ROLE PLAYERS CROWD GATHERS TO WIN EXTRA SPOTS IN FILM `COACH CARTER'.

Byline: Eugene Tong Staff Writer

VALENCIA - A hair pick jammed into his full Afro, Brian Caphart oozed charisma and confidence as he posed for a Polaroid head shot this weekend in the College of the Canyons cafeteria.

``I give 'em a little something,'' said Caphart of North Hollywood, one of several hundred aspiring actors and actresses strutting and posing at a local casting call Sunday for the upcoming high school basketball film ``Coach Carter.'' Samuel L. Jackson is set to star.

``They want a student. I can carry a book bag - stick a pencil (behind) my ear,'' said Caphart, 25, who has pursued acting for more than six years.

With a number of scenes scheduled to be shot at the college's gym and around Santa Clarita, extras casting director Tina Kerr needed a local roster of background performers ready to populate the movie's celluloid world for $54 a day.

``This is the first time I've done a call in this area,'' she said. ``People are going to see us shooting around town. It would be nice to get everybody in the community involved.''

Dressed in a basketball jersey, Evan Ricardo, 14, of Canyon Country, delighted at the opportunity to appear in one of Jackson's films.

``I liked him in `Shaft,''' he said, referring to the recent remake of the 1970s black detective serial. ``He's funny. I think he should be in a comedy movie.''

Robert Babish, 47, looked to the casting call as the first step in his return to acting full time after several years in San Francisco leading a double life as a performer and retailer.

``It was a supporting job, and I got stuck just doing that,'' said Babish, who recently moved to Los Angeles, of the retail business. ``I wanted to get back to what I went to school for - theater and film studies.''

``Coach Carter'' is a Paramount Pictures/MTV Films production based on the story of high school basketball coach Ken Carter, who took an inner- city team and forced the kids to focus on academics as well as the sport. He gained national attention when he locked players out of the gym and forfeited games until they made the grade in the classroom.

Thomas Carter of ``Save the Last Dance'' and ``Swing Kids'' is directing.

Eugene Tong, [phone]

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com

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(color) Tina Kerr, the extras casting director for the Samuel L. Jackson movie, waits for a Polaroid shot of Evan Ricardo, 14, of Santa Clarita on Sunday morning.