CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A detective with the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department has made it to the big screen.
Jeremy Burns, a Boone County native, plays a S.H.I.E.L.D. black ops agent in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the blockbuster which earned $96 million in its opening weekend.
“I like to say it’s because I’m it,” Burns, 33, told MetroNews on Monday of the film’s success. “But I don’t think that has anything to do with it.”
Burns was cast for a non-speaking role after he auditioned with hundreds of others during an open casting call in Cleveland, Oh.
He used his vacation time at the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department, where he’s a digital forensics examiner, during filming last June and can be seen in four scenes that made it into Captain America: The Winter Soldier, including the scene that lead off the film’s trailer during the Super Bowl.
“It actually started out with me walking into the trailer, so I thought that was just awesome,” said Burns. “I started the Super Bowl — that’s what I like to tell everybody.”
The film is the latest sequel in the Marvel Comics Universe. In it, Chris Evans plays Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, who is struggling to embrace his role in the modern world while battling the Soviet agent known as The Winter Soldier.
The other stars of the film include Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson/Falcon), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow) and Robert Redford (Agent Alexander Pierce).
“Filming with Redford was probably the highlight of my eight day filming career,” said Burns. “The best part was he was just a normal guy. I went up and talked to him and cracked some jokes with him and he was just super polite and super nice.”
Up to now, Burns has done some acting in the Kanawha Valley, but said he plans to pursue other Hollywood roles in the future.
“Acting is something I want to start picking up more on the side,” he said. “I’m always going to have my job at the sheriff’s office, but in my free time, I think it’s something I’m going to pursue.”