"Sliders" star Jerry O'Connell is tall (6-foot-3), muscular and handsome. And yet it sometimes seems he's still best known for his first big role - as the fat kid in the 1986 movie "Stand By Me."
Not that he minds."I never get tired of that. I love that," O'Connell said. "It's a terrific feeling. You're walking down the street and somebody goes, `Hey! The fat kid from "Stand By Me!" What's up, bro? How are you?' "
"Really! I'm so proud that I'm the fat kid in `Stand By Me.' The husky kid in `Stand By Me.' "
O'Connell said he's seen the movie three times - once quite recently on HBO. Once when it opened back in 1986. ("But that was with my aunts, and they were, like, `Oh, there you are! It's really you!' So that was kind of distracting," he said.)
The second time was while he was attending NYU film school in a huge class taught by "this real pompous professor."
"He shpoke like thish and he'd come out with, you know, `C-3PO is Satan.' And I'd say, `Come on, man, really,' " O'Connell said.
But one day, the professor announced that they would be studying American buddy films and watching "Stand By Me." In the large class, only a couple of O'Connell's close friends realized he'd been in the movie.
"And I watched it for the first time as an adult and as a critic in film school," he said. "And it's such a wonderful movie. You really see how it's a real generational piece. I mean, I never realized.
"To me, it was a summer. I'm going up to Oregon for the summer as opposed to hanging out in (New York City). It should be a good time."
As for that pompous professor, O'Connell never identified himself in class because of the man's take on the movie.
"Afterwards, he was talking about Christ figures," he said. "All I wanted to do was raise my hand and say, `Excuse me, professor, I was actually there. And never once did (director) Rob Reiner call me a Christ figure. So pipe down, OK, pop? Take 'er easy.' "
LIVING A DREAM: O'Connell's latest film project isn't doing badly. It's a little film called "Jerry Maguire," and he plays the confident young quarterback.
"Oh, I think every American boy wants to be a quarterback for a professional team. . . . I got to do the next best thing, because I got to play one," O'Connell said.
Even if it required that he add 20 pounds of muscle to his frame in order to play the part. (He attributes that to discipline, adding with a laugh, "You know, it's funny, the best motivation for working out is money.")
And, between "Sliders" and "Jerry Maguire," maybe O'Connell's image is changing.
"I was at a party this weekend and people were starting to say, `Hey, you're . . .' and I'm about to go, ". . . the fat kid in `Stand By Me,' " he said. "And they go, `No - from "Jerry Maguire.' "
GROWING UP: The 22-year-old O'Connell was only 19 when he made the "Sliders" pilot, and he thinks that he and his character have grown up since then.
"And those are three pretty maturing years. I'd like to think that my character has matured," he said. "I just saw the pilot. I can tell you one thing - I have a lot more facial hair now then I did when I first started. I have to shave every day, as opposed to every other day, which is kind of a nuisance.
"And my voice is deeper. I'm turning into a man, slowly but surely, like my character."