Sixers' Tobias Harris Talks Filming His First Commercial With Goldfish
Philadelphia 76ers veteran forward Tobias Harris is having himself a big year. Not only is he putting up career numbers and viewed as an All-Star-caliber player around the league, but he also acted for the first time in a commercial for Goldfish alongside his former teammate and best friend, Boban Marjanovic.
Unlike his aspiring actor friend, Harris didn't intend to be in movies or on TV outside of playing in televised basketball games. However, he mentioned that if Boban's in on something and needs him, Harris is there for his right-hand man.
So, Boban and Tobias landed a commercial with Goldfish, which premiered on small screens everywhere last Tuesday. And this week, more commercials will surface as they launch a Tik Tok challenge, encouraging fans to "go for the handful."
The purpose of the challenge is to see how many Goldfish creators on Tik Tok can grab in one handful, just like the commercial. Harris was able to snag approximately 73 (he confirmed that to be true). Meanwhile, Boban managed to fit 301 in his hand, which Harris couldn't believe as he thought for sure he'd win somehow.
"Being on set, I always knew Boban had big hands, but when I went into the bag and was able to pull out 73, I felt like there was no way he was beating me," Harris said. "Then when he went into the bag and pulled out like 301, that was when I was like, 'Alright, that's ridiculous.'"
Like he does with everything else that's work-related, Harris used visualization as a tool to give him the confidence that he could do a great job creating the commercial. Although he wasn't sure if everything was going well or not initially, Harris enjoyed his first time on a set.
"I had to tell the director, 'My man, Bobi's been in one movie -- I'm not a real actor. So, you are going to talk to us with positive criticism,'" Harris explained. "We started doing the commercial, and it was like take one, take two. . . Take 15. Me and Bobi look at each other, and Bobi's like, 'I don't even know if we're doing good.' I was like, 'Yeah, me neither.' I said, 'Director, come here! You gotta come in and give us some positive energy, tell us if we're good or if we're bad, let us know!'
"So he started laughing and goes, 'Oh okay, I'm sorry guys, I didn't know.' So then he started telling us when we were doing good and whatnot, but that was just the type of energy that me and Bobi had. Like as soon as we came into the set, everybody is kind of like, all uptight, so we're just like, talking to everybody, getting to know everybody for like 15 minutes, and then we're like, 'Alright, let's do this commercial -- let's knock it out.' That's just our energy, making sure everybody's good, and we all have a great type of vibes in the room and let's get to business and produce an amazing commercial."
Although only just one of several commercials filmed have been revealed so far, Harris and Marjanovic's skit received rave reviews in the NBA world, which doesn't come as a surprise considering how much interest they draw in their social media series, 'The Adventures of Bobi and Tobi.' "Seeing the people's reaction to the commercial in a positive light was an awesome thing to see," Harris said last week.
Since his acting debut was a success, will Harris appear on any other sets in the near future? The veteran forward hinted there's probably a small chance of that happening unless his co-star calls on him. "I think [acting] is Bobi's space," Harris said. "But if he needs me, I got him. I feel like when we are in certain situations together, we bring out the best in each other."
If Harris and Marjanovic do decide to co-star in other commercials, shows, or even movies, it'll probably be a while from now. For the time being, Harris says that the Tobi and Bobi duo is focused on "riding this Goldfish wave."
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_ & Instagram: @JGrassoNBA.
