Wolf Gnards

He is no one. But he is every man. He is no where. Yet he is everywhere. He is the night. Well, maybe not the night, but he’s, at least, a nice afternoon nap on a cloudy day. He is Jesse Heiman and he is the extra. Who is Jesse Heiman you may ask, but rest assured if you’ve seen him there wouldn’t be such questions. Heiman is one of the finest stander arounders in cinema: actor, writer, creator, innovator (he says so himself). Known to many a Kraft Services as That Extra Guy, he is a professional background artist. Few men manage to take up space with such meaty determination as Heiman. Born in 1978, Jesse was a baby that crawled behind other more picturesque babies. Soon he would toddle behind other toddlers, until he grew into perhaps the premier background nerd.

Jesse has starred in such films as American Pie 2, Old School, Spider-Man, and can be seen on the small screen in on Entourage, Arrested Development, The O.C., and, of course, his greatest role in Chuck. Such accomplishments could easily make him the biggest box office draw since Burt Reynolds. But who could resist these roles? Classic characters like “Winking Comic Book Nerd” and “Piggly Wiggly Shopper” and “Locker Room Student with Inhaler.” He has an actual name in NBC’s Chuck… “Fernando.” Jesse Heiman first came to my attention as the rosy cheeked kid standing behind Peter Parker in Spider-man. I thought to myself at the time, he must play some crucial role to Spidey’s development because no one stands with such conviction, no cheeks could be so rosy, and not play a critical role. He’s also done some incredible stand in work for Knocked Up and Forgetting Sara Marshall. Do to his pleasantly plump frame and semi-Jew fro one would assume that he stood in for Jonah Hill, but Heiman is versatile, he could easily set up the lighting for a Seth Rogan.

Heiman is best known for teen nerd extras, even at 30 that seems to be his area of expertise. It takes more than just horn rimmed glasses and a pocket protector to be a background nerd. The audience needs to feel the agony of a thousand marching bands, they need to believe that this kid could never get laid, and Heiman plays it beautifully. No one doesn’t get laid better. A high school movie would be hard pressed not to include Jesse Heiman in the background. He has a special quality of fat combined with nondescript combined with rosy cheeks and invisible face. Fat floating cheek bones if you will, or the perfect TV extra. He moved to Hollywood in 2000 with the dream of being near cameras, camera adjacent. Many thought he would never almost be on film, but he proved his doubters wrong. Heiman stood with the best of them, and he’s still standing today. Sometimes even speaking.

Jesse Heiman Montage