(Publicity photo: imdb.com)
Ever dreamed about making it big in Hollywood? Former 101st Airborne soldier Ryan Ahern may not be on the marquee just yet, but he’s in the credits for his small role in “Unstoppable,” opening tomorrow.
The Portland Press-Herald reports that Ahern, 25, plays a Marine vet working at a rail yard who helps Denzel Washington and Chris Pine (The 2009 Star Trek‘s Kirk) stop a runaway train.
For filming, he was dangled out of a helicopter, sort of like the air assaults he performed in Iraq in 2005.
Over there, an officer he knew hooked him up with his talent-agent mother, and he moved to Los Angeles when his service was up in 2009. Soon after, he nailed the audition for the big-budget film.
Chatting with Pine off-camera one day, the actor told him how lucky he was to be there. Ahern told the Press-Herald he knew it. “I told him I knew I was a pretty lucky guy, surviving two tours in Iraq and now getting to do this,” he said. “I told him I was appreciative every day.”
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Ryan is my nephew and I have to say that along with some guidance from family the Army sure helped make him the man he is today. We are all proud of Ryan and the success he has had so far. But I am proud of his service to this country and that of his fellow soldiers more then anything. Its hard to believe he was the one who I refused to hunt with for one season for leaving his safety off for several minutes after flushing a partridge (hope it taught him a lesson). I wish him and everyone else that served this country the very best in their future.
The beginning of a future great actor. The potential is there. Wish you the best and hope to see you very soon again with a greater role.