Gasol Gets ‘Intense’ On ‘Miami’

LA Lakers basketball player Pau Gasol enjoyed acting in the CSI: Miami episode “Point of Impact”, but winning championships is still his dream. (Minor spoilers and embedded video after the jump.)

As CSI Files previously reported, Gasol will guest star in the next episode of Miami‘s eighth season. “I play a random guy who is in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Gasol said. “It’s cool because I’m not playing myself or the stereotypical basketball player. It’s a little bit of a challenge.”

“My character’s name is Victor and I’m driving my sister’s boyfriend’s car and I’m returning the car to the guy and I get into a car crash,” he continued. “I can’t tell you the whole episode but will tell you that I get out of the car and I see that the other car is severely damaged and I see wounded people in there. One of them I believe is dead and the other I am trying to help and save his life.” He added, “It was an intense scene.”

Different scenes presented different challenges for the athlete-turned-actor. “One of the scenes required getting hit by a car – big, big hit,” Gasol explained. “Big crash. You’re stumbling, your mind isn’t clear, there’s a lot of tension, there’s fire, people are wounded, some are dead. You have to act and react, remember your lines and coordinate them with your actions. That’s challenging enough and to have an interrogation with one of the agents. Plus, you have to follow directions from your acting coach. It’s interesting how it all works and comes together.”

Gasol also had to get used to being on the Miami set. “Everybody around you just looking at you and hoping you get it right and remember your lines,” he shared. “There are a lot of things involved in three days of shooting. It wasn’t just the typical one day or half day of shooting.”

The Lakers player got the role after telling his agent, Arn Tellem, that he was interested in acting if he got the chance. “My agency had a good opportunity with CBS and they presented it to me and I was happy to have it,” Gasol said. “I met with the production company of CSI: Miami and it worked out great.”

Although Gasol enjoys acting, he doesn’t have a dream role. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I haven’t gotten that far yet. Right now, my dream is to win championships and play basketball for as long as I can and one day having a family of my own, those are my primary dreams. Acting is something I enjoy doing, it’s refreshing but you really have to get into it and dedicate yourself to it a lot more than I do to be able to have a dream part and actually pursue it. When I have dreams, I like them to be somewhat realistic.”

He hopes fans are happy with his acting on Miami. “It’s going to be up to whoever watches it to have their own opinion,” Gasol said. “Some may say I did a fine job and others may say it’s not my forte. You have to respect people’s opinions. I just hope they enjoy it and they see it as a cool thing. I had fun doing it.”

Check out a clip of Gasol in “Point of Impact” below. The episode airs Monday, November 16 at 10:00pm ET/PT.