The meeting between the two parties went extremely well, and Garnett eventually landed the part. Garnett was a fan of the documentary Lenny Cooke, about a high school basketball phenom who flamed out, that the brothers had made a few years prior.
“And we talked with him and I told him that I hated him and I realized eventually that the reason why I hated him is because he’s an incredible performer.”Įventually, Garnett and the Safdies had a meeting. I don’t want him anywhere near my movie,’” Josh said in the same expansive Ringer piece. “Because I’m a fuckin’ disgusting, sick Knick fan, my instinct when I saw Kevin’s name was, ‘I hate him. Garnett-a rival of the Knicks during his time with the Celtics-made his way onto the list. They briefly looked at current players-notably Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid-but when the filming schedule shifted to the fall, he was no longer available because he was preparing for the start of the NBA season.Īt that point, both Safdies-Josh and Benny-drew up a list of no-longer-active NBA stars who might have the personality and charisma to work in their fast-paced movie-and fit alongside stars like Adam Sandler and Lakeith Stanfield. When he refused, the Safdies once again had to pivot. This meant the 6'10 big man would've had to cut his hair, which in 2012 was a short, tight cut, and has since evolved into dreadlocks. At that point, the Safdies circled back to Stoudemire, but it quickly became clear that it wasn't going to work out.īecause Uncut Gems makes pivotal use of real NBA game footage and was set in a very specific 2012 moment in NBA history, filming would've required Stoudemire to look exactly how he did in 2012.
#UNCUT DIAMONDS CAST MOVIE#
Because R&B/Pop superstar The Weeknd had already appeared in the movie as himself, that meant that the very earliest it could be set was 2012-the first year he started performing. There was one problem, though: Bryant wasn't interested in acting-only directing.Īs the rest of the movie began coming together, the Safdies started realizing exactly what timeframe they had to deal with. In that version of the movie, the events would center on the late Lakers star's 2009 61 point performance against the Knicks in Madison Square Garden. William Morris Endeavor, the talent agency who represent the Safdies, recommended another one of their clients for the part: Kobe Bryant. Eventually, though, production on the film stalled and the Safdies moved on to different projects.Ī few years later, the brothers returned to the project and were again looking to fill the pivotal NBA player role-they believed that if they cast a big name in the role, it would allow the movie to call for an increased budget.
According to The Ringer, he even came to a table read. The dynamic forward was a force when he signed with the Knicks before the 2010-2011 season, and his then-new embrace of judiasm fit in perfectly with the movie that featured a seder scene (and is helmed by a pair of Jewish brothers from New York City.) In that early version of the script, Stoudemire's acquisition served as a jumping off point for a string of 30-point games he would have. Originally The Safdie Brothers wrote the part in the movie with Amar'e Stoudemire in mind. In fact, directors Josh and Benny Safdie-die hard New York Knicks fans-ran through several different options for the part during the movie's 10-year road to the big screen, only landing on Garnett after a number of different factors wound up coming into play. And as the long story goes, the plan wasn't always for Garnett to be in the movie. Those people are also about to find out that not only is Garnett an Adam Sandler co-star, but that he absolutely kills it, playing an intense, gem-obsessed 2012 version of himself. Now that Uncut Gems-one of 2019's very best movies, and a must-watch for any fan of sports, gambling, or sports gambling-is streaming on Netflix, a whole bunch of people are about to find out that former NBA MVP Kevin Garnett is now an Adam Sandler co-star.
Kevin Garnett is a pivotal piece of the Uncut Gems cast.
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