Jackson County man makes big screen debut

A graduate of Graceville High School will make his big-budget movie debut this Friday when “The Proposal” opens in movie theaters across the U.S.
The son of Jackson County Fire Rescue Chief Tony Wesley, 32-year-old Jerrell Lee Wesley plays the role of Jordan, an office buddy of the character played by lead actor Ryan Reynolds. Sandra Bullock and Reynolds star in the romantic comedy. 
It’s a small role but a big break in Wesley’s fledgling career. He worked a little more than a week on the film, shooting most of his scenes last spring, and did a few reshoots with Reynolds in January of this year.
Alert movie-goers can catch his character as he flashes on the screen briefly in theater previews being shown ahead of the opening.
Wesley’s stage name is Jerrell Lee, the name that will roll in the credits at the end of the movie.
He was a high school sports standout at Graceville High and dreamed of playing professional baseball one day, he said.
But he also always had another goal — he figured he’d play ball a few years and then find a place in the entertainment industry.
He was a Kentucky Wildcat football player in college. An injury there put an end to his athletic pursuits. He tried life on the sidelines for a while, coaching a year of football at Drake University in Iowa. Although he enjoyed the work, he realized it wasn’t his real passion.
He made a bold move when that truth set in. With $1,200 in his pocket, he moved to Los Angeles in 2001 to pursue his passion for acting.
In his first few months there, he sold shoes for a living and rented a room with no air conditioning. It was summer, and it was a hot one, but he survived the heat and persevered.
He eventually got a job as a fitness trainer and was able to work a schedule more suited to the constant auditioning process.
In the years that passed since that first sweltering summer, he’s had some successes.
He has been in smaller, independent films, as well as an episode of the HBO series “Six Feet Under”; the reality show “Dismissed”; a few commercials and on stage in theater productions.
Wesley was the first to audition when he was called up   with several others to try for the role in “The Proposal.” He made the cut for a call back, with a handful of others.
He was the last to audition the second time around and got a boost from a comment director Anne Fletcher made.
“She said, ‘You’re the first person today who said that line right,’”Wesley recalled.
After he won the part, he got another good feeling when his role was rewritten with more lines and given a name. At first, the character was just billed as “office buddy,” or some such generic term.
Wesley isn’t under any delusions, but hopes this is a signal of even better things to come.
“I’m still in pursuit of happiness here,” he said. “Hopefully, some new and bigger things will come along because of it.”
In fact, Wesley is waiting for word on the fate of a television pilot he shot last year. Tentatively called “Madso’s War,” the show is set on the gritty side of Boston gang life.
Wesley hopes to one day work with Will Smith and Denzel Washington, a man he names among his role models.
His father is another. Eight years ago, his dad wasn’t wild about the idea of his taking a shot at acting because of its uncertainty, Wesley said. But his father is supportive and proud of him nonetheless. He said his mother, Edna, and his aunt Jena are also big fans in his corner.
His father Tony said Tuesday that many family members will go to the theater together and see the show Friday, and that another group will be going Sunday after church. Dad plans to attend both.
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On the Web
See an interview in which Wesley talks about working on “The Proposal” at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8BK4LuYiRc