T Arts & Entertainment DREAM CAREER / ON THE COVER A Star Is Born Farmington Hills native James Wolk stars in a dramatic new TV series and in a movie comedy, both debuting this month. it In the TV series Suzanne Chessler Special to the Jewish News 0 n a break from acting out romantic interludes and comedic conflict for the feature film You Again, two emerging screen stars shared some Vernors ginger ale in honor of the area where their artistic interests took hold. James Wolk, who grew up in Farmington Hills, and Kristen Bell, who grew up in Huntington Woods, hadn't met before the filming began, but they became friends while also getting to know the other cast members in the movie premier- ing across the country Sept. 24. Wolk portrays a groom-to-be whose sister (Bell) hates his fiancee (Odette Yustman) and whose mother (Jamie Lee Curtis) hates his fiancee's aunt (Sigourney Weaver). The bad feelings stem from high-school traumas and lead to some slapstick with the help of other family members played by Victor Garber and Betty White. Four days before the release of You Again, Wolk debuts at the center of an intense television series, Lone Star, which casts him as Robert/Bob Allen, a Texas conman taking on two identities and seri- ously in love with two women. The show, which airs 9 p.m. Mondays starting Sept. 20, also features Adrianne Palicki (Cat Thatcher), Eloise Mumford (Lindsay Holloway), David Keith (John Allen), Mark Deklin (Trammell Thatcher), Bryce Johnson (Drew Thatcher) and Jon Voight (Clint Thatcher). Wolk, 25, has had to apply some strong time management skills as his talents have given him two big-time opportunities. "I feel blessed to be able to do both types of projects this early in my career:' says Wolk, a 2007 graduate of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. "The film is complete comedy, a fun movie that families and young couples can see. It was a joy making it, and I loved working with Betty White, the 'it' girl right now. Betty is an inspiration, being in her 80s with vitality and a work ethic going through the roof." Another acting inspiration has been Voight, whose professionalism unfolds with the series. "My character in Lone Star is a great challenge because his actions can make him come across as unlikable although there is a lot of inner turmoil and conflict about those actions:' Wolk explains. `Although he's a conman, his psyche is more interesting." Wolk developed his early acting expe- rience on the stages of Warner Middle School and North Farmington High School, both in Farmington Hills. "North Farmington had an incredible theater department run by Dean Cobb, and he was instrumental to my continu- ing interest:' says Wolk, whose religious education was at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield. "High school was a great time for me because I was doing tons of theater and working as a party emcee for Star Trax:' the event production company based in Southfield. During the year after college and while living in New York, Wolk found an agent and appeared in episodes of the soap operas As the World Turns and the Guiding Light. He accepted some commercial assignments before being cast in Front of the Class, a 2008 TV movie about Brad Cohen, a teacher confronting the vocal and motor tics of Tourette's syndrome. Wolk and Cohen have maintained a strong friendship since working on the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. Wolk serves as a director of the Brad Cohen Tourette Foundation, which sponsors summer camps and programs for young people with the illness. "Brad is a giving, caring person who is very intelligent, and we hit it off imme- diately," Wolk says. "Playing Robert/Bob Allen has been more challenging than portraying Brad." Because of the long-term commit- ment to Lone Star, Wolk has moved from California to Texas with the road-trip help of his dad, Rob Wolk, owner of Sundance Shoes in West Bloomfield. As the actor prepared for his dream career, he found grounding by working with his father and sister, Katie Wolk Johnston, in the family business. Rob and Edie Wolk, a retired art teacher, encouraged their son's interest in the arts. (In addition to acting, James Wolk is a tal- Lone Star, James .2 Wolk stars as Robert/Bob Allen, a charismatic and brilliant schemer who has meticulously constructed two lives in two different parts of 15 , Texas. In the film comedy You Again, Wolk, left, plays a groom-to-be, whose fiancee (Odette Yustman, right) is disliked by his sister, played by Huntington Woods native Kristen Bell. ented painter.) Both have been happy to get behind-the-scenes glimpses of the film and series. "I got to meet a great cast and crew in Texas:' says Rob Wolk, buying up maga- zines with articles about his son, who will be featured in the October issue of Men's Health. "I had dinner with Jimmy and some of the actors, including Jon Voight. "We were talking about everyday sub- jects, but the others spoke with a Texas accent to get some practice in the way they have to talk for the tapings." When Rob Wolk was on the set of You Again, he watched Jamie Lee Curtis on break as she explained her needlework, a bat mitzvah gift for a niece. Family is important to the Wolks, and they are looking forward to being together in Michigan for the baby-naming cer- emony of Johnston's firstborn, expected around the time of film and series debuts. Wolk, who went from Jimmy to James as his parts became more mature, is getting used to Texas, finding favorite places to dine and run. Before the High Holidays, he was looking for a synagogue. "Series television moves fast, and I have to be at work ready to go and stretch myself,' says Wolk, who is single. "I feel so lucky to be part of the series because of the pedigreed people involved with writ- ing, directing and acting." Wolk explains that he is very comfort- able working with the two women who play the love interests of his character in Lone Star. There are some steamy scenes with the actresses he describes as "drop- dead gorgeous, super-intelligent and kind." "The scenes are part of the job': he says, "but they're definitely not tough to do." Ei Lone Star debuts 9 p.m. Monday, Sept. 20, on FOX. You Again comes to theaters Friday, Sept. 24. September 16 • 2010 • 51 •