10 Actors Who Took Movie Roles For Weird Reasons
4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Wanted To Buy a Rug - Airplane!
It's not uncommon for athletes to find themselves working in the movie industry. The likes of Dwayne Johnson, John Cena, and Dave Bautista have all had successful Hollywood careers during and after their WWE years, while two of the greatest NBA players in history teamed with Bugs Bunny 25 years apart.
Michael Jordan and LeBron James aren't the only basketball superstars to jump to the big screen, however, as 16 years before Air Jordan went toe-to-toe with the Monstars in Space Jam, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played Roger Murdock opposite Leslie Nielsen in Airplane!.
In spite of this being one of the legendary Los Angeles Lakers center's first big roles, he had a pretty substantial, and awfully weird, demand before he agreed to sign for the picture. Though initially offered $30,000 for the role, Abdul-Jabbar requested $5,000 more so he could buy a particular rug he had his eye on.
The man has always had something of a passion for collecting rugs, so though it may not have been too out of the ordinary for him, it's got to be one of the most unique demands made by an actor in the history of Hollywood.