Fitzgerald’s Victor Hulett gets his moment(s) in movie spotlight

FITZGERALD — Victor Hulett never intended to be an actor, never wanted to be one.

But in one of those right-place, right-time moments, the Modern Dispersions employee of 24 years and Fitzgerald native found himself shooting what he called “bad-ass-looking weapons” as part of a militia group, threatening to kill a couple of hostages, playing a mafia boss, pretending to be a bus driver that doesn’t actually drive a bus and, oh yeah, sharing a scene with Hollywood elite Bruce Willis.

In a matter of a few months, Hulett went from fifty-something family guy living a fairly typical life to veteran actor with five movies to his credit. Which might go to some people’s heads.

“Nah, this is not that big a deal to me,” Hulett said as he drank a beer on a recent Friday evening at The Pub in Tifton. “It was one of those bucket-list things I got to do, and that was it. I haven’t made a big deal of it.

“Man, acting is just acting. When they asked me about acting in these movies, I said, ‘I’m bipolar, I can act any way I want.’”

Hulett’s “career” got off the ground when Fitzgerald born-and-raised producer and TMG Productions co-owner Alexzander Kane and members of his crew were shooting the Willis-starring film “American Siege” in the Colony City. A friend of Hulett’s owned a slaughterhouse that was being considered for use in a scene in the movie, and he called and asked if Hulett would “carry some of these film guys over there and show them around.”

“We were waiting for Alexzander, and the director (Edward Drake) started talking to me about a part in the film,” Hulett said. “My hair was in a bad mess that day, and he said he liked me for one of the militia (bad) guys in the movie. He told me all I’d have to do was do what they told me if I wanted to be in the scene. I said, ‘Sure, why not?’”

Here’s Hulett’s description of that initial scene:

“I get outfitted in wardrobe and makeup, and they give me a weapon that was awesome. They told me to run and slide up next to a house; I’m not supposed to see it coming but I get shot. I did it — a lot of guys were making a big deal, really drawing it out, of getting shot; I just got shot and that was it — and Drake said, ‘That was a bad-ass scene.’

“And that was it.”

A while later, Kane was filming “Deadlock,” and he needed someone to play another bad guy-type. He asked Hulett if he could take off work and be on location for 10 days, and Hulett said sure. His turn in the first scene he was part of led to a bigger role.

“I ran down a hill, slid down and just started shooting,” he said of the scene. “I did it, they called cut, and Drake asked me if I could do that again. I did, they liked it and they had me in another scene. I was supposed to shoot a gun, but what they do is they have you move the gun like you’re firing it, and they add in the (muzzle) flashes later. It was kind of like how we used to play army when we were young.”

That, Kane said, is why Hulett stood out among the extras.

“He’s a country boy, a Fitzgerald boy, and he knows what happens when you shoot a gun,” the producer said. “Plus, Victor’s one of those guys that when you tell him what you want him to do, he does it.”

The crew was readying another scene when Hulett said he heard words that, to this day still gives him chills.

“They’re setting up the scene, and Edward Drake says, ‘Get Victor,’” Hulett said. “They tell me they want me to threaten one of the hostages in the scene. I put my gun on him and said, ‘I’ll kill you where you stand, MF.’ When they cut the scene, everyone started applauding.

“They told me they wanted me to threaten one of the lady hostages who was pregnant, and when they started rolling I said, ‘Sit down or I’ll kill the baby first.’ After that, they gave me a gun and said, ‘Go get ‘em.’ That’s all I did the whole movie, just shoot at people. I don’t think I ever ‘hit’ a soul.”

Hulett shared a scene with Willis in a later production, “Gasoline Alley,” and he shows a photograph of himself and the actor engaged in conversation.

“We had to go into this tunnel filled with smoke, and (Willis) said he couldn’t stand to be in it too long,” Hulett said. “He asked me if I could focus and get the scene right. I was supposed to walk by him and nod a certain way, and he showed me just how he wanted it to go.

“We did the scene, it went great, and when the director said cut, Bruce told me, ‘That was awesome.’”

Hulett had other small parts in “White Elephant” and “Reactor,” also starring Willis and produced by Kane, but even that run of parts did not leave him with an outsized ego or a desire to join the elite of the cinema.

“Nah, this is not a career for me; there’s way too much to do,” Hulett said. “I wouldn’t mind getting a part somewhere down the road that’s a little more substantial, a speaking part. But as far as this movie thing goes, this was just one of those freaking awesome experiences.”

Special Photo Courtesy of Victor HulettSpecial Photo Courtesy of Victor Hulett

Photo Courtesy of Victor Hulett