Gasol Comes Prepared For ‘Miami’ Role

LA Lakers basketball player Pau Gasol spent three days on the set of CSI: Miami filming scenes for his upcoming guest appearance. (Spoilers after the jump!)

As CSI Files previously reported, Gasol will guest-star in the episode of CSI: Miami scheduled to air November 16, “Point of Impact”. One of his scenes required him to act like a corpse on a gurney Miami morgue. “It’s tough to see yourself dead,” Gasol said, looking at a picture of himself in the scene. “Only in Hollywood, right?”

Another scene found Gasol’s character speaking with Jesse Cardoza (Eddie Cibrian) about a car accident. The character argues that the other car came out of nowhere, but he asks for a lawyer when Jesse points out that the car he was driving was stolen. “Pau came prepared, that’s for sure,” Cibrian said. “He knows his lines better than I know mine. He’s definitely taking it seriously.”

Gasol stands head and shoulders above Cibrian, but his height is not the basketball player-turned-actor’s only distinguishing feature. “I have a very unique look,” he said. “There aren’t too many 7-foot actors with braces.”

Although he enjoys acting, basketball still comes first for Gasol. When given the choice between winning an Oscar or getting a second NBA (National Basketball Association) championship ring, Gasol chose the ring. “I’m sure it’s extremely hard to win an Oscar,” he said, “but winning a title is something unbelievable, and you make hundreds of thousands of people happy.”