgot acted in movies or TV shows – Shaquille O’Neal
This isn’t meant to inform you that Shaquille O’Neal has acted before; it’s hard to miss him, from reality shows to innumerable commercials. It’s simply to help fill in the gaps on the truly extensive filmography he has amassed since entering the NBA.
O’Neal’s film debut was in 1994’s Blue Chips, where he played a college basketball player struggling with academics who accepts a bribe to join Nick Nolte’s basketball team. He parlayed that into the truly iconic Kazaam, where he played a magical genie, and Steel, where he was a metal-clad superhero.
In the 25 years since he has made frequent appearances in a host of TV shows and movies, although generally just playing himself: Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Tracy Morgan Show, Scary Movie 4, Jack and Jill, The Lego Movie, and on and on. He did quite the Andre the Giant impression playing the giant Fezzik in the celebrity-packed Princess Bride Home Movie of 2020.
We haven’t got the time or space to list all of his acting credits, and that is before recognizing that Shaq’s been in roughly one billion commercials over the course of his adult life. It’s possible, if not likely, that Shaquille O’Neal has appeared on television screens outside of basketball games more than any other NBA player in history.