Shaquille O’Neal’s acting career jumpstarted with a $3 million offer from the Exorcist director

NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal is a basketball champion, businessman, investor, analyst, father, and an actor

Shaquille O’Neal is a man of many talents. The 7’1, 325 lbs big man is undoubtedly one of the Top-10 players in the history of the NBA. Shaq dominated the league for the better part of a decade using his size and athleticism. Shaq led the Los Angeles Lakers to the last three-peat the NBA has seen. He retired with 4 rings, and one of the most dominant NBA careers.

However, even after hanging his boots, Shaq never took a chill pill. Using his $292 Million career earnings, Shaq invested in businesses, made smart investments, and started ventures, which helped him boost his net worth to over $400 Million.

Along with his business ventures, Shaq also earns money from his TNT deal, as well as the tons of advertisements and endorsement deals he has. Shaq has also been part of several movies, and can also be known as an actor. His acting journey started way back in 1994, and had a very simple reason behind the same.

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Shaquille O’Neal did his debut movie only because of a $3 Million cheque

Shaquille O’Neal did not have the easiest childhood growing up. His real father was not in the picture, and he used to live with his mother and step-father. Things weren’t always the best financially, and that was one of the motivators behind Shaq trying hard to excel at basketball.

When he joined the NBA, he signed a 4-year, $17.4 Million rookie deal. It was a huge amount of money, but at the same time, Shaq knew, he needed to earn more to give his mom a comfortable life. Talking about his first acting gig, Shaq said,

“I see a guy, Billy Friedkin, he said, you know who I am? I said no, sir. ‘My name is Billy Friedkin, I directed the Exorcist.’ We started talking. He told me he had a project for me, we’re going to do a movie. Man, I’m not an actor. ‘Good thing for you, you gotta play a basketball player.’ Man, I don’t know if I can do that. ‘We’ll pay you 3 Million Dollars!'”

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Shaq began his long-standing acting career with an initial $3 Million cheque. Blue Chip came out in the summer of 1994, and well, let’s just say, it kick-started Shaq’s Hollywood career.