Over the years, LeBron James has acted in multiple movies, TV series, and ads, including Space Jam 2, and Entourage. However, his first movie role came alongside comedian/actor Bill Hader, in the 2015 romantic comedy “Trainwreck.” LeBron played the role of Bill Hader’s love doctor, and had claimed that it was a “dream come true.”
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The LA Lakers star was 30 at the time and was obviously delighted to be in a Hollywood movie. This was despite the fact that he had a limited, and comical role in Trainwreck. In an interview with Today, alongside Hader, James explained his role and the overall experience that he had.
LeBron James made his acting debut alongside Bill Hader in Trainwreck
James had earlier worked with Bill Hader in a Saturday Night Live episode. The former Cavaliers player had impressed Maher with his effortless comedy.
LeBron was initially interested in the movie due to his history with Hader and explained in the interview that it was a dream come true. Speaking alongside the comedian, James said that the movie proved to be everything he expected, and more:
“I’ve done everything I expected and more. You know, everything I ever dreamed of, as a kid, you know you hope someday you can possibly be in a movie and be yourself, to start off with and it’s been fun so far. I am like his love doctor, his love coach that helps him through relationships, both bad and good advice.”
Asked about how he thought it would impact his legacy, James said that he did not want to get caught up in it. The LA Lakers star claimed that he always thought what he did off the court affected his legacy more:
“I think the legacy would speak for itself, who am I as a man and what I do off the floor defines my legacy more than what I do on the court. That is just how I have always thought about it but I don’t really get caught up in it too much.”
Maverick Carter got the movie script change to ensure better portrayal of LeBron
Trainwreck has an IMDB rating of 6.2. LeBron James ended up surprising people with his performance.
However, the initial script of the movie had a reduced role for James. His character was portrayed as an injured player who was Maher’s patient in the movie. Maverick Carter, determined to ensure a better portrayal, asked for the script to be changed.
Carter ensured that James would not be portrayed as an injured player, as he himself had never had any major injury issues during his NBA career. Needless to say, it paid off, and James did no harm to his reputation as an actor via the movie.
