Three Nigerians will star in the Disney Plus movie, Greek Freak. The movie tells the life story of Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Nigerian-born Greek superstar whose lives transformed from hawking to a basketball icon.
Debutant, Uche Agada will star as Giannis Antetokounmpo in the film. Also, Yetide Badaki will star as Vera, Antetokounmpo’s mother while Dayo Okeniyi will act as Charles, Giannis’ father.
The film is being developed by the Walt Disney Studios for streamer Disney Plus. In 2019, the film was first announced as being in development. United Kingdom’s Arash Amel and Nigeria’s Akin Omotoso are writing and directing the film respectively. Antetokounmpo is the executive-producer while the American Bernie Goldmann will produce the film. Production will commence later this year in both Greece and the United States.
This role will mark Agada’s onscreen debut. According to Variety, Agada auditioned after watching a screengrab on Instagram of an announcement about the open casting call from Antetokounmpo’s official Twitter handle.
Badaki’s recent roles include acting as Bilquis in all three seasons of the Starz adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods and a role on NBC’s hit drama series This Is Us. Also, she has starred in features like The Long Shadow, What We Found, and Chasing the Rain.
Okeniyi is an NBC alum that has previously starred in the network’s cop drama series Shades of Blue. On TV, he appeared in the first season of the Apple drama See opposite Jason Momoa. He has played starring roles in a lot of features like The Hunger Games, Terminator Genisys, Runner Runner, and The Spectacular Now. He is repped by UTA, Cultivate Entertainment, and McKuin Frankel Whitehead LLP.
As a child of Nigerian immigrants in Greece, Antetokounmpo started playing basketball in Europe before he moved to the United States in 2013 to play for the Milwaukee Bucks. He established himself quickly as a major star in the team.
He has since been named NBA’s Most Valuable Player twice. He agreed a five-year contract extension valued $228 million with the Bucks last December.
