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Andrew Marks

FAIRBANKS — Andrew Marks has plenty of friends who are big fans of Hollywood starlet and actress Jessica Biel. But Marks has bragging rights: He’s met her.

The 22-year-old Fairbanks native not only met the actress but acted alongside her, playing a small part in the HBO movie “Home of the Brave,” which also stars such big names as Christina Ricci, Samuel L. Jackson and Curtis Jackson, aka 50 Cent. Marks said he earned the opportunity to appear in the film as an Army officer because he happened to be in the right place at the right size.

“I had some friends (who were acting) and they told me they needed some extras for this movie, so I went there,” he said. “There weren’t too many people who fit into the officer’s uniform, but it fit me.”

The 2004 Nenana City School graduate is attending Eastern Washington University on a track scholarship and said he dabbles in acting “to earn some money” when he can. He’s done a few commercials in the past two years and did his part of the movie filming in Spokane, Wash. He said his acting experience thus far has taught him that the old “practice makes perfect” holds true.

“It is definitely a comfort-zone thing. When you’re filming, you have to sit a lot closer to people than you naturally would, and talk closer, because it has to fit in the screen,” Marks said. “The more you do it, the more comfortable you get, and then you get better at it.”

In the movie, which first aired on HBO on Aug. 4, Marks performs as a military officer in a few scenes with both Biel and Christina Ricci. One scene puts him next to Biel as a fellow passenger on a plane, where Biel’s character, Vanessa Price, is nervously awaiting a visit with her daughter. While he did have some lines in the filming, they are inaudible in the film, he said.

“There’s music in the background, so you can’t really hear it,” he said.

The actress didn’t stick around long during the three days he was present for filming, but he did get a chance to “hang out” with a few of the other actors and various crew members to watch what was going on. A computer science major specializing in 3-D animated graphics design, Marks found the production process intriguing.

“I really liked getting to see how it is all organized and all the work that goes into making a major film,” he said.

He hopes his education in animated graphics will lead to a career in movie production, specifically in special effects. But, he said, he’d like to pursue any element of movie making, including more acting.

“I’d like to do some bigger roles, maybe do some of the types of movies I like to watch, like comedies and action movies,” he said.

Overall, he likes the “thought of the whole process” and wants to get into any aspect of film production. For now, he’ll do whatever acting he can and continue his studies and cross country and track participation at EWU.

Marks grew up in McGrath, Allakaket and Tanana, attended Monroe and Tanana high schools, and graduated from Nenana City School.