Another Shaq-spotting in the wild…this time in a New York City neighborhood where he’s part of the cast of a cable-TV mob-crime drama. Pretty cool!
The action is all happening this week in the Dyker Heights area of the Big Apple, where the hit Amazon Prime series called “Gravesend” is filming its third season. Some of the action took place on neighborhood basketball courts. No word is Shaq showed off a few of his old moves or not…
O’Neal is well-known for his larger-than-life personality both on and off the court. For the show, the 52 year-old Shaq is cast as the character “Mustafa,” the big (Shaq-sized!) and powerful man who runs a less-than-legal business operation in another Brooklyn neighborhood, Bedford-Stuyvesant.
This week, with some of the scenes happening near and on the courts, there were plenty of local kids on hand to watch…and some of them even made quick appearances as extras. Everyone wanted to catch a look at the 7-foot-tall superstar.
The BIG Podcast with SHAQ
As for the show itself, it’s written, directed, and stars William DeMeo. It’s set in the historic South Brooklyn neighborhoods of the 1980s. The main character is, “Benny Zerletta,” a self-proclaimed mafia “soldier.” Shaq has been a part of the show since Season Two, when he was spotted filming in Coney Island over last summer.
DeMeo’s connection to Shaq goes through O’Neal’s close friend Steve Martorano, owner of the popular eatery Cafe Martorano in Fort Lauderdale. Talking to a Brooklyn news website over the summer, DeMeo said, “We love Shaq and we got to know Shaq as a person. Shaq loves this genre — ‘Goodfellas,’ ‘A Bronx Tale,’ ‘The Godfather’ — and we were able to write a role for him.”
Plenty of big stars are showing up on “Gravesend’s” upcoming season; Talia Shire, Fran Drescher, Joseph D’Onofrio, Chazz Palminteri, Vincent Pastore, Andrew “Dice” Clay and Mario Cantone, among others. DeMeo talks about Shaq’s character: “We had a character for someone who aligns with Benny Z, my character, and from these characters we made Mustafa, Shaq’s character. Together, they kind of do business.”
Since its initial release during the pandemic in 2020, the series has garnered a growing fanbase, becoming a Hollywood standout. Despite its small cast, crew, and modest budget, the DeMeo family believes they’ve succeeded in putting a once lesser-known part of Brooklyn on the map in a major way.
“It’s an independent show, which really is almost impossible to do, because a lot of the shows that people watch, they’re backed by networks or big studios like Netflix, Amazon, or Hulu,” said DeMeo’s son, Cristian, who also stars in the show. “It’s awesome. It’s a smaller team but we’re just grateful and blessed to have all the people that have tuned in and all the people that want more.”
Along with Shaq, another former sports star turned actor – Pittsburgh Steelers player James Harrison – is also coming to the show as a new character. Insiders say the plot line this season will focus on how the two gangs – one led by Shaq, the other by DeMeo, will come together…and all the sparks and drama that comes with that, no doubt!