From a fresh-faced Jay Leno in HBO’s “The Late Shift” to an explosive exit on the hit show “Lost,” Lehigh Valley native Danny Roebuck’s career spans 40 years.

“What do you feel when you have one of your movies open?” 69 News reporter Bo Koltnow asked him.

“Extraordinary. I was just saying to my wife, how many of these do I have left,” Roebuck said.

In his latest comedy, “The Hail Mary,” now playing nationwide including at Northampton Borough’s The Roxy, Roebuck plays an angry loner in need of redemption. Atonement arrives from a nun, conning him into creating a football team for her Catholic school; it was filmed at Bethlehem Catholic High School.

“It’s got a double entendre, because you think it’s about the last play of a game, but really it’s about the guy. It’s his last chance. The poster says, when you have nothing else to lose, that’s him. He’s at the bottom,” he said.

Roebuck has made a career of boosting local talent.

From “The Hail Mary,” “Getting Grace,” “Lucky Louie,” and “Saint Nick,” Roebuck’s films make sure the Lehigh Valley and those in it play a starring role.

For Bethlehem-based actress Madelyn Dundon, Roebuck’s 2017 film, “Getting Grace,” was not only her first starring role but her first film.

“As a senior in high school coming out of that time, that confidence boost and the platform, to feel at that age like, ‘Oh, I’m a professional actor now,'” Dundon said.

The soon-to-be 27-year-old has been in three Roebuck films and is a steady working actor, currently starring in “Hazel’s Heart” on Apple TV. She traces her success to her first role with Roebuck.  

“He’s been continuing to do that for other young people, championing them, giving them opportunities, which you’ll see in ‘The Hail Mary,'” she said.  

As for Roebuck, he’s far from his final career “Hail Mary,” instead continuing to make the Lehigh Valley Pennsylvania’s version of Hollywood.  

“My movies aren’t just set here. They’re about here. They’re about people and the stories, even fictional. We’re still portraying the people of the valley in such a positive way,” Roebuck said.