Dunstable great-grandfather who started acting after losing his wife stars in new George Clooney film

A great-grandfather from Dunstable who first took up acting as a way of dealing with the death of his wife has starred as an extra in George Clooney’s newest film.

John Hunt, 76, shot scenes for three days as part of The Boys in the Boat, a sports drama which comes out in cinemas in the new year.

In March 2020, John’s wife, Doreen, died from coronavirus at the Luton and Dunstable hospital, just days before the national lockdown began. After 53 years together, John was devastated and says he was at a loose end after decades with his beloved wife.

He said: “It took my life away as well as my wife and I decided I had to make a new life for myself. So I sat down and wrote the book of our life.”

John penned ‘This Is Not A Good Table’ and published it in October 2021.

But after some time working on other writing projects, John’s daughter, Jo, suggested he apply to be a film extra. Successful, John travelled to Slough to film a project so secret he didn’t even know the name.

John explained: “I went to be fitted up for a costume on the film set from the 1930s, they fitted me up with a beautiful three-piece suit, a trilby and the most beautiful brown brogues.

“We went to a private car park, and on one side there was a mock-up of the grandstand for us to sit in front of. There were at least 10 cameras of all sizes, swinging around and probably 200 people behind the cameras. I thought: ‘This is quite a big film.’

John was filmed in his 1930s attire cheering and shouting for the boat race with other extras. And it wasn’t until he smelt a whiff of aftershave that he noticed People Magazine's two-time ‘Sexiest Man Alive’.

He said: “Obviously he's got charisma. He's a great director from what I know. But he has a great way of talking as if he is just talking to you.”

Doreen was a huge fan of George Clooney and John said she would have been over the moon to have him star in her favourite actor’s movie. He added: “She’d probably hit me with something and say: ‘Why didn’t you bring me along?’”

With one film under his belt, John shows no signs of stopping. He is hoping to get his novels published and spend more time creating his “third life”, as he calls it: “I've been trying to find a new life doing totally different things to what I did before. The alternative to just sit and watching the telly, waiting for someone to take you away.”

While he can’t reveal what the name of the project is, he does have another acting credit in the pipeline. He said: “I've already done one which is still secret but all I can tell you is that I was a mourner at a pervert’s funeral.”