Shaquille O’Neal is heading to the small screen!
The former NBA superstar will guest star on TNT’s police drama, “Southland,” Shaq announced on Thursday’s Access Hollywood Live.
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Shaq will play Officer Earl Dayton, a cop who knows Officer John Cooper (played by Michael Cudlitz) from the police academy. The pair will run into each other at the funeral of a notorious gangster, where Shaq’s character will be serving warrants.
“[‘Southland’] is one of my favorite shows, so one day I just got the number and I called them and I was like, ‘This is Detective O’Neal, and I would like to play a police officer [on your show],’” he told Kit Hoover and Billy Bush. “They were like, ‘This is not Shaq!’ I said, ‘This is really me.’”
Part of the reason Shaq is such a fan of the hour-long drama stems from his police connections off-screen — he has previously served as a reserve officer with both the Port of Los Angeles police and the Miami Beach police department.
“I e-mailed them a picture [of me in my police uniform] and I told them I would like to be on the show and I’m shooting next week,” Shaq explained, adding that this was the first time he’d ever contacted a show and asked to guest star. “I’m a police officer in real life and that show really depicts how they do it in life.”
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The episode shoots on Tuesday in Los Angeles and will air on April 3.
Shaq is the second notable name to appear as a guest star on the drama’s fifth season so far – Chad Michael Murray is currently starring in a guest arc as a cop influencing Officer Ben Sherman (Ben McKenzie) in a less-than-positive way.
The basketball star’s previous acting credits include big screen roles in “Scary Movie 4,” “Freddy Got Fingered,” “Kazaam” and “Blue Chips.” He also had a cameo on HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” in 2001.
“Southland,” which returned last week with the premiere of Season 5, airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on TNT.
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