- Was picked by Milwaukee in the first round in 2013
- Rose from poverty and making ends meet on the streets
Before he became an NBA champion and global superstar, Giannis Antetokounmpo made an unexpected appearance on the big screen in an Australian movie.
At just 16 years old, the Milwaukee Bucks fan favourite and his mother, Veronica, featured briefly in the 2012 drama Dead Europe, directed by Australian Tony Krawitz and adapted from Aussie author Christos Tsiolkas’ novel.
It was produced by Australian companies, funded in part by Screen Australia, and premiered at the Sydney Film Festival in 2012.
When the surprising role was revealed on social media, shocked fans could not believe that such a big piece of Giannis’s history had been kept secret from them for so long.
‘How did we never hear about this before?’ asked one fan.
‘New Giannis lore just dropped,’ added another.
A young Giannis Antetokounmpo appears in the 2012 Australian film Dead Europe at just 16 years old along with his mother Veronica (pictured together)
The future NBA superstar was credited as ‘Neighbour’s Son’ under the name ‘Giannis Adeto Kunbo.’
‘Such an obscure piece of Giannis lore, amazing with everything out there about his upbringing I’ve never seen this mentioned once,’ another posted.
Filmed partly in Athens, where the Antetokounmpo family was living at the time, the cameo came at a point when they were undocumented immigrants struggling to make ends meet.
Casting agents were looking for authenticity, and Giannis and his mother were chosen to play a refugee family in a short but memorable scene.
Giannis was credited as ‘Neighbour’s Son,’ appearing under the spelling ‘Giannis Adeto Kunbo’ on IMDb, while Veronica was also listed for her role.
His involvement in the film amounted to just two lines: ‘Quiet, please, it’s late’ and ‘She is dead, gone.’
For the Antetokounmpos, the job provided a small source of income during a period when Giannis and his brother Thanasis were also selling items on the streets of Athens to support their family.
The film itself, Dead Europe, was dark, confronting and challenging, described by reviewers as both disturbing and intelligent.
However, it carried a 63 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and polarised critics, with some praising its depth and others calling it bleak.
Fans were shocked to discover Giannis once dabbled in acting before his basketball career took off
Giannis delivered just two lines in the film, including the haunting: ‘She is dead, gone’
The Antetokounmpo family (pictured) accepted the roles while struggling to make ends meet as they lived in Greece
For Giannis, however, the role was just a passing experience, overshadowed quickly by his rise as a professional basketball player.
Within a year of the film’s release, he declared for the NBA Draft, where he was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks in 2013 as the 15th overall pick.
As his career took off, the cameo remained an obscure piece of trivia, only rediscovered years later when fans unearthed clips of the teenage ‘Greek Freak’.
Today, Giannis’ life story is told more directly through projects like Disney’s Rise and Prime Video’s The Marvelous Journey, where he and his family recount their journey from hardship in Greece to NBA greatness.
