ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 14, 1997 TAG: 9701140101
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 6 EDITION: METRO
Some familiar faces are likely to show up in "Country Justice," a made-for-TV movie starring George C. Scott and Ally Sheedy airing tonight at 9 on WDBJ (Channel 7).
More than a dozen "principal" parts for the movie were cast in Roanoke County. They included actors from Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina, according to Sandra Eubank, a Roanoke-based casting director who helped recruit talent for the movie.
The story, based on a 1981 West Virginia court case, involves a coal miner's attempt to get legal custody of his great-grandson. It was filmed in Tazewell County a year ago. Scott, who plays the grandfather, is a Wise County native.
Local veteran actor Tom Mason plays a supreme-court justice in the movie. Mason, who has appeared in such movies as "Mississippi Burning" and "Crimes of the Heart," has played the part of judges several times.
Another local actor who is unlikely to have been left on the cutting-room floor is Elaine Bays Simpson, who portrays a state police trooper in a role critical to the story, Eubank said.
It was unusual to have so many speaking parts be cast at the site of the movie, Eubank said, but the quest for authentic dialect brought casting director Craig Fincannon here.
Some 375 locals also were used as extras in the film.
LENGTH: Short : 33 linesby CNB