MEATIER MOVIE ROLE RAISES PROFILE OF YOUNG MART ACTOR

By CARL HOOVER Waco Tribune-Herald entertainment editor

Mart seventh-grader JESSE PLEMONS finished school weeks before his classmates this spring, but his education only shifted, from math and history to movies and Hollywood. At 13 Jesse already has built a promising resume with appearances in such films as "Varsity Blues", "Children of the Corn IV" and "All the Pretty Horses", television movies and series such as "The Good Old Boys" and "Walker Texas Ranger" and commercials for Blue Bell ice cream and Coca Cola. He completed his schoolwork early to go to Chicago where the feature film "Children on Their Birthday" directed by well-known playwright Mark Medoff, is being shot.

While Jesse has some notable projects in his credits, he said "Children on Their Birthday" offers a considerable step up from the small roles he's had in the past. Jesse plays "Preacher", a parentless scruff who grows up with best friend Billy Bob (Joe Pichler) in 1947 Alabama. The two eventually part ways over a young woman, with Preacher discovering that Lionel Quince (Tom Arnold), a promoter lining up locals for a talent show, is a fake.

Jesse, speaking by phone from Chicago during a recent morning off from filming, says the role's been hard work, but enjoyable, particularly in working with director Medoff, playwright of "Children of a Lesser God." It's also been a kick to share camera time with Pichler, with whom he'd worked in "Varsity Blues". Neither realized the other had been cast until the day that shooting started and they both showed up on the set.

Unlike "Varsity Blues" in which he played a star high school football player's younger brother, "Children on Their Birthday" doesn't have the profanity and adult material that made "Varsity blues" R-rated and thus off-limits viewing for Jesse's friends in Mart. His considerable role also promises to make sure most of what he does ends up on the screen. Last September, Jesse took part in the filming of "Slap Her, She's French" in Dallas, only to have his scenes cut by producers who felt he looked too old for his part. And many of the scenes he filmed for "All the Pretty Horses" in which he plays Matt Damon's character as a boy, ended up on the cutting room floor.

His work as the major character "Preacher" won't end up that way, he knows. In fact, although the movie has yet to find a distributor for its release after completion this fall, the savvy actor knows some big fish have been nibbling. "Paramount is looking at it. Paramount and Disney," he said. As she has for most of Jesse's 10 year career, his mom, Lisa, a Mart schoolteacher, usually accompanies him on auditions and film productions, serving as tutor to keep him up on his studies. Jesse's sister Jill, two years older, also did some film work when she was younger, appearing primarily as an extra, but didn't catch the film-making bug that he did.

Jesse and Lisa traveled to Los Angeles to audition for the part, after his Dallas acting teacher and agent had lobbied for him. Film producer Ginger Perkins saw him at the Los Angeles audition and was impressed with his presence on camera. She and Medoff agreed to sign him up, and Jesse's work during the Chicago shoot only reinforced her initial perception.

"Some actors just have an instinct for doing the right thing" Perkins said. "Jesse has a very expressive face and is a very intelligent, thoughtful young man. He has a great capacity for empathizing with the person he's playing." For the role of Preacher, that was essential. Preacher doesn't behave well, but audience dislike of his character would spoil the story's dynamics. "(Jesse) plays a bit of a bully, whom we love anyway," Perkins explained. "He's so vulnerable, you never dislike Preacher."

The producer said she'd love to hire Jesse for any future film for which he was suited, not only because of his talent and cooperation, but the support that his parents LISA and JIM BOB PLEMONS provided. "They're just a dream," she said.

"Children on Their Birthday" should provide Jesse with his largest slice of screen time to date, but the middle-school student believes his best work lies in an audition tape he created. He plays an enormously talented kid who's forced to bury his precocious fastball in a younger-age league, and breaks into tears out of frustration. "I'm proudest of that tape," he said. Jesse intends to follow his career in film and television as far as he can -- he already has agents in Dallas and Los Angeles -- but there's a rival for his affections as he grows older: Sports. The years ahead will determine whether Jesse follows the road of the actor or the athlete. Right now, it's acting, but Jesse is itching to get home for his other love.

"I'm going back as soon as I finish this and go play baseball," he said.

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If you have a copy of Janets book you will find on page 420 JIM BOB PLEMONS and LISA BETH CASON with children JILL ANNE PLEMONS AND JESSE LON PLEMONS. Jesse's ancestors starting with his grandfather and going back are: IRA ALONZO PLEMONS & ETHEL VIRGINIA BROWN, JAMES ROBERT PLEMONS & LELIA LOUISE BRYAN, ALONZO JEFFERSON PLEMONS & MARY LOU WILLIAMS, JAMES ISSAC PLEMONS & ZENIA LOUVENIA ADELINE ADAIR, WILLIAM HOOD PLEMONS & HARIETTE ANGELINE DAVIS, JACOB PLEMONS & NANCY HIPPS, THOMAS PLEMONS & ELIZABETH ROBERTS, THOMAS PLEMIN.

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