In his first season with the Detroit Red Wings, James van Riemsdyk has certainly proven to be a surprising star while filling a variety of roles for the team.

During his days with the Philadelphia Flyers, van Riemsdyk was also able to prove his adaptability to a different role. In the 2012 Judd Apatow film This Is 40, van Riemsdyk and a few of his Flyers teammates shared a bar scene with actors Leslie Mann and Megan Fox.

He even has a line in the film.

Just don’t call him a movie star.

“I think star is a pretty loose term,” van Riemsdyk once said during an interview when he was playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“It was pretty cool. It kind of came up pretty randomly. I ended up shooting a couple of scenes, and both of them made it into the movie.

“I am in the Screen Actors Guild, so that’s another thing on my resume.”

Versatility Makes JVR Valuable to the Red Wings

JVR is fourth on the team with 14 goals. The 36-year-old left-winger has been a dominant presence at the net front on the power play. He’s delivered the goods in a top-six role alongside Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond, and in a bottom-six role, playing with centers like JT Compher and Nate Danielson before his reassignment to the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins.

“I think that’s part of my role, and my job is to be able to do that,” van Riemsdyk said. “So I think definitely the last few years I’ve been doing a lot more of that than maybe earlier in my career. But I think that’s what teams need if things get stale or flat, to be able to shift guys around a little bit and maybe create a spark or a different look that becomes important.

“So I try to again, be able to be able to play in different roles and maybe different situations, and we’ve got a lot of good players to play, so it’s fun.”

Detroit’s van Riemsdyk Adapts to Differing Roles

Another feather in van Riemsdyk’s cap is his ability to diversify his game to fit into the role he’s been assigned.

“There’s always, I think, foundations to anyone’s game and their calling card, what you’re trying to do,” van Riemsdyk said. “Maybe there’s other subtleties, more chemistry-wise with guys. Where they like to go on the ice or where they like the puck, or what they’re looking for strategy-wise to play the game. So some of that is just communication and repetition and things like that.

“But I think the more the year goes on, the more you get a chance to do that. I think you’re able to develop that chemistry and make it work. I think that’s important for a team, maybe to have some different looks. Again, especially as the year goes on, there might be different recipes that are needed to be successful against different teams.”