The story of Giannis, Thanasis and Kostas Antetokounmpo and how they made history as the first trio of brothers to claim a championship ring takes to the screen in Rise, a biopic film by Disney+.
Rise is set to premiere on 24 June, diving into the Antetokounmpo brothers’ life and their winding journey to become NBA Champions with Giannis and Thanasis representing the Milwaukee Bucks and Kostas representing the Los Angeles Lakers.
Since dominating the NBA, Giannis Antetokounmpo has become a favourite as one of the world’s finest basketball players having won the NBA Championship and receiving the titles of Finals MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and League MVP.
Initially, to be titled after the iconic “Greek Freak” nickname, the film was later renamed Rise as Giannis Antetokounmpo revealed that it was more than about his own individual journey but about his family.
“Everybody talks about us, about me, Thanasis, Kostas, and Alex, and Francis, but they always leave out our parents you know, my dad and my mom,” Giannis said. “So, you know, we knew that one day we were going to tell them, like, who the real heroes of this story are, of this journey.”
The film follows their parents, Charles and Vera (Veronica) Antetokounmpo and their hardships moving from Nigeria to Greece as refugees struggling to survive and provide for their five children, while living under the daily threat of deportation.
The film also exposes the heartbreaks of securing citizenship in Greece through a flawed immigration system that “blocked them at every turn”.
When they weren’t selling items to tourists on the streets of Athens with the rest of the family, the brothers – Giannis and Thanasis – would play basketball with a local youth team.
They developed a passion and talent for basketball through joining a local youth team. From there, the brothers got drafted into the NBA powerhouse franchises.
The two older brothers are played in their younger years by real-life brothers Uche and Ral Agada.
“I was just layin’ in bed one day and I was goin’ on Instagram. And I see a screenshot of a tweet that Giannis put out saying that Disney’s making a movie about his life and his family’s life and they’re looking for someone to play him and his brothers,” Uche said.
“So, I just clicked on a link and I just sent a video, just talking about myself. A few months later, I got a call back. And for me, I was never an actor prior to this, so this was very weird for me. So, when it said callback with a director of a movie, in my mind, I’m like, yo, that’s crazy. But I did that callback and did another callback. And eventually they told me I got the part, which is absolutely incredible.”
“And then, couple weeks later, they asked me if I had any siblings and I said I had an older brother,” Uche said. That led to the casting of his brother Ral.
The cast also includes Dayo Okeniyi, Yetide Badaki, Manish Dayal and Taylor Nichols.
“Rise” was directed by Akin Omotoso, written by Amel, and produced by Bernie Goldmann. Giannis Antetokounmpo is credited as an executive producer alongside Douglas S. Jones.
The film also includes original music co-written and performed by the eldest Antetokounmpo son, Francis, who is known under the stage name Ofili.