Kobe Bryant Was Meant To Be In 'Saved By The Bell' 2 Days After Death

Kobe Bryant was supposed to shoot a scene for the pilot episode of the “Saved by the Bell” reboot two days after his death, two stars of the Peacock show say.

Josie Totah and Alycia Pascual-Peña revealed the ill-fated cameo in a Sept. 15 episode of their podcast, “Dare We Say.”

“A wild tidbit that I don’t think a lot of people know, or, that it’s not important at all because obviously, we are the least of importance when it comes to this legend’s passing and his daughter’s passing, but we actually were supposed to film with Kobe two days after he died,” said Totah, who played Lexi on the reboot.

“We were supposed to film a scene with him. He was going to be on our show and I don’t think anyone knows that.”

Totah, who called the potential experience “so surreal,” said the NBA legend was ready to take part.

“I remember the costume girls had gotten his sizes from his stylist and he fully was on the call sheet and all of that,” Totah said.

Pascual-Peña, who played Aisha on the comedy, said a pall was cast over the show following the pilot after Bryant’s death.

“The energy on set has shifted greatly,” she said.

Pascual-Peña also said she learned the former Lakers great had died from a friend who knew how much she was looking forward to working with Bryant.

“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, that I can’t believe that he was originally a fan of the first ‘Saved by the Bell’ and that he was excited to be on our show.”

The “Saved by the Bell” reboot premiered in November 2020 and ran for two seasons before it was canceled.

Bryant died in January 2020 in a helicopter crash that also claimed the life of his daughter Gianna, 13, and seven others. In May, a jury awarded his widow, Vanessa Bryant, $16 million in damages after first responders took and shared photographs of the crash scene.

Pascual-Peña also said the reaction to Bryant’s death overwhelming.

“It was insane to see L.A. come out the way they came out, and just the whole world,” she said. “That man was so loved and so respected, in L.A. You felt it. You felt the energy in the air change. And I was just like, ‘Wow, the fact that one human can have that effect on so many people is so powerful.’”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com