Flint Rasmussen appears in new movie 'The Longest Ride'

Rodeo folks in these parts realize that Flint Rasmussen is a star.

But a movie star?

"I have a five-second cameo, yes," he said with a chuckle when asked about the new film "The Longest Ride," which is currently playing at the Carmike 10 in Great Falls.

Then Rasmussen laughed again.

"If you're a star it's a cameo," he said. "Otherwise you're just an extra."

Rasmussen, the Choteau native and famed rodeo clown, is in fact in the new movie, which stars Scott Eastwood, Britt Robertson and Alan Alda. It's about a cowboy on the Professional Bull Riders tour, so it's fitting that Flint, the PBR's top entertainer, plays a part.

"Towards the end, when he's getting ready to make his big final ride, it shows me dancing away, doing my thing," Rasmussen said. "It's pretty obvious it's me, if you know me."

Rodeo folks have long know that Rasmussen, whose brother Will is one of the top professional announcers in the business, is a star. Now it turns out he's even made it in Hollywood.

The new movie debuted last week did about $13.5 million at the box office.

The residuals for our man Flint?

"Man, that's what my kids have been asking me all week," he said with a laugh Monday night from his Choteau home. "I don't even know if I get residuals. I worked about five days in August in North Carolina at Wake Forest University. I was in on just one phase of it, when all the indoor bull riding scenes were shot."

Rasmussen took his wife, Katie, and daughters, Shelby, 16, and Paige, 14, to the premiere of the film in Hollywood.

"Pretty neat," said the former Choteau star athlete who left a career as a high school teacher to become a professional rodeo clown about 20 years ago.

It's actually not the first rodeo film for Rasmussen, 47. He had a small role in 2001's "Cowboy Up" with Kiefer Sutherland. Of course, he's a lot more famous for his barrelman skills.

In fact, Rasmussen is working a PBR event in Billings this weekend. It's a welcome respite back in Big Sky Country after traveling all over the country this spring entertaining bull riding fans.

"This will be the first weekend since January 1 that I haven't been on an airplane," he said. "It's a good thing."

The entire PBR, he said, is flourishing. The movie exposure doesn't figure to hurt.

"Man, it's been a great winter and spring, PBR-wise," Rasmussen said. "Great crowds, great venues."

Flint and several other PBR bullfighters were also featured last week on CNN's "Somebody's Gotta Do It," a program hosted by Mike Rowe.

"It was a pretty good week," he said.

Of course, it's always a pretty good deal when Rasmussen can be home with his family. His daughters are all-around rodeo hands who are doing especially well in the arena this spring.

"Their mom is taking care of them and coaching them," Flint said. "It's a lot of fun."

So, too, was it enjoyable to be in "The Longest Ride."

"And you know what?" said Rasmussen, "Scott Eastwood, who is Clint's son, is the nicest guy. He was all in, just as friendly and as great a guy as you can imagine. He learned the walk and learned the talk, just hung out with the bull riders. He was great."