Brushes with greatness, celebrity-impersonation division

If you tune in the Sunday night telecast of Thursday night's ESPY Awards, pay attention when "Tony Romo" appears onstage with "Jessica Simpson." No, the guy on the right isn't the actual Dallas Cowboys quarterback, but Raleigh expatriate David Rountree -- an actor who has done a lot of music and sports-related commercials and videos over the years. Before that, he was a star athlete while growing up around these parts. Below are a couple of stories about two videos for Britney Spears and Nelly that Rountree appeared in way back when.

Pulling for Britney
By David Menconi, News & Observer
April 20, 2000

Next time you see Britney Spears' new video, pay attention to the extras. The glimpses of four beefcake-type guys pulling on large levers go by so quickly you'll miss them if you blink. But the second hunk on the left is David Rountree, 25, a Raleigh native making his way as an actor in Los Angeles.

Rountree thought he might be in more of the video for "Oops, I Did It Again," the title track to Spears' forthcoming album (due out May 16 on Jive Records). He actually shows up in a lot more of the accompanying "making-of" short film about the video, which aired when "Oops" made its MTV debut April 10.

"They filmed a bunch of scenes that weren't in the video, a lot of closeup shots that weren't used," Rountree says. "Several times, the camera was right in my face for a good 30 or 40 seconds. But none of that showed up in the video."

In his hometown, Rountree initially gained notice nearly a decade ago as a football player at Ravenscroft High School. The News & Observer profiled him as "Player of the Week" in October 1992 after a game in which he kicked seven extra points and a field goal and scored two touchdowns on a pass reception and a blocked punt.

Rountree later earned a history degree from N.C. State University, tried out for the Albany Firebirds in the Arena Football League and briefly taught middle school. Finally, he moved to Los Angeles last fall to give show business a try.

Thus far, Rountree's athletic physique has served him well. One of his television appearances was serving as a body double on CBS's "Craig Kilborn Show," when the star pretended to drop his pants and moon the camera in a mock-protest over censorship. Rountree was also just cast in a leading role in a movie called "Strong Men," which is set in a gym.

In the meantime, the Spears video makes for a nice credit, even if his role is nearly invisible. Rountree got to do the video through a blind audition with 500 other actors. None of them knew what the tryout was for.

The video was shot at Universal Studios and, like most such projects, involved a lot of waiting around. Rountree found Spears herself to be refreshingly down-to-earth.

"I got her to sign a birthday card for a friend back in Raleigh who'd just turned 12," he says. "Britney was very shy, sweet. I didn't know her at all before that, but she was nice to everyone on the set. She wasn't anything like the stereotypical impression people have of 'stars.' If anything, she was the complete opposite."

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A chic physique
By David Menconi, News & Observer
March 1, 2001

As David Rountree can tell you, it pays to keep in shape.

A star athlete during his days at Raleigh's Ravenscroft School, Rountree is in Los Angeles now trying to make it as an actor. While he's working on getting that breakthrough role, Rountree's athletic build has made him an in-demand extra for sports-themed videos and television commercials.

Currently, you can see Rountree as a base runner in a spot for Banc of America; as a football player in a series of Bud Light ads; and as a swimmer in an anti-drug commercial sponsored by the NCAA.

"It gets a foot in the door," Rountree says of his sports background. "And even the one commercial I'm in that's not athletic-based, I'm watching a football game on television."

Rountree also plays a catcher in the forthcoming baseball-themed video for "Batter Up," the next single from St. Louis rapper Nelly's album "Country Grammar" (Fo' Reel/Universal Records). It's Rountree's first music video since he appeared as an extra in Britney Spears' 2000 megahit "Oops, I Did It Again."

"We're challenged by Nelly to a baseball game, which is played by Nelly's rules, of course," Rountree says. "Bikini girls, crazy fans, him driving his car around the base path. I'm the catcher through the whole video until the end, when they brought in a stunt driver and a stunt catcher -- and the stunt catcher was a black guy. His arms were exposed; I don't know how they'll piece that together.

"Anyway, it's not me getting run over at the end, although I'm the one catching during the warmup and while Nelly bats."

Rountree has some movie roles in the works, including a part in a hush-hush "secret project" due out this fall. He was also just cast in a new reality series on the UPN network -- "Chains of Love," in which four men are chained to one woman, who gets to discard one guy each day. Filming on that is scheduled to start this week.

"I've been very fortunate to stay busy and I hope that it continues," Rountree says.

Ah, show business!