Local actor appears in film, one-man show

Richland Parish residents will see a familiar face when Swamp Volcano debuts at 8 p.m. Saturday on the SyFy Network.

Roger J. Timber, formerly of Rayville, will be emceeing a dance party on the beach as a volcano menaces Florida. Timber was cast in the role in December 2010 after playing a doughnut-munching cop in the movie Storm Wars.

“Once again, I get to be myself,” Timber jokes, “It shows the party side of my personality.”

On a more serious note, Timber will also be performing two very different shows in Lafayette on Monday.

He’ll start the giving a motivational talk at the Boy’s and Girl’s Club in which he encourages young people to work hard and follow their dreams.

Then, at 6 p.m. at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Timber will perform his one-man-show based on the works for Ernest Gaines.

Timber researched and wrote the one-man show during his senior year in college. In addition to putting the show together, he met with Gaines, who is best known for authoring such novels as The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, A Lesson Before Dying and A Gathering of Old Men. Timber’s show is part of the university’s Black History Month activities.

“I’m also reaching out and speaking at high schools and graduations,” Timber said. “My representation was looking at some of the things I do with colleges and thought it might be good to look at high schools.”

Timber said he tries to encourage young people to develop the skills they will need to survive in the modern world while motivating them with the story of his own journey from growing up in a small northeast Louisiana town to his growing success in Hollywood.

“If you have the knowledge and you don’t share it with youth, you’re missing something in your purpose,” he said.