Cleveland Actor Jeff Grover Lands Role in "Dark Waters"

Local actor Jeff Grover is carving out a career playing small parts in big films.

This month, he is shooting a scene in the new Russo Brothers film on location in Cleveland.

Starting Friday, he can be seen on the big screen in a supporting role in the new film, "Dark Waters," set in Cincinnati and directed by Todd Haynes.

To get roles like these, Grover relies on having good agents and developing relationships with casting directors.

Jeff Grover [Ricardo Birnbaum]

"It's a fairly competitive business, and I think realistically, in addition to having good agents, it's ideally performing well and consistently," Grover said.

Grover landed "Dark Waters" based on an audition for a previous Haynes' film, "Carol," a few years ago.

"Even though I got to the call back in that I wasn't, cast but this came up and they remembered me," Grover said.

"Dark Waters" tells the true story of Cincinnati lawyer Robert Bilott, played by Mark Ruffalo, who defends a family friend in a lawsuit against chemical manufacturer DuPont.

The family friend is a farmer who's lost dozens of cows to what he believes is poisoning from a nearby landfill owned by DuPont.

"The suit is sort of the centerpiece of the film, but it's really the story of how an attorney literally took on a major company," Grover said.

Grover takes on the supporting role of the DuPont attorney who asks for a dismissal "on the grounds that we're abiding by the law," he said. "Some of the scene is taken from the record."

Up next for Grover is playing a doctor in the Russo Brothers' forthcoming film "Cherry," in which he shares a scene in the examination room with actor Tom Holland.

Listen to Jeff Grover talk about landing the role in "Cherry"