Jimmy Gary
Alumni Spotlight
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I'm proud to be an alumnus of WVU.
Former WVU and professional football player Jimmy Gary has always been an actor. Entertaining audiences both on and off the field, he has turned his passion for acting into a career.
"I fell in love with it [acting] the same way I fell in love with football. It was natural," said Gary.
Gary, who has appeared on Law & Order, the Sopranos and Third Watch, recently starred on the popular soap opera All My Children, in which he played a private investigator. Gary said that shooting the show was fast paced, which made him rely on his instincts.
"The director said 'one take' and I got nervous. In the end, though, I got the job done, just like playing football," Gary said.
A knee injury forced Gary to hang up his cleats and pursue acting full time. After leaving the NFL, he enrolled in the bachelor’s of fine arts program at WVU, where he received constant encouragement from his professors and classmates.
He left WVU and moved to New York City to star in the film Better Dayz. He said it was hard to leave WVU, but one of his professors told him that to be an actor, you had to get out there and do it. And so he did, by starring in off-broadway plays and low-budget films including Guns, Shackles, and Winter Coats and The Pizza Palace. Hard work paid off when he received his Screen Actors Guild card.
No matter how big he gets though, he says he will never be too big for WVU.
"I’ve been blessed for having friends, teammates and even strangers in Morgantown give me constant support and encouragement," Gary said. "I'm proud to be an alumnus of WVU."