Iowa LB James Morris, movie star?

IOWA CITY -- James Morris has performed before crowds exceeding 100,000 people, but his role last summer was before a different audience.

Morris, Iowa's starting middle linebacker, had a cameo in the romantic comedy "The Formula," a locally produced film by Joe Clarke. Morris filmed a scene as a boyfriend of co-star Katie Goebel. The movie, which took top honors at the Cedar Rapids Film Festival, is about two engineering students (Brandon Baker, Mike Schminke) who perfect a mathematical formula designed to pick up women. The film also stars Sasha Jackson and Reginald VelJohnson.

"It was just a lot of fun," Morris said. "It's something different that I'll remember for the rest of my life. Who knows when the next chance you'll get to do a movie and you'll be in, whether or not it's something big or something local. It was just fun and a new experience for me."

Morris' scene was filmed about 1 a.m. in downtown Iowa City. He spent about three hours on set.

"I was mostly watching," said Morris, a junior political science major from Solon. "It was a pretty serious deal. They had make-up and everything.

"It was fun for somebody like me who's never been a part of it. It was all really cool and something different."

It's the second film by Clarke that features Iowa players in bit roles. In Clarke's movie "The Wedge," offensive lineman Nolan MacMillan and defensive end Dominic Alvis served as henchmen.

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