Glen Davis Almost Had a Shot at an Oscar

I'm the culturally disconnected guy who didn't watch The Oscars last night, but WEEI has an interesting piece about how Celtics forward Glen Davis almost landed a role in one of the Best Picture nominees, The Blind Side.

Back in 2007, Davis was a top candidate for the lead role of Michael Oher in “The Blind Side.” (Bullock won Best Actress for her work in the film Sunday night.) The casting seemed like a perfect fit for Davis, a former high school football player who shared a love of athletics and the arts. He performed in improv shows while playing college basketball at Louisiana State University and enjoyed being on stage.

So when he was approached to audition for the film at the start of his rookie season with the Celtics, Davis jumped at the opportunity.

“I’ve always wanted to act,” he explained. “I knew about the football player, he played at Ole Miss, and I heard there was a book out about that. So I said, 'Sure, I’ll try out.' ”

Davis reportedly became one of the top three candidates for the role, but his schedule never allowed Davis to take a meeting with the film's executives -- let alone actual shooting of the film.

Knowing Davis' natural personality, it would've been strange to see him playing Oher on film. Oher, the high school student, was described as a quiet, introverted boy in the book by Michael Lewis. Knowing Davis' effusive personality, I'm wondering how many viewers would've been distracted by Davis' presence.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.