Shaquille O’Neal’s desire to make a big splash in the world of movies and television shows was a long time in the making. After making cameos in various films over the years, the 4x NBA champion has been looking to make it big in Hollywood. The Big Aristotle, however, wanted to wait to make an official announcement in light of a recent situation that took the industry by storm.

O’Neal has been trying out new things since he retired from the NBA almost 12 years ago. From establishing a fast food empire through his Big Chicken franchise to jotting down his opinions about today’s NBA world through his TNT show, the Big Aristotle has kept himself busy. The recent days have seen Shaq looking to expand his horizons by entering a new industry.

Shaquille O’Neal is ready to make it big in Hollywood

The Los Angeles Lakers legend sat down for an exclusive interview with ‘The Messenger’ recently. While laying base on various topics, the 51-year-old hinted that he may be looking to make a big mark in Hollywood sometime soon.

“I actually had three meetings today,” said O’Neal during the interview. “I wanted to be respectful of everybody during the strike, but I came out to Los Angeles for this event and I set up some meetings here.”

The ‘strike’ being referred to by Shaq was the labor dispute that the American Actors’ Union, SAG-AFTRA, embarked upon for a whopping 118 days. Given the sensitivity of the issue and the respect that he held for the people protesting, the former Los Angeles Lakers star chose not to disclose his plans sooner.

This is not the first time the former NBA star has been associated with the world of cinema. From his role as a hilarious police officer in Grown Ups 2 to his various surprise cameos in movies like What Men Want, Scary Movie 4, The Lego Movie, etc, Shaq has entertained the audience with his mainstream appearances for quite some time now. This time, he reportedly plans to go all-in.

While the former NBA legend continues to be most associated with the 1996 fantasy comedy film Kazaam, he hopes to change the perception of people through his upcoming work.

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“I got a lot of positive things in the works. I always tell people I’ve come a long way since Kazaam,” O’Neal added during the interview. “Just having the opportunity to work and having the opportunity to make people smile and do really good things excites me.”

It is possible that the upcoming days might bring more news about Shaq’s latest projects. For now, however, all his fans can do is wait in anticipation.

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