''Swagger'' is an American

sports drama A sports film is a film genre in which any particular sport plays a prominent role in the film's plot or acts as its central theme. It is a production in which a sport, sporting event, athlete (and their sport), or follower of sport (and the spor ...

television series created by

Reggie Rock Bythewood Reggie Rock Bythewood (born July 7, 1967) is an American filmmaker and actor. He is known for directing the film ''Dancing in September'' (2000) and creating the television series '' Shots Fired'' and '' Swagger''. Life and career Bythewood g ...

. Loosely inspired by the experiences of current NBA player

Kevin Durant Kevin Wayne Durant ( ; born September 29, 1988), also known by his initials KD, is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for t ...

, the series premiered on October 29, 2021 on

Apple TV+ Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a small network appliance hardware that plays received media data such as video and audio to a television set or external display. Since its secon ...

. In June 2022, the series was renewed for a second season. ''Swagger'' has garnered critical acclaim from critics for its writing, acting (primarily Jackson's and Hill's), production values and social commentary.

Premise

''Swagger'' explores the world of youth basketball, and the players, their families and coaches who walk the fine line between dreams and ambition, and opportunism and corruption.

Cast

Main

* O'Shea Jackson Jr. as Ike “Icon” Edwards * Isaiah Hill as Jace Carson * Shinelle Azoroh as Jenna Carson *

Tessa Ferrer Tessa Rosiola Ferrer (born March 30, 1986) is an American actress. She is known for playing Dr. Leah Murphy, a surgical intern then resident, in ''Grey's Anatomy''. She is the daughter of singer Debby Boone and Gabriel Ferrer. Career In 2012, S ...

as Meg Bailey *

Quvenzhané Wallis Quvenzhané Wallis ( ; born August 28, 2003) is an American actress and author. In 2012, she starred as Hushpuppy in the drama film ''Beasts of the Southern Wild'' (2012), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, becomi ...

as Crystal Jarrett *

Caleel Harris Caleel Harris (born April 19, 2003) is an American actor. Career He joined Nickelodeon in 2015, and voiced AJ from '' Blaze and the Monster Machines'', then later in 2016, he provided the voice of Clyde McBride on ''The Loud House'' until season ...

as Musa Rahim * James Bingham as Drew Murphy * Solomon Irama as Phil Marksby * Ozie Nzeribe as Royale Hughes * Jason Rivera-Torres as Nick Mendez *

Tristan Wilds Tristan Paul Mack Wilds (born July 15, 1989) is an American actor, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his roles as Michael Lee on the HBO original drama series, ''The Wire'', and as Dixon Wilson on the CW teen drama seri ...

as Alonzo Powers

Recurring

* Christina Jackson as Tonya Edwards, Ike's wife. *

Marc Blucas Marcus Paul Blucas (born January 11, 1972) is an American actor. Prior to his acting career, he played college basketball with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. He had his first starring role as soldier and love interest Riley Finn on the WB super ...

as Coach Bobby, a rival team coach. * Sean Baker as Naim Rahim, Swagger's deputy coach and Musa's father. * Jordan Rice as Jackie Carson, Jenna's daughter and Jace's older sister. * Al Mitchell as Coach Warrick, Crystal's basketball coach who abuses his players. * Javen Lewis as Vince Charles, a Swagger player. * Tracey Bonner as Angie Jarrett, Crystal's mother. * Marti O. Pruitt as Jeremiah Jarrett, Crystal's father. *

Miles Mussenden Miles Mussenden is an American actor and music producer. He is best known for portraying Otis Johnson in '' Marvel's Cloak & Dagger''. Career Born in London to Guyanese parents, Mussenden and his family moved to Brooklyn where at the age of nin ...

as Brett Hughes, Royale's father and a financial backer of Swagger. * Misha Gonz-Cirkl as Teresa Mendez, Nick's mother * Avery Serell Wills Jr. as Ricky, a Swagger player. * Nadej K. Bailey as Tamika, Musa's love interest * Kurt Lamarr as Coach Charlie Edwards, Ike's father *

Arischa Conner Arischa Conner (born October 18, 1971) is an American actress. Early life Conner was born in Kingstree, South Carolina, and raised in Florence, South Carolina. Career Arischa is best known for her recurring role as Leah Turner in the Hulu ...

as Apocalypse Anne * Katie Killacky as Eva Murphy, Drew's mother

Guest

* Andrew C. Williams as Kai * Robert Crayton as Barber Marvin * Jared Wofford as Harold Phillips * Gwen L. Johnson as Cynthia * Brian K. Landis as Warren Murphy

Episodes

Production

Development

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

began developing the project in February 2018, and it was ordered in December 2018 as a sports drama television series titled ''Swagger'' from

and

. Bythewood will be the showrunner, writer, director, and executive producer with Durant,

Brian Grazer Brian Thomas Grazer (born July 12, 1951) is an American film and television producer and writer. He founded Imagine Entertainment in 1986 with Ron Howard. The films they produced have grossed over $15 billion. Grazer was personally nominated fo ...

, Francie Calfo, Rich Kleiman, and Samantha Corbin Miller executive producing. On June 15, 2022, Apple renewed the series for a second season.

Casting

In October 2019, ''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, with ...

'' reported that

Winston Duke Winston Duke (born 15 November 1986) is a Tobagonian actor. He made his feature film debut in the role of M'Baku in ''Black Panther'' (2018) and is best known for portraying the character in two films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Duke w ...

was cast as the lead, but in February 2020, Duke suffered an injury on set and was replaced with O’Shea Jackson Jr. On July 9, 2020,

joined the series in the role of Crystal, and on January 15, 2021, Isaiah Hill, Shinelle Azoroh, Tristan Mack Wilds,

, Jason Rivera, Solomon Irama, Ozie Nzeribe, and James Bingham were all revealed to have been cast. On August 11, 2022,

Orlando Jones Orlando Jones (born April 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is known for being one of the original cast members of the sketch comedy series ''MADtv'', for his role as the 7 Up spokesman from 1999 to 2002, and for his role a ...

and Shannon Brown joined the cast as series regulars, while Christina Jackson and Sean Baker were promoted to series regulars for the second season.

Filming

Alongside the casting of Winston Duke, ''Deadline Hollywood'' reported that filming would occur in October 2019. After Duke’s injury in February 2020, filming was delayed due to recasting, and was then delayed even further due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. By December 2020, filming restarted in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, with filming also taking place in

Hopewell, Virginia Hopewell is an independent city surrounded by Prince George County and the Appomattox River in the Commonwealth of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 23,033. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Hopewell with Prin ...

in March 2021. In April 2021, filming wrapped for the series.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Swagger 2020s American black television series 2020s American drama television series 2021 American television series debuts English-language television shows Apple TV+ original programming American sports television series Basketball television series Television series by CBS Studios Television series by Imagine Entertainment Television shows filmed in Virginia