HBO has a knack for developing buzz worthy TV. And it's not simply TV full of over-the-top twists and turns and thus turns into "water cooler" dialog at paintings. It's, for essentially the most section, top art that's immensely entertaining. There's undoubtedly that Winning Time: The Rise Of The Lakers Dynasty is their latest hit. The star-studded miniseries is a thrill for sports activities lovers, most of all NBA and Lakers lovers. Numerous celebrities like Jack Nicholson, who has court-side seats at The Staples Center, count themselves amongst that huge fanbase. But there are many different reasons why Winning Time is worth watching...
The performances by myself are masterful. Acclaimed actors like Adrien Brody take on real-life people like Coach Pat Riley with both taste and authenticity. But there's a newbie grabbing everyone's consideration... Solomon Hughes, the man blessed with the position of Lakers' icon Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Who Is Solomon Hughes?
Winning Time is Solomon Hughes' acting debut, but on no account the first time playing ball on display. The guy was a Harlem Globetrotter, in any case. Before that, he played basketball in highschool and at UC Berkeley, where he were given his Master’s Degree. This was followed by means of incomes his Ph.D. on the University of Georgia. After changing into a doctor, Solomon turned into a visiting teacher at Duke University and a visitor lecturer at Stanford. It was this gig that landed him his first ever performing role as the enduring NBA famous person, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
- Solomon Hughes is in his early 40s and stands tall at 6-foot-11.
According to CheatSheet, the casting director of Winning Time had discovered Solomon during the agent who books him for lectures. She may see that Solomon could command a room and had the peak and look to play Kareem. But a dig into his past published that he had notable enjoy with basketball.
During his time on Cal's Golden Bears basketball staff (1998 to 2002), started 52 games and won Three units of 20 games all over his four-year run. He also reached the NCAA match two times and gained the NIT in 1999. On peak of this, Solomon had a temporary stint with the Harlem Globetrotters which is what the mainstream is aware of him best possible for.
During an interview with Vulture, Solomon mentioned he learned a ton about performing from his Winning Time co-stars. He claimed that every one of them were very welcoming of him regardless of his loss of enjoy. Solomon even discovered that his experience in college basketball were not always useful whilst shooting scenes that required his skills.
"When making a TV show, there’s so much you’re trying to capture in a moment," Solomon said to Vulture. "You could shoot a scene for an entire day, but maybe only 15 seconds of it will make it into the episode — and it’s only the 15 seconds that will push the story forward. Also, it’s one thing to make a shot, but it’s another thing to make a shot once the cameras are rolling. There’s the terror of missing a bunch of shots when they’re trying to get a take, but the reality is, you’ve got to keep putting your best foot forward no matter how many misses."
How Could Solomon Hughes Play Kareem Abdul-Jabbar?
Solomon Hughes admitted to Vulture that he grew up idolizing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. But it wasn't simply Kareem's talents on the court that impressed Solomon. Kareem's soft-spoken-ness and what he stood for additionally was of huge significance to him.
"My dad is the same age as Kareem and I would think about what it must have been like to come of age in the civil-rights era," Solomon said to Vulture. "My father talked about how, growing up in the South, your job was to figure out a way to navigate a world where it was very clear that justice was not on your side. I wanted to empathize with Kareem, who is trying to reconcile this crazy world around him, by copying his stillness."
Among the many nuances of correctly representing Kareem on screen was nailing his iconic speaking voice.
"The power move is speaking softly and making others lean into you. I didn’t focus too much on projection. I felt more like, I’m saying what I’m saying, and you need to be listening. There’s a swagger to the way he did things," Solomon explained. "The way he would walk out to tip-off at the start of the game was so zen, so calm, so collected. You can sense the reverence the other players, even the opposing players, had for him when they would shake his hand and dap him up. There was a coolness to him. I am not a particularly cool person so trying to embody that was hard work."
To most sports activities fanatics, one of the most iconic details about Kareem was his signature transfer on the court, the skyhook. Solomon claimed that he watched numerous videos of Kareem pulling off this improbable move with the intention to nail it.
"There’s a number of highlight reels that show skyhook after skyhook. One of my problems as a basketball player was I played too fast. When you watch Kareem’s skyhook, he really is in a world of his own. He’s surrounded by defenders, but he’s going to take his time and gracefully try to make that move. He’s trying to relax into it. It’s an incredibly difficult and vigorous move. He was really into yoga, and I got into it during filming and tried to do it every day, focusing on breathing and shutting the world off around me."
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