Shaq attacks verse in new series ‘Poetry in America’
‘8 Fights’ on Muhammad Ali in the works
LOS ANGELES, April 21, (Agencies): Shaquille O’Neal called himself “The Big Baryshnikov” and “The Big Socrates” in his days in the NBA. Now he can add “The Big Shakespeare.”
The basketball Hall-of-Famer, TNT TV analyst, commercial pitchman and onetime rapper is putting poetry on his lengthy resume as part of a new public television series.
He brings his best bard to a dramatic reading of a poem in his episode of the 12-part “Poetry in America ,” then discusses it with Elisa New, a Harvard English professor who hosts the show.
“I’ve always been into poetry,” O’Neal said in an interview with The Associated Press in a sunlit conference room overlooking the Los Angeles skyline. “I’ve been writing rhymes all my life.”
“Poetry in America,” distributed by American Public Television and presented by WGBH in Boston, is airing at various times on local public TV stations. Some episodes, including Shaq’s, are already available to stream.
On the show the 46-year-old former AllStar from the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat recites “Fast Break,” a poem by Edward Hirsch from his 1986 book “Wild Gratitude.” It describes some very imperfect players who manage to put together a perfect basketball play.
“A hook shot kisses the rim and hangs there, helplessly, but doesn’t drop,” the poem begins, “and for once our gangly starting center boxes out his man.”
O’Neal, whose 350-pound bulk would never be called “gangly,” still related to the center in the verse, but said he initially missed the poem’s point.
“The first mistake I made was thinking it was about basketball,” he said. “I read it real quick I said ‘fast break, shovel passes, sure, this is what I do.’”
He said New, who sat next to O’Neal in the interview and like almost everyone is utterly dwarfed by him, gave him whole new insights that led to a fast friendship.
“When she broke it down intelligently for me, I was very astounded and very amazed,” O’Neal said.
The poem is written for a close friend and playing partner of Hirsch’s who had just died. That’s easy to miss if you skip past the dedication at the top, as most readers do.
“It’s fun that only later as you’re reading, you look back at that dedication,” New said. “One line can change everything.”
Suddenly it becomes an examination of transcendent moments and human connections.
“It’s about friendship, it’s about caring, it’s about emotions,” O’Neal said. “I had missed that.”
His latest learning experience took O’Neal’s thoughts back to high school, where he had a 69 percent in English after blowing a test during the basketball playoffs, and needed a 70 to stay eligible for sports.
The teacher allowed him a retest, and suggested a tutor.
“This guy, his name was McDougal, he was a geek, he saved my academic life,” O’Neal said. “Everybody bullied him in school, except me.”
O’Neal said he took the work and “broke it down, made it seem so simple.”
“I retook the test, got an 80, and we won the state championship,” O’Neal said.
“Now,” he said, “I always tell kids I’m a geek.”
The professor had another name for him. “He’s a learner!”
O’Neal partly looked the poet during the interview in a polo shirt and jeans, having traded his basketball sneakers for a pair of slip-on Toms shoes, size 22.
When he wanted them, a company executive told him “it wouldn’t be worth it to make them in my size unless I bought 500 of them,” O’Neal said. “I told him to give me 2,000.”
Also:
LOS ANGELES:
CBS All Access is developing “8 Fights — The Life of Muhammad Ali,” a limited series that will tell the story of eight critical moments in the life of the legendary boxer. Each of the eight episodes episode will be framed by one of Ali’s fights. The story of each episode, however will focus on Ali’s internal struggles and the drama of his life outside the ring. The project will explore the heart and mind of one of the most consequential and controversial figures of the 20th century.
The limited series will be produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Morgan Freeman’s Revelations Entertainment, and is based on the recent biography “Ali: A Life” by Jonathan Eig. Dan Kay will serve as writer and executive producer. Freeman, Lori McCreary and Beth Miyares will exec produce for Revelations Entertainment. Erica Shelton will serves as a consulting producer through her overall deal at CBS Television Studios.
All Access landed the series project in a competitive situation.
Revelations Entertainment is the production company behind CBS’ “Madam Secretary,” Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus,” Science Channel’s “Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman,” National Geographic’s “The Story of … with Morgan Freeman” and National Geographic’s “The Story of US with Morgan Freeman.”
LOS ANGELES:
Noah Emmerich has been cast in the upcoming Netflix drama “The Spy” opposite Sacha Baron Cohen.
The six-episode series tells the story of Eli Cohen (Baron Cohen), a spy for Israel in Syria in the early 1960s. Cohen managed to embed himself into Syrian high society and rise through the ranks of their politics. His actions, connections, ultimately his death have had lasting consequences, shaping the Middle East as it is today.
Emmerich will play Dan Peleg, described as a charming, rumpled and brilliant Mossad trainer. He is wise, wary and stubborn, and has a tendency to blur the boundaries between the personal and professional.