By Gary Hermann

UK student Trey Lindsey has an interesting job when he’s not studying. He is an actor and will play a major role in the film “Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son,” opening Feb. 18.

“When I found out I landed the role, I was eating in The Commons cafeteria on south campus with a friend,” Lindsey said. “Let’s just say my yelling and excitement had people looking at me like I was insane.”

This is the third film in which Martin Lawrence will play FBI agent Malcolm Turner, who goes undercover as Big Momma. In the film Lindsey plays TJ, a high school football jock who torments and gives Trent, Malcolm’s step-son (Brandon T. Jackson), and Big Momma a hard time.

Lindsey said working with Lawrence was “surreal.”

“I chose to attend UK for college because I have always been a diehard UK fan. When I took my first college visit to the campus my senior year in high school, everything about it felt right,” Lindsey said. “I still plan on taking classes from UK and graduating within the next year. I refuse to leave UK without that degree in hand.”

Lindsey got involved with acting early in his UK career.

“My freshman year at UK, I wanted to get involved with the theater program so I auditioned for a play called, ‘A Soldier’s Story’ and was cast,” Lindsey said.

“That spring semester of my freshman year, I was also enrolled in an Acting 101 class that UK offers. Taking the class helped me out a lot with improving my improv skills and stepping outside of my comfort zone.”

Lindsey even shot his audition tape for the film on campus.

“Since I was living in the dorms on south campus last year, and six hours away from Atlanta, my agent asked me to videotape my audition so that she could submit it to the Casting Director,” Lindsey said. “With the help of some friends, I was able to record the audition in my dorm room and upload it to my laptop so that I could e-mail it to my agent.”

Lindsey logged a lot of hours in his car while pursuing this role.

“The Casting Director liked the audition tape and I eventually ended up having five callbacks in Atlanta with the producer and director of the movie all in a two week span before I finally was offered the part,” Lindsey said. “Let’s just say that I missed a lot of class lectures during that time frame because of constantly driving back and forth.”

Although Lindsey is still in Atlanta acting, he continues to attend UK through the Distance Learning program.

“After I finished shooting the film this past summer, I was so worried that I wouldn’t be able to attend UK anymore because of the aspect of more job opportunities coming my way,” Lindsey said. “Luckily for me, UK offers this great online program that enables me to take my classes fulltime wherever I may be, while also focusing on my acting career.”

Lindsey said his UK experience was “life-changing.”

“I came in my freshman year unsure and lacking confidence about the new chapter in my life that I was about to experience,” Lindsey said. “I can now say four years later that I am more confident and secure with who I am and with what I have achieved and I owe a lot of that to the University of Kentucky.”