Frank Garvin was born on Washington Street, was raised by his grandmother and his aunts and uncles on Austin Street and spent much of his youth just being a regular Charlestown kid during the early 1960’s.
As an adult, he became a police chief. While some of his childhood friends chose different paths, he became part of the law.
In the new blockbuster crime thriller The Town, Garvin plays a police captain.
“I got a demotion,” he said with typical Townie flair.
But it was hardly a demotion.
Garvin has been studying acting for the past decade.
He said it was nice and a lucky thing to get a speaking part, a principal role in the movie that has captivated local residents and everyone else flocking to see the movie in theaters across the nation.
“I’m one of the police officers on to the robbery at Fenway Park. At one point in the film I tell the other law enforcement officers – “You better re-focus your efforts on who you are searching for. I’m pictured right outside Fenway Park,” he said.
Garvin is not pretending to be Ben Affleck, the star and producer of the film. However, he said having a role in the movie was an over the top kind of experience for a budding actor.
“I’ve gotten some nice responses from people who I know and that is very gratifying. I was very honored to have had a part in the film. Many people from Charlestown worked hard on that film and because of the editing process never made it onto the screen,” he added.
“I consider myself very fortunate to have made the final cut in the movie,” he said.
Garvin, who has been playing bit parts, is a card-carrying member of the Screen Actors Guild.
He says he has ambitions to do more.
“It was a great opportunity. I’m still going to classes.”
On Ben Affleck – “I talked with him. I watched him in action. He’s a complete gentleman. He seems to have a very good eye for things in The Town and in Gone Baby Gone. He’s great about people and locations.”