Business Undergrad Makes Unwitting Film Debut in "Sideways"

You'll need a sharp eye to catch the appearance by James Lepp, a UW junior studying marketing and entrepreneurship, in the Oscar-winning movie "Sideways."

But he's there. As the film's oddly coupled protagonists in the throes of mid-life crisis take a break from their lazy pilgrimage through California wine country, they switch on the hotel television to watch a little golf. On the TV screen is none other than Lepp, a Husky golfer putting for birdie in the Greater Vancouver Classic, a Canadian Tour event he eventually won by five strokes.

Funny thing is, nobody told Lepp he'd be in the movie. Until some friends spotted his cameo, he had no idea. "I didn't think anything of it," he says, "just, 'oh, cool.'" Lepp's unwitting film debut came about thanks to the lean economics of independent film: footage of the Canadian Tour simply comes much cheaper than the PGA. The rest was luck. If his big-screen fame has so-far clocked in at around 5 seconds, Lepp has earned much more notoriety on the golf course. A two-time Canadian Amateur of the Year, he's become a standout for the Huskies after transferring from the University of Illinois. There, he finished 13th in the NCAA championships his freshman year and was named Big Ten Player of the Year as a sophomore.

As for his unexpected role in Sideways, Lepp is mildly interested, though not enough to get him to the cineplex in the midst of the spring season. "I'd like to see it," he says. "I hear it's pretty good."

Return to April 2005 BA Alumni News