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Metta World Peace has the acting itch – the Lifetime acting itch. This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone since this is the same person who changed his name to Metta World Peace and was subsequently suspended seven games for unprovoked violence. More curious, however, is how World Peace landed the role; his persona doesn't exactly mesh with Liftime's female viewership. But he's probably a terrible actor, so that should work well.
Here's the entirety of his role within the movie, and how this all came about in the first place:
"Peace will make his acting debut in a movie adaptation of Nancy Grace's first novel, The Eleventh Victim, set to premiere in the fall on Lifetime Movie Network.
Peace will set down his basketball to play Garlan Fincher, a Georgia detective who works very closely with Atlanta Assistant District Attorney Hailey Dean, played by Beverly Hills, 90210 vet Jennie Garth.
How, you may ask, did this highly unusual bit of casting come about? Turns out World Peace and Grace became fast friends during their stint on Season 13 of Dancing With the Stars. (Garth is also a Dancing alum.) The Garlan character 'is very dear to my heart,' says Grace, who authored The New York Times best-selling novel based on her real-life experiences and serves as one of the film's executive producers. 'I wanted to cast someone for whom I have a true fondness. Metta World Peace was my first pick.'"
We assume the term "true fondness" is used in its most casual sense. I'm fond of Metta World Peace too, simply because his life is constant material for SportsGrid posts. But genuinely fond? Eh, I don't know if I can buy that.
Please also note that the name "Garlan Fincher" seems like an appropriately strange name for World Peace's character.
[TV Guide, via Larry Brown Sports]
Photo via Getty