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Marshalltown graduate ‘moving forward’ in FedEx commercial

contributed photo David Hopkins drives a FedEx vehicle at Los Angeles International Airport during commercial “Moving Forward,” which aired during both the NFL’s NFC and AFC championship contests last Sunday.

A Marshalltown High School graduate appeared in a FedEx commercial that premiered during both of Sunday’s National Football League championship games.

David Hopkins, a member of the Marshalltown High School class of 1983, was watching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers versus the Green Bay Packers when he suddenly recognized a familiar face.

“It was a shock, I didn’t even know it was going to be on,” Hopkins said. “I was watching the football game and I was like, ‘Hey, that looks like me.'”

Flipping over to the Kansas City Chiefs versus the Buffalo Bills later that night, he saw the commercial — and himself — again.

Hopkins began receiving phone calls from friends and family asking if he was the one driving the truck next to a FedEx airplane in the commercial, but he had to confirm through YouTube to see if it was really himself in the video.

“It was filmed about 18 months ago, and I thought it just went in the wastebasket,” Hopkins said. “When I first saw it, I didn’t believe it, and then I remembered yeah that was me.”

In the commercial, Hopkins is driving a FedEx vehicle at Los Angeles International Airport for approximately one second of FedEx’s 30-second commercial entitled “Moving Forward.” It is an advertisement spreading awareness about the company’s role in shipping the COVID-19 vaccine.

Working as an aircraft manager at Los Angeles International Airport for 25 years and retiring in August, Hopkins said he had nothing to do with shipping the COVID-19 vaccine himself, but did serve as the liaison between FedEx and the filming company when the footage was shot.

Only appearing for a single second, Hopkins said the process of filming the commercial was an all-day event, taking up to eight hours to shoot for just a one second clip.

“There were over 50 people there, it was unbelievable how many people were there,” Hopkins said. “The producer came to me and said, ‘Hey we need an actor, would you like to be an actor in several different scenes?’ and I said, ‘Sure.’ I did that scene probably 10 times when they filmed it. I did two other scenes as well. Maybe they’ll show up in future commercials.”

Despite only a second of a long day of filming making into the final product, Hopkins is thankful to be a part of the commercial making process.

“It was really neat, and those in the filming company were all really nice people,” Hopkins said. “It was an amazing experience.”

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Contact Trevor Babcock at 641-753-6611

or tbabcock@timesrepublican.com.

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