Abilene meteorologist spotted in "The Guilt Trip"

What: "The Guilt Trip" (comedy)

When: 3:10 p.m.; 4:40 p.m.; 5:30 p.m.; 7 p.m.; 8 p.m.; 9:25 p.m.

Where: Carmike Park Central 6 theater, 3234 Clack St.

Admission: matinee $6.25 child, $6.75 adults; evening $6.25 child, $8.75 adult

In "The Guilt Trip," a mother-son road trip flick in theaters now, Big Country filmgoers might recognize more than just the big name stars like Seth Rogen and Barbra Streisand.

At one point in the movie, the duo stops in a motel in Abilene. After a minor spat, Streisand's character heads down to the bar.

On the TV in the bar, there's a news show with the weather forecast for the area. But that's no actor on the small screen. That's KTXS-TV chief meteorologist Mark Rowlett. His appearance in the movie began last spring when the station got a call from the production crew on the movie looking for archived footage of a local forecast matching the weather in Abilene in the film.

Unfortunately, Rowlett said, that footage is not archived. But per the production company's request, Rowlett and the KTXS crew filmed a faked weather forecast right in the Abilene studio.

"I say it was two seconds, my daughter says it was four seconds," Rowlett said with a laugh about the length of his on-screen time. His voice can be heard for roughly 10 additional seconds when the scene shifts back to the hotel room and the camera focuses on Rogan laying on the bed listening to the forecast.

This isn't the Rowlett family's first experience with the moviemaking process. The family lived in Shreveport, La. before moving to Abilene. At that time, Louisiana was a location of choice for many filmmakers due to low production costs.

Rowlett said houses in their neighborhood had been chosen as locations. His daughters were chosen as extras in "The Initiation of Sarah," a 2006 TV-movie remake of a 1978 TV-movie of the same name. The family has the DVD of the movie and watch it on occasion.

The day the movie opened in Abilene, the meteorologist received an email from a viewer saying Rowlett had been spotted in the film.

Rowlett did not run to see the movie on opening day, waiting instead until he had no choice.

"My wife and youngest daughter dragged me, I mean, took me to see it," he said.

When asked if he enjoyed the movie, he simply said, "I've seen better."