ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 25, 1997 TAG: 9704250011
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: A.W. HAUSLOHNER LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
Grayson County-born actor Jeff Sanders goes Hollywood.|
He's been a Dallas Cowboy.
He's batted against Hideo Nomo.
He's played golf with Bo Jackson.
And now he's a dead head.
Not as in Grateful Dead but as in dead dead.
Jeff Sanders has had the time of his life while building a career, slowly and modestly, among the bright lights of Hollywood.
The Grayson County native and 1984 graduate of Independence High School appeared recently in first-run theaters across the country in "Eight Heads in a Duffle Bag," a dark comedy starring Joe Pesci.
Sanders is, well, one of the heads. Not a starring role, but what the business terms a "principal role" - not just an extra.
"I'm dead when the movie starts. I'm only in one scene, actually - but it's a good scene," Sanders said in a telephone interview from his Culver City, Calif., home.
No, he's not a star, but it was a big enough deal for him to fly his grandmother, Ophelia Reeves of Independence, out to California, where she attended the movie's limousine-and-champagne premiere.
It's an exciting time for Sanders, who's never had what you'd call a dull life.
He was a sports star in high school, playing football, basketball and baseball, and was a lineman and kicker on Ferrum College's football team. But his major at Ferrum was drama, and he knew from the time he graduated what he wanted to do.
He drove to California after graduating eight years ago, and settled down in San Diego to scope out the California scene. He made a living as a lifeguard, something he did in Galax during his summers off from Ferrum. "I was just hanging out at the beach every day."
After three years, he was ready to make his move to Los Angeles, where he began doing stunts and "extra" work "to learn the ropes." That earned him enough - and gave him enough connections - to step up to more important roles.
"I don't know if anybody really expected him to do well," says Darren Morton, an Independence High School classmate who has visited Sanders and been the recipient of numerous autographs that his old friend has collected. "He called me once and asked for $500 for a bus ticket and I told him he was crazy"
But Morton lent him the money.
Now Sanders is doing nothing but acting - and his recent credits show just how wide-ranging his career has become.
He's been in three music videos: with rapper Ice Cube in "Check Yoself"; with Van Halen in "Can't Stop Lovin' You" ("a lot of people back home saw that"); and with Gerald Levert and Yoyo in "Trudat," a current release.
He's done a number of commercials. If you watch golf shows on the weekend, you're likely to catch him as a golfer in a Pinnacle Golf Balls ad.
He's also airing in 39 states in a Super Cuts hair salon commercial.
If you happen to be in Japan, look for him as a batter up against Dodger pitcher Hideo Nomo, the Japanese star. "He strikes me out, and I break the bat over my knee." Nike's running the ad only in Japan now, but may bring it to the U.S.
He's also done commercials for Coors Light, Miller Lite, Nike and Reebok.
His television credits are more limited - but that could change. He played a gladiator on "Ellen" two years ago and a football player on "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" a few years back.
In January, he did a pilot for a Showtime series that could mean several appearances, "if it gets picked up." He plays a federal marshal, and would appear in three or four of the series' 13 episodes.
He'll find out in June if the network wants the series.
Movie credits include "Spyhard," with Leslie Nielsen. "I'm in the beginning making jungle calls."
Sanders also appeared in "The Chamber," the John Grisham thriller.
But that was a disappointment. "My one good scene I had with Gene Hackman got cut out."
The best part about working on "The Chamber" was that Sanders got to play golf one day with Bo Jackson during the filming.
Coming out this fall is "L.A. Confidential," with Danny DeVito and Kim Basinger, a film about four corrupt cops in the 1950s.
"I play a rapist. The cops come in and basically kill me with my hands up. I don't resist arrest, and he shoots me in the heart - Small, small part, but it's there."
You may have noticed the sort of sports and big-guy theme that runs through Sanders' work. It's no coincidence. He's 6-foot-5 and weighs nearly 300 pounds. His knowledge of sports has been his ticket to a lot of parts.
And so has one Grayson County connection.
Ed Goodson, Sanders' former baseball coach in Grayson and a former L.A. Dodger, has opened some doors.
"His name in L.A. has definitely helped me get several baseball jobs. The advisers, they're former Dodger players, and they know him."
Former Ferrum teammate Chris Warren, now a Seattle Seahawk, also has helped.
The parts might be minor, but "all roles are big considering you're up against 300 people to get these parts. For every part, I'm up against 200-300 other guys that look just like me."
Sanders' goal once was to play professional football. But he's happy.
"This is the next best thing to the NFL."
As for the income, "I can't complain."
He gets back to Grayson every Christmas for about two weeks.
But he's left Grayson County for good, mostly because of his mother, the late Ollie Pearl Reeves. "She always told me there aren't going to be any big opportunities for a black man around that area - so I had to leave. I had to move away."
Sanders chooses his words carefully, not meaning to offend. "She would always point out the different opportunities in other places."
He had big ideas. Big goals.
Now, he can't come back. "I'm used to the 75-degree weather every day," he laughs. "It's a 200 percent different lifestyle out here."
But part of Grayson County goes with him wherever he goes.
People always ask him two things: "Who do you play football for?" and "Where did you get that country accent?"
LENGTH: Long : 115 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Sanders.by CNB