The movie, a romantic comedy surrounding a 1920s football team, helped nudge the door a little further open for Pate to travel the country. He used the money that he earned for his work with the movie in Charlotte and Greensboro to visit places such as the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone Park.

&dquo;(The movie) definitely contributed to (my trip),&dquo; he said.

And now as the film is ready to release on Friday, Pate is anxiously waiting to find out what survived the cutting room.

The 24-year-old Green Creek resident will be just a face in a crowd at a football game, but he says it doesn&squo;t matter.

&dquo;Everybody in the family&squo;s excited,&dquo; he said. &dquo;My grandma&squo;s actually going to go see a movie.&dquo;

Pate&squo;s grandmother is Mildred Horne and she&squo;s 81.

Pate is only one of a number of locals who worked as extras on &dquo;Leatherheads.&dquo; Carol Cox, David Lewis, Mary Boyle and Sally Rock are a few of the other area residents who got to see what it felt like to be in the movies for a short period of time.

For Rock, the experience was bittersweet. While on set, she bumped into Clooney and was able to have a conversation with the megastar.

But she also met and befriended Vicki Nachman on set. Nachman was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer and wasn&squo;t sure when she&squo;d be able to see &dquo;Leatherheads&dquo; because of her chemotherapy schedule. With help from Rock, who contacted Clooney&squo;s publicist through Fox News 21, Nachman was able to view the movie at the private press showing last week.

Although some of the memories are bittersweet, Rock says she is excited about a lot of the extras getting together Friday night, walking the red carpet at Hollywood 20 in Greenville, S.C. and then enjoying a gala afterwards at BMW.

&dquo;It&squo;s like a kid awaiting Christmas morning,&dquo; she said. &dquo;I&squo;m so excited about getting back together with everyone and seeing the film.&dquo;