PERRY -- On a whim, Evan Williams decided to try to be in a baseball movie.

Williams got the part and plays a high school catcher in “Trouble With the Curve,” which was filmed partly in Macon and is now playing in theaters.

At The Westfield School, he plays catcher for the Hornets and has been playing baseball since he was 5, so the acting wasn’t difficult.

“It was like actual baseball tryouts,” Williams said of the auditions to be in the movie.

There were three phases, a warm-up to see who could throw and catch the ball, infield practice and then catching.

He spent eight hours doing the same thing over and over. There were four to five cameras filming the same scene.

“They were everywhere,” he said.

His three seconds of fame comes about 25 minutes into the movie, when Clint Eastwood’s character is scouting a high school player for the Atlanta Braves.

Williams did not get to meet Eastwood but said he did spend some time talking to the actor who was batting.

Tryouts were held at Luther Williams Field in Macon, but the actual scene Williams plays a part in was filmed at Dunwoody High School.

Although Williams said he would try out if there was another opportunity, the acting bug did not get to him.

“I’m not one to sit there for eight hours, day after day,” he said.

The opportunity allowed him to meet his travel ball coach this summer, who was at the site helping with the movie.

It also gave him a bit of insight into what scouts are looking for when they come to games to watch players. Williams, a senior, said he has gotten a few offer letters from schools to play baseball.

Mary Jane Kinnas, director of admissions and marketing at Westfield, said she heard from some students who saw the movie how neat it was that their classmate was in it.

“It was weird,” Williams said of seeing himself on the big screen.

Williams was also in the trailer for the movie and said that was his favorite part, getting the scene he was in chosen for the trailer.

The hardest part for Williams to accept was his pay.

“They took half of my pay,” he said after his check was taxed.