'Pinch me moment' for Portland man who joins cast of feature film Ricky Stanicky

But that's the exact position a born and bred Portland man found himself in recently.

And now Jackson Tozer is part of the cast of the movie that is taking the world by storm - Ricky Stanicky.

The 32-year-old told The Standard "it's a real pinch-me moment".

When he decided to audition for the role, he didn't know who any of the cast members would be, but he had been a fan of director Peter Farrelly for most of his life.

"I thought this would be an incredible opportunity to work for this gentleman and then I found out who was in the cast," Tozer said.

He filmed his scenes around Melbourne and said it was a great experience.

Tozer said in the lead up to the movie's release, he "knew it was going to get seen" due to the cast, but he wasn't prepared for what a huge hit it would be.

It's ranked the number one movie on Prime Video.

"John Cena was naked at the Oscars so I think that will bring some eyes to it too," Tozer laughed.

In the film, Tozer plays the character Gary Polisner and had to use an American accent.

He admits it took time to perfect some words, but said the cast was very accommodating.

Tozer said Cena was very professional and polite, while Efron was "a sweetheart".

"Every day he would ask 'how is your mum?' He was such a lovely guy," Tozer said.

Tozer, who attended Bayview College in Portland and returned to the seaside town to visit his parents Robert and Debra on the weekend, said he always wanted to be an actor.

He remembers when his parents hired a copy of The Best of Mike Myers on SNL from the Portland video shop when he was in primary school.

"I decided 'I want to do this'. I wanted to make people laugh like it was making me laugh," Tozer said.

He moved to Geelong after finishing school and eventually to Melbourne, where he completed a number of acting courses.

He got involved with short films and went on a large number of auditions.

Tozer said his first opportunity came when he appeared on ABC sketch show This is Littleton.

He also scored a role on one episode of the first series of television show Five Bedrooms as "The Fridge" and the character had a recurring role in season two.

This role led to an opportunity to join the cast of ABC show The Newsreader - a role he still holds.

Tozer said he felt blessed to be a working actor.

He said breaking into the industry had been a challenge and he was still waiting for the elusive "big break".

Tozer said he was open to moving to the US if the right opportunity presented itself, but he would love to be able to stay in Australia and work as a full-time actor.

On the weekend he returned to Portland and watched Ricky Stanicky with his family and caught up with friends.

"I'm very proud to be a local Portland boy," Tozer said.