Southern Arkansas University’s own Doug Waterfield, associate professor of art, is an extra in the Oliver Stone movie “W:” which opened in theaters today.
In mid-July, Waterfield went to Shreveport because a family friend told him about the opportunity to be in a film. His head shot, taken by his wife, professional photographer Denise Waterfield, happened to be a winner with the casting agents and Waterfield was offered the opportunity to play Richard Armitage, who served as the deputy secretary of state during George W. Bush’s first term.
When asked if he thought he bore any resemblance to the actual Armitage, Waterfield’s response was quick.
“No, he outweighed me by a couple hundred pounds, but that didn’t bother me. After all, I got to be in an Oliver Stone film!” Waterfield said.
Waterfield’s main scene is in the White House Situation room. While he is in the background in the scene, he is in the company of stars such as Richard Dreyfuss, Scott Glenn, Jeffrey Wright and Bruce McGill.
The actual filming days involving Waterfield were grueling in terms of hours. Most days ranged from 12 to 18 hours not counting the drive back to Magnolia. For that reason, Waterfield said he would have to really think it through before agreeing to be in another movie.
“There is a lot of sitting down and waiting,” Waterfield said. “It would really depend on the movie. It’s kind of more fun to look back on the experience than it was actually doing it.”
But Waterfield didn’t leave the set empty handed. He sweet talked one of the crew members out of a memento, a White House coffee cup. Even though the cup is really just Styrofoam, Waterfield said he treasures the souvenir.
Another way the experience helped Waterfield is by giving him some first-hand experience to relay to students in his film appreciation class that he is teaching this fall. Since Magnolia is about an hour and a half from Shreveport, some of Waterfield’s students have gotten to experience having bit roles in a movie too.
Waterfield has been a faculty member of SAU’s Department of Art and Design since 2000. He became department chair in 2004. Apart from painting, he has also enjoyed some success as a documentary film maker. He has a bachelor’s in fine arts degree in graphic design from Louisiana Tech University, a master of arts in art history from Louisiana State University and a master of fine arts degree from Louisiana Tech University in studio art. He lives in Magnolia with his wife, Denise, and their two children.
