Trey Hicks
Trey Hicks is going to realize a lifelong dream, even if it's only as a flash in the pan.
"I'm going to be in the big leagues," the Red Bank baseball coach said. "I don't know about being immortalized, but I told my wife that years down the road this is something that will be neat to show the grandkids."
Hicks has been granted what he was told is a "featured extra's role" for the movie "42," which will be filmed in Chattanooga, Atlanta, Macon and Birmingham. The movie tells the story of Jackie Robinson, the first black athlete to play major league baseball, and the stars include Harrison Ford, Chadwick Boseman and Christopher Meloni.
Hicks will be a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers, the team that broke the color barrier, likely as an outfielder or catcher -- the positions he played at Red Bank, Cleveland State and Lee University.
For Hicks, who teaches European history, government and contemporary issues, it is a chance to both revisit and be a part of history.
"I'm getting paid, but more than that is the fact that I'm in a movie about a historical event," he said. "Somebody actually took the step and gave [Robinson] a chance regardless of race. Even if it's just one scene, I'll learn a lot and I think this movie will educate people."
His wife's prodding caused Hicks to submit an email about being in the movie. He was then asked to submit some photos and asked if he could make four sites on location.
"I went last week for a [uniform] fitting in Atlanta and the lady asked how many movies I had been in," Hicks said. "When I said none, she was surprised. She said people wait years for opportunities like this."
His summer will be unique and he won't have to go in search of a summer job. He'll be in Birmingham three days between now and the middle of the month and then be in Chattanooga for filming the last couple of weeks in May and the first week in June and before spending a day each in Atlanta and Macon.
He's looking at 12-hour days and his pay scale is set up to accommodate those.
"They said it would be long days. I may be there all day and shoot [video] only 30 minutes," Hicks said.
While the pay isn't overwhelming -- he doesn't know yet if he'll have any speaking parts -- it's enough.
"I don't know if I'll get to, but I'd love to be able to keep the [Brooklyn] uniform because I'm a uniform junkie," he said.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765.