Despite his impressive on-court resume, it took some time for Shaquille O’Neal to earn a role in an Adam Sandler film. During O’Neal’s tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers, the “Billy Madison” star was a courtside fixture at games. The All-Star center decided to use this time to pitch himself as a potential actor in one of the comedian’s films. “Adam, give me a movie,” O’Neal recalled constantly saying to Sandler, per a 2021 interview with PopCulture. The actor and producer had one stipulation for the Lakers big man. “Win a championship first!” This exchange went on for years, but O’Neal eventually brought home a trio of titles for the Lakers, plus another with the Miami Heat. Years later, the “Just Go With It” star remembered the exchange. “I forgot all about what he said, and he called me one day and said, ‘Shaq, you got four championships, I’ll give you four movies,'” O’Neal recalled to PopCulture.
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Even though getting roles in Sandler’s films was on O’Neal’s bucket list, filming wasn’t always smooth sailing. He recalled how Sandler relished filming a “Hubie Halloween” scene that was particularly gross. “I had to do this scene where I’m eating a sandwich with this girl and french kissing her at the same time,” O’Neal said on NBA on TNT in June. “So Adam made me do it about 50 times. Cut!” he added. Sandler later shared another story about his quest to see O’Neal in the buff.
