"On Friday nights, our whole family used to go shopping at a big Two Guys department store, then to the drive-in theater next door," said the Stafford County resident, who lives in Hartwood.

At that theater--The Starlight in Bethlehem, N.J.--his father would back the family car, a 1956 Chevy Nomad Station Wagon, into a space with the rear facing the screen.

There, Drenzek and his brothers and sisters would lean back and enjoy whatever Hollywood gem was being offered.

Because his dad loved cars and had a car-restoration business, it was a cinch that if Burt Reynolds was starring in "White Lightning" or even if a little known actor named James Taylor was making his film debut in a flick called "Two Lane Blacktop," the Drenzek family was there to see it.

"I just grew up wanting to be playing a part up there on that big screen," said the 41-year-old Drenzek, whose government work has ranged from engineering draftsman to police officer, his current position.

As a sideline of sorts to his day job, Drenzek has gone to open auditions and landed roles in projects ranging from B-movie thrillers to the big-budget, special-effect flick "Deep Impact."

In that film, his connection and love of cars landed him the role of a man fleeing from the tidal wave a falling comet is sure to unloose. Moviegoers saw him at the wheel of his very own car, a '56 Chevy he's slowly restoring.

In many of his movie roles, like a brief appearance in a Disney film on Miss Ida Early, Drenzek was an extra in a crowd.

In his latest film outing, this spring, he played the owner of a gas station in a Swedish film of intrigue and car racing.

In shooting at a station in Georgetown, he put in an eight-hour day, drew a paycheck of more than $1,400 and fooled a very real customer who pulled her red BMW into the station
for air in her tires.