Posts by Thomas Golianopoulos

  • Hulk Hogan on How to Wrestle an Actor

    When Hulk Hogan got in the ring with Tiny Lister, he was determined not to repeat the mistakes he made the last time he worked with an actor turned wrestler. “Mr. T, he was so nervous, he blew himself up before the match started,” Hogan remembers. So Hogan devised a plan: He would focus on Lister’s strengths, which as an actor were, well, his acting.

  • Say Hello to the Bad Guy

    Even when he isn’t making a movie, Tiny Lister usually plays the bad guy. As a paid spokesperson for Monster Energy Drink, Lister works corporate events on weekends, and when he’s on the clock, he appears as Deebo, his signature character from the ‘Friday’ franchise. Deebo is Lister’s Hamlet, his Sherlock Holmes, his artistic avatar. “It’s always that character,” he says of the neighborhood bully who first terrorized Ice Cube and Chris Tucker in the original 1995 comedy. “That’s what they pay to see.”

  • Billy Bob’s Blues

    What happens to a man who loses more than half of himself? Ron Lester has searched for the answer since December 2000.

  • Grantland Illustration

    Bad Day in Buffalo

    Two mysterious deaths in the shadow of one NFL game.

  • Tyrin Turner-Menace II Society-Tate

    The Menace That Missed

    Twenty years ago, Menace II Society was supposed to make Tyrin Turner a star. So why have you never heard of him?

  • Kobe Bryant

    The Secret History of Kobe Bryant’s Rap Career

    Whatever happened to the Lakers superstar’s music dreams?

  • You Either Smoke or You Get Smoked

    An oral history of White Men Can’t Jump.

  • Kevin Nash’s Next Angle

    The controversial wrestling star has made a fortune in the ring and is making headway in Hollywood. So why can’t he sleep at night?

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