Stepping Up to the Line

The entertainment mogul who is arguably the tallest, largest and most immovable force in Hollywood sits mostly in shadow in his Santa Monica office, his seemingly endless legs stretched out in front of him.

Midafternoon sunlight only slightly illuminates his shaved head, and his ornate silk Versace shirt is the only real bright spot in the room. His face is turned away from his visitor, the lights are off, and so is the familiar smile.

But he is on.

“ ‘Kazaam’ was a good children’s movie, but I took a lot of heat from old guys like Siskel and Ebert,” says the mogul in a low, booming voice. “What do they know? They’re 85 years old. We need some new movie critics, some younger, hipper movie critics.”

The mogul then discusses the future of his movie career: “I will probably limit myself to kids’ movies and action movies. I would love to do a movie with Jackie Chan and Arnold Schwarzenegger, or a John Woo movie, with lots of blowing up, lots of action, lots of fighting. Not that many words.”

He rises slightly: “I’d love to be a great one-line action hero. Arnold’s one line is ‘Hasta la vista, baby.’ Clint Eastwood had ‘Make my day.’ ”

And, the mogul is asked, what would be his trademark one-line declaration of war?

The head turns, and Shaquille O’Neal, the Los Angeles Lakers’ $120-million man, world-famous personality, million-dollar pitchman and Hollywood deal maker, finally flashes his megawatt smile.

“I don’t know--probably something like ‘What’s up, bro?’ ” he says.

O’Neal’s free-throw percentage may be down, but his show business profile is going up by leaps and bounds. While other pro basketball players are relaxing or exercising in preparation for the upcoming NBA season, O’Neal is playing a different kind of game--the Hollywood game.

And the 7-foot-1, 300-pound superstar is juggling several projects as he maneuvers his way through the arenas of music, film and television.

Although O’Neal has seemed omnipresent and inescapable between his games, his endless stream of commercials for Taco Bell, Reebok and Pepsi and his other media appearances, it’s all just been a warmup to the newest multimedia Shaq-a-Thon.

* O’Neal is on movie screens in a cameo in Paramount Pictures’ youth comedy “Good Burger.”

* O’Neal is scheduled to hip-hop into Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre this afternoon to perform tunes from his three rap albums at KKBT-FM’s Beat Summer Jam ’97 concert. Hours later, he will depart for his monthlong Shaq’s Rap + Jam Tour, which will take him and two other acts from the label he owns, TWIsM Records, to Asia and South America.

* “Shaq Night on the WB” will take place Wednesday as the star plugs his new movie by co-hosting the WB Network’s prime-time lineup.

* “Steel,” the second movie with O’Neal in a lead role, opens nationwide Friday. The Warner Bros. production features O’Neal in the title role as an armor-clad crime fighter battling bad guys in the ‘hood.

* O’Neal’s new single from the film’s soundtrack, “Man of Steel,” which finds him rapping along with such stars as Ice Cube, Rakim, B-Real and KRS-One, will also be released Friday.

* Reebok and Pepsi commercials featuring O’Neal cross-promoting their products and “Steel” will be seen more frequently.

* O’Neal is producing a series of specials for MTV, which kicked off with last month’s music-oriented “The Shaq Sessions.” He is also hosting another series of specials for Nickelodeon, “Sports Theatre With Shaquille O’Neal.”

* O’Neal is developing a gritty drama for Fox Television called “Hoops,” about college basketball players.

And it’s not even basketball season yet.

The projects are all part of an ambitious, carefully orchestrated campaign by O’Neal and his manager, Leonard Armato, to make the basketball star into a major creative force.

The duo hopes to bring the “Shaq” brand, which has already heavily penetrated the sports and marketing world, into all aspects of entertainment at the same time that the 25-year-old player is striving for a championship with the Lakers. If O’Neal and Armato have their way, O’Neal would become the only active athlete to become an international star simultaneously in sports, advertising, film, music and television. In your face, Michael Jordan.

The course they have charted is filled with pitfalls. Few sports stars have been able to make the jump to the Hollywood playing field while they are still engaged in athletics. Basketball bad boy Dennis Rodman fumbled with movie audiences when he starred in this year’s “Double Team” along with Jean-Claude Van Damme. Jordan scored with last year’s hit “Space Jam,” but he had an assist from Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, along with a budget of $120 million to $140 million. In addition, Jordan doesn’t seem to be intensely interested in becoming a film or TV star.

Said “Steel” producer David E. Salzman: “I think Shaq is very serious about being an actor. He wants to be a film star. He’s learning how to act. There’s still the little boy in him, fascinated with everything.”

Armato, who has represented such notable athletes as basketball stars Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Hakeem Olajuwon, said that if any athlete is going to break through in Hollywood, it will be O’Neal.

“Nobody like Shaq has ever come along before,” Armato said. “And it’s happening at a time when marketing is more advanced than any other time in our history, when communication is more powerful than ever before. Shaq, even at this early stage, has demonstrated an ability to transcend sports and really ride the crest of this wave that we call the convergence of sports and entertainment.”

The strategy by Armato and O’Neal involves producing and maintaining tight control on projects that will center on O’Neal, in the hopes that they will eventually lead to larger, more expensive ventures. They are listed as executive producers of both “Steel” and last year’s O’Neal vehicle “Kazaam,” which cost about $20 million each.

“With our movies, Shaq is the star and he must ‘open’ a picture,” Armato said. “That’s quite a burden in the entertainment industry. It takes awhile for an actor to reach that kind of stature and gain that kind of credibility. If he continues to progress like he has, I’m sure ultimately Shaq will star in bigger-budgeted pictures, and the studios will be more willing to take more of a risk and invest more money in a movie that has his name attached to it.”

Pivotal to the duo’s plan is gearing the projects toward a receptive young audience that regards O’Neal as a gentle, giant playmate.

“He has the power to influence young people, particularly very young people who are mesmerized by his size but drawn in by his warmth,” Armato said. “That’s a very powerful combination.”

He added: “Now it’s important that there remain a seamless line between Shaq the basketball player, Shaq the marketing vehicle, Shaq the public person and Shaq the movie star. Whether basketball or a movie, Shaq’s got to deliver that same consistent message, his value system, which is ‘Follow your dreams and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t accomplish something.’ ”

Armato insists that becoming a mover and shaker in the entertainment world was not a consideration when O’Neal decided to make the leap from the Orlando Magic and sign with the Lakers as a free agent.

In joining the Lakers, O’Neal wanted to follow in the team’s cherished tradition of “big men” such as Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain.

“The Lakers have a tradition of winning, and he wanted to be involved in the wonderful ownership and management of Dr. Jerry Buss and Jerry West,” Armato said. “It was a basketball decision. This was based on where he could maximize his potential as a basketball player. The entertainment benefit was really the ancillary icing on the cake. It’s just easier to facilitate things with him located here.”

But despite his appeal and his international celebrity, some industry insiders say O’Neal’s show business aspirations are not a slam dunk.

His 1994 film debut, “Blue Chips,” in which he played a supporting role as a college basketball player, and “Kazaam,” in which he played a 3,000-year-old genie, did not catch fire at the box office. Fox representatives said his production deal for the drama series is not proceeding with great speed. Sales of O’Neal’s second and third albums have fallen far short of the popularity of his 1993 rap debut, “Shaq Diesel.” And the future of his record label is uncertain because of a legal dispute between other partners in the music deal.

Said an executive at a major talent agency: “The odds are already stacked against an athlete who tries to cross over. It’s never really been done effectively. But in Shaq’s case, it won’t be for lack of trying. This is not a lark with him.”

Prominent entertainment attorney David Colden said: “In terms of media personalities, Shaq is one of the most important faces on the American landscape today. His recognizability and his ability to promote merchandise is equaled by only a handful of sports stars. That gives him an edge that may enable him to cross over, and that’s one reason why producers are willing to make an investment in him. But the jury is still out.”

Others say that despite the shortfalls, O’Neal has already scored in Hollywood.

“Shaq has heat,” proclaimed veteran talent manager Delores Robinson. “Everyone is coming at him, and he is having a ball. As long as it doesn’t affect his main job, he should play as much as he wants.”

Talent manager Joe Sutton said: “He’s not the greatest rapper in the world, but he could develop into something really sensational. This kid has so much public acceptance. Plus he’s making Los Angeles love him. He’s getting involved with the community. He’s out and about. Los Angeles is a town you have to make love to in order to succeed.”

Rob Kenneally, president of creative affairs for Rysher Entertainment, said: “Shaq has created an enormous brand name, and it has lots of value.” He added, only half-jokingly: “If he wants to do a talk show, he better come to us first.”

Veteran producer and director Harry Winer said O’Neal must be particularly careful about his future vehicles.

“Shaq can transcend a few initial failures, but the old adage of ‘You’re only as good as your last picture’ still exists,” Winer said. “You must prove you can make it in your new field as well as the one you’re identified with. Eventually you have to put it through the hoop or get off the court. The quality of the material will determine what happens.”

O’Neal says he’s aware of the risks in trying to achieve superstardom off the basketball court: “I know if I cross over into any other market, I have to do it very, very well. If not, I get blown out of the box.”

And he remains realistic about his acting abilities: “The real actors are guys like Wesley Snipes, Denzel Washington, Jim Carrey. I’m just a wannabe actor. However, I have a good time and I think I do a good job. If I keep at it, I will become as good as those guys one day. Hopefully.”

Both O’Neal and Armato say that “Steel,” based on the DC Comics superhero, will be the best demonstration yet of O’Neal’s mettle when it comes to attracting moviegoers. Unlike “Kazaam,” which showcased mainly the basketball star’s comic and rapping skills, “Steel” is more action-oriented and shows O’Neal scowling, smiling, running and fighting criminals while wielding a powerful hammer-like weapon.

O’Neal also has tender moments in the film, and demonstrates a kinetic chemistry with co-star Annabeth Gish, who plays his accomplice.

When “Steel” producer Salzman, along with fellow producer Quincy Jones, first approached O’Neal and Armato about making a movie based on a comic book character, they had another one in mind--Hardware, a DC Comics futuristic crime fighter who is more violent in tone and deeds than Steel.

“Shaq said, ‘Hardware is great, but he’s not as much me as Steel is,’ ” Salzman said. “He had a Steel comic with him, and he turned to a page where it showed this giant guy sitting on the tenement steps, surrounded by kids. ‘This is me,’ he said. ‘This is literally me.’ ”

O’Neal said that both “Steel” and “Kazaam” are good films for his young audience and that he was not hurt by the poor reception given “Kazaam.”

The film, in which O’Neal portrayed a playful genie with a taste for rap music who befriends a troubled boy, pulled in only $18.9 million domestically, a Disney spokeswoman said, and has made only a fair $11.9 million in video rentals, according to the Video Software Dealers Assn.

The disappointment of “Kazaam” was even more glaring in light of the intense media attention focused on O’Neal around the time of its July 1996 release. O’Neal was playing in the Olympic Games as a member of the U.S. basketball Dream Team II and was being wooed by the Lakers to jump from the Magic.

Said Armato: “ ‘Kazaam’ was an example of an idea being better than the movie. The idea of Shaq as a genie juxtaposed with a little kid is a great concept because of his size and approachability.

“I wasn’t very proud of that movie as a whole. The plot was convoluted, and the kid was so unlikable it was difficult to root for him. It was a moderate success--I wouldn’t call it a failure by any stretch. As for Shaq’s acting career, it was a great stride forward. He showed tremendous charm in a number of scenes.”

O’Neal added: “When I do movies, I don’t try to come out and make $800 million on opening day. Only a few people can do that. But every kid I see at the airport, they don’t see me as Shaq. They see me as Kazaam. That’s all that matters. Now they’ll see me as Steel.”

Besides a cameo in Spike Lee’s upcoming basketball film, “He Got Game,” no O’Neal-related film projects are on the table. However, O’Neal has some ideas on what he would like to do in the near future.

He would love to drown.

“What I really want to do is a ‘Baywatch’ episode, and drown, and have [cast member Tracy Bingham] rescue me and kiss me,” he said, smiling widely. “I don’t want no lines. I just want her to give me mouth-to-mouth kiss-suscitation!”

As much as he likes acting, O’Neal never saw himself as a movie star when he was younger.

“My dreams never went that far,” he said. “I always wanted to be a professional basketball player. But my next dream was a professional rapper. Some days I wanted to be Dr. J, other days I wanted to be LL Cool J.”

His dream came true around 1993 after he was offered a two-album deal at Jive Records when executives saw him rapping with the Fu-Schnickens on “The Arsenio Hall Show.” His first album, “Shaq Diesel,” was successful, selling 861,000 copies and producing a hit single, “I’m Outstanding.”

Although they sold respectably well, O’Neal’s subsequent albums, 1994’s “Shaq-Fu: Da Return” and last year’s “You Can’t Stop the Reign,” did not fare as well, selling 270,000 copies and 195,000 copies, respectively, according to SoundScan.

Also, O’Neal’s rap credibility in the beginning was questioned by some.

“Yeah, one or two guys dissed me,” O’Neal said. “But one of the greatest rappers in the world told me to keep rapping. That was Chuck D of Public Enemy.”

He pointed out that he has had no shortage of prominent guest stars on his albums and singles, including the Notorious B.I.G., Rakim, Ice Cube and KRS-One.

“I’ve got some of the greatest rappers in the world on my album,” O’Neal said. “These guys have egos. If I couldn’t flow a little bit, they wouldn’t rhyme with me. They are the best, and they don’t put their voice on just anyone’s album. That’s just the law.”

O’Neal now records on his own label, TWIsM (The World Is Mine). It is partnered with Interscope Records and Trauma Records, which are involved in an unrelated legal dispute that could affect TWIsM.

Rap music industry observers said that despite the declining sales, O’Neal is a legitimate and respected rapper.

Dane Webb, rap editor of the trade magazine Urban Network, said: “Shaq has a pretty solid hip-hop fan base that supports him. The initial impression was that this was just a phase. He may not have the best rhymes or metaphors, but his skills and ability to rap have evolved. And we can definitely say he’s not in it for the money.”

Sheena Lester, music editor of Vibe Magazine, which covers urban music and culture, said that O’Neal’s status as a rapper goes beyond his ability to sell records.

“The members of the rap community are proud of Shaq,” Lester said. “This is a talented young black man with the whole world at his disposal. His credibility doesn’t come just from his artistry. He’s of this generation. He’s also in a great position to expose new talent, and he can afford to pay artists. Not that many people can do that.”

Lester added: “Shaq doesn’t sell records for the public. He sells them for his fans. My 12-year-old cousin has his posters on the wall, has the Shaq video games and Reeboks. That’s who he makes the records for.”

As stretched as O’Neal is with his various entertainment projects, he is already looking to expand his creative horizons.

“I would like to be a director,” he said. “I’m going to go to film school. I want to do my own commercials and rap videos. I have a lot of ideas. I know what people like to see, what people my age like to see.”

Is O’Neal stretching himself so thin in Hollywood that he will lose focus on his day job?

“We don’t consider that these things have become more of a priority,” Armato insisted. “His primary focus is to maximize his potential as a basketball player and to help the Lakers win the championship. He could only do one movie a year at most.”

He added: “As an athlete, Shaq works as hard or harder than any player. He is known as someone with gigantic heart who plays at the highest level. But you can only play sports so many hours in the day. Then you have a choice. You can play golf, engage in recreational activities, or you can do the types of things Shaq does.”

O’Neal said he has the same philosophy when it comes to basketball, movies or music: “I just want to have a good time and give people a good product.”