LOS ANGELES — Kyrie Irving showed up to his Celtics introductory press conference clean shaven, not as if he were a 25-year-old, seven-year NBA veteran traded to a new team, but as if he were a 17-year-old just signing with Duke University.

The usually bearded Irving was baby-faced, slender than usual, apparently reshaping himself for a fresh start. Or so we believed.

Irving laughed when asked about the clean-shaven look he sported in August. It had nothing to do with new beginnings or changing his look for his new franchise.

The reason Irving sported that clean-shaven look was because it made it easier to glue that large gray beard to his face during the filming of “Uncle Drew,’’ his first feature movie.

“There was one time where I had glue stuck in my beard,’’ Irving said Friday when he discussed the movie at length. “I had no choice but to shave. It was definitely for the makeup, though. I know everyone tied that to the fresh start [with the Celtics].’’

The extremely private Irving is taking on this Hollywood venture as he worked with Lionsgate Entertainment Company to turn his popular Uncle Drew Pepsi-sponsored commercials, in which he dresses as an elderly man who schools hoopers in the playground young enough to be his grandsons.

Irving has spent most of his life mastering basketball. He has had time for little else, but the lure of movies and increasing his marketability and brand, especially among kids, was too attractive to resist, despite the fact that last summer was so critical.

“Uncle Drew,’’ which debuts June 29, was shot in Atlanta during the time that Irving made his trade demand to the Cleveland Cavaliers. It was a chaotic time for Irving, but he was able to concentrate on his Uncle Drew role, and during his breaks, he was desperate to find pickup games in Atlanta.

“In the summer time, trying to gain as much ground as I can to be ahead of the curve going back into the season,’’ he said. “It really just turned into an opportunity when my agent presented it. When I had that time, I had to kind of figure out how to be an actor as well as being a professional basketball player and balance the two, which is something I’ve never done before.’’

For the first time, Irving sacrificed basketball for something else.

“Man, this just happened to be shooting in one of the craziest summers of my life,’’ Irving said of the movie. “That was an experience in itself as well. I tried my best not to let it kind of mix as much as I could, but inevitably it did. I was unsure when or if the trade was going to happen.

“It actually happened on set, so you can imagine how that reaction was to find out that I had just been traded on set. I left for about five minutes, came back, and started acting my scenes again. That is a full-bloom life right there, being a professional basketball player and acting in the summer.’’

Irving wanted to leave Cleveland because he wanted the responsibility of being a foremost leader on the floor. But joining the Celtics also added a new element to Irving’s image off the court. He is a member of one the most prestigious organizations in professional sports. That tradition is not lost on him.

Whenever networks promote Celtics games, it’s Irving’s photo that is posted to represent his team. That was hardly the case in Cleveland, where LeBron James is perhaps the most important player to an organization in the history of sports.

Basketball has always been Irving’s passion, but he wanted to embrace the opportunity of tackling another challenge in acting. He is a personable man, a thinker, but the perception around the NBA is that Irving is a unique personality that thinks beyond the normal realms.

For example, when the Celtics recently ran an in-arena promotion asking players what television sitcom family they would like to be a member of, Irving responded, “none.’’

Irving carries a rather mysterious image. It’s All-Star Weekend, and while many of the league’s superstars attach their names to parties and events, Irving doesn’t. One of the reasons he wanted to free himself from the ever-present shadow of James was to have the opportunity to express himself freely as the face of a franchise, not the assistant of one.

Making “Uncle Drew’’ gives Irving the opportunity to express himself in his selected and constructed way, with basketball as the ever-present backdrop.

“For me, ‘Uncle Drew’ has given me inspiration in terms of being able to convey my old soul through who he is and what he embodies as a character,’’ he said. “A lot of things I’ve always thought about as a kid and watching my dad and watching older men that have come before me, trying to take that and turn that into a character.’’

Irving appreciates the spotlight and that’s one of the primary reasons he departed Cleveland. But he wants the adulation his skills bring without having to self-promote. Irving wants to be acknowledged without first having to acknowledge himself.

And in the me-first world of professional sports in which athletes use social media to promote themselves, rap albums, products they endorse, etc., Irving is hoping “Uncle Drew’’ can allow fans a window into his complicated but brilliant psyche.

“I think the accessibility from the outside view will probably seem as though it’s a little more,’’ he said. “Internally, where I am in my profession and where it’s come with has been a lot, it’s been a true adjustment for me because as a kid you want it but when you get it, this is it. This is what everybody kind of is so crazy about. When I have a great chance to be authentic, being in front of people and showcase some of the talents that I’ve had for a while, and I’m not saying I’m the best actor but I’ve always wanted to act, always wanted to be a creator and influencer. But for me, I always wanted to necessarily not put my name on it. I’ve always had that attitude since I was kid.

“I don’t necessarily want to be in the front of everyone. I love being in the back just observing. I feel like that’s the best way to learn.

“For me now it’s great for my family. I think about the multiple legacies I want to leave before I’m done playing basketball, before I’m done on this Earth. Uncle Drew is part of that lineage now. I just love putting a great stamp of something I can be proud of and then leaving out of it with a great feeling about it.’’

Gary Washburn can be reached at gwashburn@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GwashburnGlobe.