HOUSTON — You don’t know his name. You may only vaguely recall his face.
Hint: He was the Starbucks guy in Miss Congeniality, the good ol’ boy in the pickup in Home Fries, the Anglo father in Lone Star and Cobalt in five episodes of the television series Walker, Texas Ranger.
Marco Perella may be a “no-name actor,” but he remains part of a vanishing breed: He has survived in his chosen profession while staying in his home state, Texas.
“To make a living in this state, you gotta be a long-haul trucker,” constantly shuttling between acting jobs in Houston, Austin and Dallas, he writes in a new book, Adventures of a No Name Actor (Bloomsbury, $24.95).
“It’s very difficult, I have to tell you,” the 52-year-old actor said during a recent stop in Houston. “But somehow I’ve been able to do this for 20 years.”
Along the way he has taught dance steps to Kevin Costner and Helena Bonham Carter at separate times, received flowers from Drew Barrymore, survived a wild audition for director Oliver Stone and turned down an invitation to chase women with Charlie Sheen.
Through the years, Perella has regularly sent friends letters detailing funny stories about his trials and tribulations in the entertainment business. A friend, columnist Molly Ivins, forwarded one of the letters to her agent, who called Perella with the magic words: “Have you ever thought of writing a book?”
In the book, Perella observes that Leslie Anne Warren cried on his shoulder about being lonely, Ned Beatty once made it clear that he didn’t want others to talk during meals, and Brian Keith was upset that movie roles meant for him went to Brian Dennehy.
Otherwise, the book does not dish much dirt. It avoids the skinny on A-list stars such as Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid, Sandra Bullock and Renee Zellweger.
“There’s a peculiar thing about this society. We’re fascinated by celebrities to a morbid degree,” Perella said. “People are so ridiculous around celebrities it’s hard for them to be human.”
Perella, a native of Houston, didn’t seriously pursue an acting career until he was in his 30s.
He has resisted the urge to move to Los Angeles because he likes his Texas life. He and his wife, actress Diane Perella, live in Georgetown, Texas, with their two children and teach acting classes in Austin.
“My ambition was not that strong,” he admitted. “I didn’t need to be a big star and be famous. All I wanted to do was make a living doing what I like.”
