Greek City Times has recently discovered that beloved Greek Nigerian NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo actually played a small role in an Australian movie partially shot in Greece when he was a youngster!
That's right, our Giannis got a taste of the big screen before he got a taste of the big courts in the film Dead Europe directed by Tony Krawitz and co-written by award winning Greek Australian writer Christos Tsiolkas.
"Giannis played opposite Ewen Leslie with his mum Veronica, in a small scene shot in Athens, as the neighbour's son" said Sydney-based filmmaker Kosta Nikas, who worked as script translator on both Dead Europe and the hit ABC TV series The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas.
"I was updating my imdb profile when suddenly I saw Gianni listed in the cast credits for Dead Europe. I couldn't believe my eyes. I looked into it further and found the actual clip! That's the closest I've come to the greatness that is Gianni Antetokounmpo I thought!" added Nikas.
Interestingly, as fate would have it, the Antetokounmpo family have now returned to the big screen, but this time as the subject matter, of an amazing story of an amazing family.
The movie RISE about the life of the Antetokounmpo family created by Disney, had its world premiere in Los Angeles recently.
The production travels from the childhood of all Antetokounmpo’s in Sepolia, Athens on the great path to the NBA, culminating in winning last year’s championship against Phoenix.
Dead Europe is a 2012 Australian drama film directed by Tony Krawitz. It is an adaptation of the 2005 novel by Christos Tsiolkas with the same name. Peter Galvin from SBS gave the film three stars out of five, noting that the film is "dark, and emotionally claustrophobic" and is "tough to sit through". He also observes that Dead Europe "is a puzzle film, a movie where one is asked to work hard at deciphering its strangeness."
WATCH YOUNG GIANNIS & MUM VERONICA in DEAD EUROPE SCENE:
Young Giannis Antetokounmpo in short scene of "Dead Europe" movie (2012) - YouTube
