A thought you're bound to have while watching the movie "The Other Guys": Man, this is a big cast of funny actors.

You've got your leads, naturally - Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg - but then the deep bench brings out Michael Keaton and Rob Riggle and Damon Wayans Jr. and Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson.

And, holy River Rep, is that Warren Kelley?

Why, yes. Yes, it is.

The actor - who spent nearly two decades of summers performing with the now-defunct River Rep at the Ivoryton Playhouse until 2005 - turns up briefly as president of the New York Stock Exchange.

One of the fun things about being a theater fan in southeastern Connecticut is how movie- and TV-viewing becomes a Where's Waldo experience. Look, it's an actor I just saw at the O'Neill! And over there, didn't that guy perform at Goodspeed?

Seeing Kelley pop up in "Guys" prompted a call to the actor to catch up.

First, we talked "Guys." Getting the role in "The Other Guys" was straightforward. His agent got him an audition, and Kelley got the job.

He was flown in from Florida - where he was rehearsing a play - to New York for the day. He was on set by 7 a.m. and was finally done at 11:45 p.m., taking the red-eye back to Florida for the opening, two days later, of "It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play."

In the "Other Guys" scene he's in, Anne Heche's character, a financial figure, is supposed to be ringing the opening bell at the stock exchange. But she's distracted by arguing with Steve Coogan, a Bernie Madoff figure in the plot. They filmed not in the actual stock exchange but in an amazing replica on a Manhattan set.

Kelley, who had two lines, and the other actors were encouraged by director Adam McKay to improv. So Heche winked at Kelley, he winked back. When she wouldn't ring the bell, he tried to grab her hand to force her do it, and she slapped his hand away.

Working with Heche, Kelley said, "was really fun." And they had a one-degree-of-separation connection. Turns out, Heche had become friendly with former River Rep actor Stephen Kunken when they were both in "Proof" on Broadway. The common ground gave Kelley and Heche something to chat about. A central subject: Kunken, who was nominated for a Tony for his performance in "Enron," has adopted a baby from Ethiopia with his wife and fellow former River Rep regular, Jenn Thompson.

While a big-screen gig is fun, Kelley's career really revolves around regional theater. He's been going from one big regional job to another and has acted in four plays this year. (See, you can have a life in the arts.) He's done "Boing Boing" and "Sylvia," and coming up are the comedy-thriller "Character Assassins" and "The Producers."

He also played George Bernard Shaw in the off-Broadway premiere of "Engaging Shaw." He and the play drew a rather glowing review from none other than The New York Times.

Yet, people still remember him from his River Rep days. (Kelley, who was a founding member of River Rep at Ivoryton, eventually became artistic director.) Even when he's acting in Florida, Kelley has been approached by theatergoers who spend their winters in the Sunshine State and say they used to see him in Ivoryton. Same goes for plays he's done in New Jersey; some people have actually driven from Connecticut to see something he's in.

He says it all makes him feel very gratified - and he's pleased people really appreciated his work here.