Kobe Bryant Was Set To Film ‘Saved By The Bell’ Reboot Days Before His Passing

The world lost NBA legend Kobe Bryant in January 2020. He left behind a prestige legacy for generations to learn about. Sadly, future projects were changed drastically, including a television appearance on a reboot series.

Entertainment Weekly had an exclusive first listen of the podcast Dare We Say, which featured Josie Totah and Alycia Pascual-Peña, who portrayed Bayside High students Lexi and Aisha in the short-lived reboot of Save by the Bell. They revealed that Bryant was scheduled to film the pilot episode of the reboot days after his untimely death

“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 stated that energy on set “shifted greatly” when it was time to film the pilot. She even reflected on Kobe’s legacy.

“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.”

“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.”

The iconic L.A. Lakers superstar and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were two of nine passengers inside a helicopter that crashed in California. He was 41 and deeply missed up to this day.

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