'It Was More Impactful Than Any Of Us Realized At The Time': John Marshall Jones On 'Smart Guy' & Working With Robin Williams

(CBS Local)-- John Marshall Jones has been in some of the biggest movies and TV shows of the last 25 years.

He made cameos in movies like "Good Morning, Vietnam" with Robin Williams, "White Men Can't Jump" with Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes and TV shows such as "Melrose Place" and "Smart Guy." Jones played the father of a boy genius on "Smart Guy" and the show featured names like Tahj Mowry, Jason Weaver, Omar Gooding, and Essence Atkins. The actor still gets asked about that role to this day.

"At that time, the predominant image of black fathers was the deadbeat daddy," said Jones in an interview with CBS Local's DJ Sixsmith. "To have a show on the air with the first ever black genius, with a loving, protective father, who was holding his family together as a unit and was more impactful than any of us realized at the time. Whenever I travel, there is some young man in his middle 30's or early 40's that says 'I didn't have a dad in my house when I grew up and you were the dad I wished I had.'"

FULL INTERVIEW:

Jones said he was even recognized for his role of Floyd Henderson when he went to the Cannes Film Festival in France. While the actor has been in many movies and TV shows, he learned one of the important lessons of his career in "Good Morning, Vietnam" when he watched Williams do his thing.

"It was one of my first real big movies. I was working with Robin Williams and Forrest Whitaker and we were doing a scene where the extras had to march 100 yards or 150 yards in full dress gear," said Jones. "It was 120 degrees and we were in Bangkok. As soon as they yelled cut, I would run over to the big umbrella and there would be someone fanning me. Robin Williams would go over to where the extras were and he would perform for the extras to keep them engaged. He made sure they had water and food. Every time he went over, I would feel a little bit smaller. Robin showed me what a star is. A star not only takes care of himself, but everyone else on the project. I will never forget that."

Jones has several new projects out now including a new series from Spectrum Originals called "Paradise Lost" and Quibi's "50 States Of Fright."

Watch all of DJ Sixsmith's interviews from "The Sit-Down" series here.