“Didn’t Want to Make a Fool of Myself”: When Shaquille O’Neal Found the Director of Exorcist Chasing Him For a Hollywood Movie

In the early 1990s, Shaquille O’Neal wasn’t only dominating on the basketball court. His debut album ‘Shaq Diesel’ was certified platinum as he showcased he was a man of many talents. O’Neal’s rising popularity at the time soon prompted a prominent director to chase the Orlando Magic star for a role in his movie.

In his biography ‘Shaq Uncut,’ the Hall of Famer revealed that William Friedkin, director of The Exorcist and The French Connection, was keen on casting him in his upcoming film. The movie, starring actor Nick Nolte, featured quite a few basketball superstars, but Friedkin wanted O’Neal to play the most important part. The then-Magic star was reluctant, but the director and actor managed to rope him in. O’Neal recalled,

“[Friedkin and Nolte] said lots of athletes would be in it, but I would be the star. I told them I had never acted before, and they said they would get me a coach. That was important to me, because I didn’t want to make a fool of myself.”

O’Neal added that he was shocked by their persistence to cast him despite knowing that he had a stuttering problem. He was cast as a top high school prospect named Neon Boudeaux. The movie was a fictional tale about colleges secretly bribing top high school prospects to lure them to their programs. The film also featured Larry Bird, Penny Hardaway, Bob Cousy, Bob Knight, and Rick Pitino in smaller roles.

‘Blue Chips’ was released in February 1994 and failed at the box office. It earned only $25 million and failed to recoup its $35 million production cost. The movie has a 6.3 rating on IMDb after 15,000 reviews, indicating that the movie may not have been a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but viewers enjoyed what they saw. Most reviewers have even noted that O’Neal’s impeccable basketball acumen was the movie’s highlight.

The movie did well to explain the story it attempted to narrate, however, what really grabbed audiences’ attention was rather unsurprisingly the basketball-based action. O’Neal was cast to play a dominant high school prospect and had no trouble playing a part that was as close to real life as a role could get.

Shaquille O’Neal’s filmography

After starring in Blue Chips and getting over his reluctance to embark on a career in acting, Shaquille O’Neal has appeared in 18 movies. His first film as the lead was the 1996 fantasy comedy Kazaam. The film unfortunately ended up being a critical and commercial failure but has become a part of internet lore due to people misremembering a movie called Shazam, starring rapper Sinbad.

O’Neal has often been cast as himself. In nine of his 19 movie appearances, including the cult hit Scary Movie 4, he has played Shaquille O’Neal. He played a critical role in the 2018 sports comedy Uncle Drew, which starred Kyrie Irving in the titular role, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, Nate Robinson, and Aaron Gordon. The movie was a smash hit, earning $46.7 million at the box office, over 2.5 times its production cost.

O’Neal’s filmography is limited to comedy movies. However, he plays his roles to perfection. He’s naturally charismatic, funny, and just loves goofing around. Playing himself in movies is the perfect role for O’Neal because he’s a one-of-a-kind global icon who cannot be emulated.