Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, July 29, 1993                   TAG: 9307290148
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium

ACTORS SOUGHT TO FIND CORRUPT POLICE

The city, home to thousands upon thousands of out-of-work actors and actresses, is considering a casting call for anyone interested in uncovering rogue cops, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly announced.

The thespians, in character, would work with the police Internal Affairs Bureau to expose bad cops - a problem that has gained increasing notoriety as a mayoral commission probes illegal activity in the department.

But before they shout "lights, cameras, action" for this merger of entertainment and enforcement, some actors and actresses are screaming, "Cut!" They far prefer peering over stage lights to looking up a gun barrel.

"I'd have to think twice - maybe three times - before saying yes," said Nancy Mannes, 27, a student at the Actor's Institute. "What if something happens? What do you do then?"

Aspiring actor Keith Hutt, 25, of Manhattan, agreed: "This is real danger. Suppose a cop finds out who you are. His life, career and family are in jeopardy. Who know what he'll do?"

Who cares? We're talking work and cash, said Jason Heller, an actor who spent 13 years in Japan making action flicks. He had one vital caveat for any police audition: "The money has to be there."

Which is the beauty of the plan. The Screen Actors Guild has 22,000 members in its New York City branch; 80 percent are out of work at any given time, and they all have to eat, said SAG spokesman Ed Flynn.

"They generally must take other work to survive," said Flynn - survive being the key word for the folks who generally settle in as waiters or bartenders.

There's a problem with liability insurance, which must still be addressed, and another problem the cops might not have considered.

"What happens when you're undercover and some officer comes up and says, `Hey, haven't I seen you on television?' " wondered actress Brenda Smiley, who's appeared twice on the New York-based police drama "Law and Order."

Such problems are apparently not enough to dissuade many aspiring actors.

"I can tell you we're getting a lot of calls today," said Deputy Police Commissioner Suzanne Trazoff. "Every unemployed actor in town is calling us."