Beach actor lands role on ABC's Eli Stone

By Will Harris

Correspondent

When "Eli Stone" makes its second-season premiere on ABC at 10 p.m. Monday, keep your eyes open for Virginia Beach-raised actor Jason George. After spending several episodes in the show's first season in the recurring role of attorney Keith Bennett, George enters season two as a series regular.

For the first few episodes, you'll have to stay alert to spot him.

"When we first started filming this season, Marc Guggenheim, one of the executive producers, gave me a call to apologize because I was so light the first couple of episodes," George said. "He was, like, 'At the end of the day, we have nine series regulars, and servicing everybody is not the easiest thing in the world.' I told him, 'I get it, I understand it, and I trust you. I trust that you'll take care of me.'"

Sure enough, the tide turned quickly for George's character. Taraji P. Henson, best known from her work in the film "Hustle & Flow," has been cast for a three-episode arc as a love interest for Keith Bennett.

"A lot of writers would've just been, like, 'Hey, I'm doing what I've got to do,'" said George. "But as a show runner, Marc really cares, and so he took the time to give me a call and warn me, 'Now you're gonna be light for the first couple, but don't freak out, 'cause we've got you covered.' And I have to say that he more than did me justice. From episode five on, you start feeling a lot of Keith."

George, who was born at Portsmouth Naval Hospital, was living in Philadelphia at the time he was discovered ("I love Philly, but I'm a Virginia Beach boy") and brought into the cast of Aaron Spelling's daytime soap opera, "Sunset Beach," which ran from 1997 to 1999 on NBC. Since then, George has never been hungry for work, having found himself in the cast of a show in each subsequent season, including such series as "Titans," "Off Centre," "Eve" and "What About Brian."

It wasn't until George's work on the short-lived 2003 UPN series "Platinum," however, that he definitively realized he was in the acting game for the long haul.

"'Platinum' was by John Ridley, who wrote the original script for 'Three Kings,' and Bob Greenblatt and David Janollari, who produced 'Six Feet Under,' and it was an idea that Sofia Coppola had originally come up with," said George. "I'm looking at the people that I'm surrounded by, and I was just, like, 'Yeah, I guess I'm in the game. This is real.' "

When George first came onto "Eli Stone," he did so in a controversial way, with his character filing a discrimination lawsuit against an attorney who wouldn't hire him. The catch: Both parties were African American. It was an innovative premise that George loved.

"As a child of the hip-hop generation, perhaps the most telling thing about the spot where we're at is that black men can be racist against black men, as jacked up as that is," said George. "I have my hair in a way that a lot of older black folks would be, like, 'Uh, that wouldn't have been my call; I'm not sure if I'm feeling that,' but that's not a reason to stop somebody who's a very qualified lawyer from working."

Things are going well for George, both in his professional life and his personal life, though of the two, the latter may be keeping him the busiest.

"We're having a real good time shooting the show, but life's crazy on my end. We have 5-month-old twins and a 2-year-old boy, and we're in the process of moving and buying a house, so there's a lot of personal junk up in the air. But at the end of the day, I'm working... and given the economy, that's a good thing."

Even with all of this activity in his life, George still makes a point of getting back to Virginia Beach on a regular basis, particularly to see his mother and brother, Shirley M. George and Johnny W. George II.

"My mom and brother still live here - my mom taught in Norfolk - and many of my best friends still live in Virginia Beach, so we try to get back as often as we can. I had to be in L.A. for six years before I ever started calling it 'home,' but, still, when I say, 'I'm flying home,' I mean I'm going to Virginia Beach.' "

Will Harris, nonstoppop@cox.net