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BY MICHAEL ZITZ
Look closely tonight on HBO. Squint. Turn on your TiVo. Then back it up during commercials.
You may see Fredericksburg native Jay Harrison here, there and just about everywhere in first episode of the epic, seven-part "John Adams" miniseries based on the David McCullough book.
Harrison was contacted by the people doing the casting for "John Adams" because he has had more than two decades of experience portraying Revolutionary War military men in historical re-enactments.
They were impressed enough to hire Harrison as sort of a super-extra when executive producer Tom Hanks filmed the miniseries in 2007, with most of the shooting done in Virginia.
The history buff, archeologist and former executive director of Historic Fredericksburg Foundation Inc. has seven different non-speaking roles in "John Adams."
He's a British soldier before, during and following the Boston Massacre of March 5, 1770.
He's a member of an angry mob of colonists responding to events leading up to the massacre.
He's shown grieving at a funeral for the five Americans killed in the massacre.
He's a juror in the subsequent trial of nine British soldiers, in spite of what would appear to be the most schizophrenic conflict of interests in judicial history.
He plays both a British infantryman and an American militiaman following the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775.
He's a Continental Line soldier encamped on the lawn at Harvard College in Cambridge, Mass., in December 1775.
"I spent a lot of the two months of filming changing costumes," Harrison said with a chuckle.
The first episode of "John Adams" airs tonight from 8 to 10 o'clock on HBO, with the six remaining episodes running on consecutive Sundays from 9 to 10 p.m.
Much of the filming took place in Mechanicsville, Powhatan County and Williamsburg.
Harrison is a familiar face to many in the Fredericksburg area.
For 21 years, he has portrayed James Monroe in living-history programs for the James Monroe Museum and Library in Fredericksburg.
He has been George Washington, Hugh Mercer and the Fredericksburg town crier at various events in Fredericksburg.
He had the part of Master John White, governor of the city of Raleigh, at the Virginia Renaissance Faire in Stafford County.
Harrison, a member of the North Carolina Historical Reenactment Society, lives in Fredericksburg. He taught a class in living-history interpretation last year at Gunston Hall, the Fairfax County home of George Mason.
Since 2003, he has had roles in an independent short IMAX film titled "We the People," slated to be shown at the Smithsonian; in "Timeless," a short film set during the American Revolution; and in several documentaries, including a 2007 LionHeart Filmworks LLC documentary on the life of the Marquis de Lafayette.
Harrison said he's not sure how many of his "John Adams" roles made the final cut. But he has spotted himself in a commercial that shows a jury scene in the Boston Massacre trial.
He said he was lucky to get to know both author McCullough and actor Paul Giamatti, who plays Adams.
Harrison said he's close to earning his Screen Actors Guild card.
"I certainly don't think of myself as an actor," he said. "But I'm honored to be asked. I have a great deal of fun with it, and I won't turn down being paid for something I already do as a hobby."
hbo.com/films/johnadamsMichael Zitz: 540/846-5163
Email: mikez@freelancestar.com