Adam Sandler’s latest sports film Hustle starred a number of real-life basketball players showing off their acting chops, including Juancho Hernangómez, who plays an NBA scout’s newest recruit. Another real-life basketball player you may recognize in the new Netflix movie is Minnesota Timberwolves player Anthony Edwards, who wowed audiences playing the film’s antagonist role. While this shooting guard was a team player throughout the making of this film, there was one scene in particular that Edwards was not on board with filming at all.
The Happy Gilmore star and Juancho Hernangómez made a lot of fond memories while shooting this Rotten Tomatoes-crushing movie. During an interview with Whistle Sports, Adam Sandler recalled one scene Anthony Edwards refused to do. There was one thing in particular he couldn't do while playing one-on-one with Hernangómez’s character. As Sandler shared:
Juancho’s character, Bo, has to block Anthony Edward’s dunk, right? And Anthony was just like, ‘Oh, come on, man. I can’t let that happen.’
Seems to me like the former Georgia Bulldogs player can be just as competitive as his on-screen character. He played a rival to Juancho Hernangómez’s Bo trying to stand in the way of him making the 76s. In order to take down the new recruit, Anthony Edwards’ Kermit started trash talking Bo to get under his skin like making fun of his Spanish roots as well as saying crude things about his mother and daughter. Luckily, the 20-year-old basketball star has said that he would never stoop that low to trash talk in real-life even if kids today are continuing bad habits like that. Watching these scenes brought out a lot of suspense in seeing whether Bo would be able to keep his cool and not blow his chances for NBA placement.
Considering Hernangómez and Edwards are professional basketball players in real-life, their on-court skills are the real deal. The Utah Jazz player further commented on the specific action his on-screen rival refused to do.
Anthony [Edwards] tried to dunk on me so hard. He almost broke the ball. I told Ant, ‘Man I got to block you’ he said ‘there is no way I let you block me.’
The scenes between Bo and Kermit really did feel like scenes ripped out from Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull. You can see the one-on-one tension between the two players as if the basketball court was their own personal boxing ring. These two players literally go head-to-head with each other and you cannot help but be on edge while watching. The camera moves when the actors move in perfect harmony. The cockiness and realism Anthony Edwards brought out in Kermit really made him Hustle’s scene-stealer at the point where you would have no idea this was his first movie.
Hustle is one of the best movies you can watch on Netflix right now earning a number of rave reviews. It’s the type of movie that not only shows us how the world of basketball recruitment can be but gives audiences a deep exploration of each of the characters. If you want to see the antagonistic character traits Anthony Edwards brings out in Hustle, you can watch the critically-acclaimed film right now on your Netflix subscription.
