Local Man Appears In Chipmunks Movie

If Wills Point residents were paying close attention when they went to see the new "Alvin and the Chipmunks" movie at The Majestic Theater this week, they may have seen a familiar face, but only after a quick view of the legs beneath the face.

Wills Point graduate Wesley Raitt, who has a growing list of Hollywood credits to his name, made an appearance in the Chipmunks movie.

"You actually see his legs first," said his mother, Daphne Burnett.

Raitt is a high school student playing dodgeball, and is knocked out of the game when one of the chipmunks hits him in the legs with the ball. His mother, though, quick to add that there was more of him to see.

"Right after that you can see his face, and he’s in a couple of other scenes. He’s at a dance, and you can see his dance moves, and later he is standing by a teacher."

The Chipmunks credit is just the latest in a growing list of small roles Raitt has landed. He has worked on such shows as "Prison Break", "CSI New York", "Ghost Whisperer", "The Middle", and "Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels".

Regarding the Gene Simmons appearance, Raitt assures everyone he was not dating the rock stars daughter.

"I was her date," Raitt said of the episode. "It was her 17th birthday - but she’s really 18 – and I’m not dating her. It was totally scripted."

Speaking from Los Angeles, where he has lived for the past year-and-a-half, Raitt said Wills Point friends can also see him in an upcoming episode of "The Community", starring Chevy Chase.

"It’s episode 14, but I don’t know when it airs," he said. "I think it comes on Tuesday’s on Channel 5 there, but I haven’t seen when it actually airs."

Raitt also worked on the production of a pilot called "Havoc" that is being pitched to the Sci-Fi channel, and is waiting for the phone to ring for "pilot season."

"January through April is when decisions are made for the next season," he explained. "I have a great agent, and I just wait on my phone to ring and she tells me where and when to show up for auditions.

In the meantime, Raitt will make his Hollywood stage debut this month in a play entitled "Almost, Maine". His career focus is acting in front of a camera, but it was on the stage in Wills Point where the 2004 graduate got his real start on his current path.

"That was definitely where I got the basic skills," he said. "Working with Ms. Eudy (former Wills Point drama teacher Vonya Eudy). Also, Tal Lostracco at Trinity Valley. He encouraged me to go to L.A. or New York."

Raitt won multiple Best Actor awards during his years with the Wills Point one-act ensemble, but growing up here didn’t prepare him for life in L.A.

"It so different. It’s a totally different world. It’s like a bubble to itself. Just finding a place to live is an ordeal. I’ve moved four times since I’ve been here."

For all the credits he has managed in a short time, Raitt is still hustling to make ends meet. In addition to a part-time job at Banana Republic at one of the malls, he does web graphic design for a film production company.

All of that leaves little time for coming back to Wills Point, but he was here during the holidays, and keeps that on his list of goals for the new year.

"I have a lot of goals for this year. I hit the ground running when I got here, and met the right people. Hopefully more things will fall into place, and I can still get back to Wills Point to see friends."