A local actor, who has appeared in numerous movies including Maine-focused Empire Falls, has recently struck it big with a role in the Oscar-winning film, “The Departed.”

The film, which won Best Picture, Best Editing, Best Screenplay and Best Director at the 2007 Academy Awards two weekends ago, takes place in Boston and revolves around the Irish mafia, Boston police and the two men who infiltrate both. Hollywood talent involved in the film included actors Jack Nicholson, Leonardo Dicaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, and director Martin Scorsese.

The Boston-based film was also a perfect opportunity for Maine talent to be involved. Steve Flynn, a Windham resident, who has been in such films as Empire Falls (starring Paul Newman, Ed Harris, Helen Hunt, and Philip-Seymour Hoffman) and Sundowning, an independent film by Maine filmmaker Jim Cole, got a small role in The Departed.

“I was in four scenes, but you only really see me briefly in one,” he said.

The scenes took five very long days to shoot and one of the days was an overnight – 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.

“That hurt. It was a subway scene, and it was the only time they could shut the subway down,” Flynn said.

Long hours on a film set are nothing new to Flynn, who’s been in 14 motion pictures, with six of them landing him lead or supporting roles.

“The non-speaking parts are resume builders,” Flynn said. “To say I was in a Martin Scorsese film really means a lot.”

As a bank official in Windham at Maine Bank & Trust, a father of a 17-year-old daughter Kayleigh and 22-year-old son Devon, it appears he lives a double life, using his vacation time, nights and weekends to act in films.

“I’ve got this weird hobby. I like to be in motion pictures,” he said.

Born in Lexington, Mass., he acted in plays in junior high and high school but didn’t pursue it in college where he studied journalism and business in graduate school, leading him to investment.

After moving several times around New England and finally to Windham, he heard about the casting call for Empire Falls, the HBO film based on Richard Russo’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book about a small Maine town.

“I hadn’t done any acting since high school, but I loved musicals and had a ball doing it, but it fell to the wayside,” he said. “Then here was this opportunity to do this casting call and I thought, ‘why not give it a shot?'”

Steve stood in line with everyone else in late summer of 2003, hoping to be a background extra for Empire Falls.

“The casting director asked me if I wanted to audition for a part, and I thought ‘What is this? This is so easy!’ So I said sure. I didn’t get the part, but they said they’d like to use me anyway. I ended up writing a 128-page book about my experience on that film,” Flynn said. “I wanted to remember everything about it. For instance, I remember meeting Joanne Woodward-what a lovely woman! Joanne and I were standing in a factory on set, waiting for our cue for a scene right after Ed Harris and Bill Fichtner have a fight. She was standing beside me and she turns to me and says: ‘I’m so happy I was finally able to sell this building to you’ and I thought ‘What are you talking about?’ and then I realized she was in character!”

As a background actor, Flynn was told not to look at the lead actors, let alone talk to them.

“Sometimes working with the famous lead actors can cause tension. When I worked on ‘The Departed,’ Martin Sheen showed up looking pretty fierce. He walked right over to me, put his hand out and said, ‘Tell me about yourself!’ and then there wasn’t any tension, which made things a lot smoother,” Flynn said.

Working on Empire Falls opened a lot of doors for Flynn, and he was able to find an agent working out of Freeport to help him land print work and commercials. He also worked on several independent films, including “Sundowning,” a story of three generations of lobstermen, and the eldest man’s battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

“My dad passed away recently to Alzheimer’s, so it really struck home with me,” Flynn said.

Many of the scenes were filmed in Raymond and Windham and although it was only his third movie, he had a lead role.

“Sundowning was the most fun I’ve had. Jim Cole (the director) is the nicest guy, but also extremely talented,” Flynn said.

Flynn also had a speaking part in Creatures of Hollywood as a soap opera director, that was filmed in Los Angeles. He appeared in “Black Irish, the Living Wake,” “Stiffs” with Danny Aiello shot outside of Boston, and as a lead character in “A Main Story” and “Barefoot Country Girl,” a grassroots Maine production with a crew of only four people.

Late last year, Flynn went back to Boston once again for a role as a pediatrician in “The Game Plan” starring The Rock.

“There’s going to be a lot more movies filmed in Maine and in Boston because they both recently passed legislation regarding taxes for interested production companies as incentive to film here,” Flynn said.

With a couple projects on the horizon, Flynn said he feels content. He recently auditioned for an HBO pilot movie, and worked six weeks ago on a film in Boston called “21” that stars Kevin Spacey.

“I’ve got a pretty good gig. I work for a great bank and do a lot of charitable work with them, which means a lot. And I have this hobby, I do motion pictures. It’s a great place to be. I’m blessed with two great kids. If I never do another movie, I’m immortal. My kids can show their grandkids, ‘This is what he looked like and sounded like.'”

“It also comes with certain bragging rights,” Flynn added. “I had lunch with Kevin Spacey!”

Windham actor appears in Oscar-winning ‘The Departed’