Kobe Bryant was set to film for the 'Saved by the Bell' reboot days before his death, stars Josie Totah and Alycia Pascual-Peña reveal.
ew.com
Kobe Bryant was set to film for the Saved by the Bell reboot days before his death, stars reveal
Josie Totah and Alycia Pascual-Peña share details about the scheduled cameo and reflect on the basketball legend's legacy in EW's first listen of the duo's new podcast episode.
By
Jessica WangSeptember 14, 2022 at 06:00 PM EDT
Basketball legend
Kobe Bryant almost made a cameo in the
Saved by the Bell revival on Peacock.
Reboot stars
Josie Totah and
Alycia Pascual-Peña, who portrayed Bayside High students Lexi and Aisha in the
short-lived sitcom, reveal the surprise tidbit in Thursday's all-new episode of
Dare We Say, the best friends' Crooked Media podcast also featuring Yasmine Hamady.
In EW's exclusive first listen of the episode (above), Totah and Pascual-Peña share that the late Bryant was scheduled to film the pilot episode of the reboot episode days after his untimely death in January 2020. The beloved L.A. Lakers superstar and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were two of
nine passengers aboard a helicopter that crashed in California. He was 41.
"A wild tidbit that I don't think a lot of people know, or, it's not important at all because obviously, we are the least of importance when it comes to this legend and his daughter's passing, but we were actually supposed to film with Kobe two days after he died," Totah shares, calling the addition of Bryant "so surreal."
Pascual-Peña noted that the energy on set "shifted greatly" when it came time to film said pilot — and reflects on the legacy of the sports giant.
"I remember learning that he had passed through one of our best friends Anjelika Washington," Pascual-Peña says. "She called me specifically because she knew that I'd been talking about it for a month with her — that I was so excited to meet Kobe on set and I can't believe that he was a fan of the first
Saved by the Bell and that he was excited to be on the show."
Josie Totah and Alycia Pascual-Peña on 'Saved by the Bell'
| CREDIT: CHRIS HASTON/PEACOCK/NBCU PHOTO BANK VIA GETTY IMAGES
"It's really beautiful and eye-opening to see how one person can. . . bring joy to so many people. Some people live their entire lives never seeing the full impact they had on the world until they pass," she continues. "Thankfully Kobe was given his flowers. That man was so loved and so respected."
For more from the episode, tune into the new episode of
Dare We Say on Thursday, when new episodes drop weekly wherever podcasts are available.
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