Gault Grows Into This Role : Raiders: Aspiring actor isn’t merely a speedster. He’s a more complete receiver.

Good thing Willie Gault is fast, otherwise he’d never be able to outrun his schedule. Last summer, he pulled on his tights and conducted a summer camp for the Long Beach Ballet Company, during which he attempted to convince troubled inner-city youths they can dance their way to the top.

Tough sell.

“Some of them were borderline gang kids,” Gault said. “They had a lot of questions, like ‘What did my friends say when I first started to do ballet? Did they call me a sissy?’ ”

Good question. Gault said no, then asked how many of them could twirl a girl over their head to the backdrop of “Swan Lake”? It wasn’t exactly “Dance Fever” after that, but the troupe increased its male membership from one the previous year to 14.

Gault is always late. Where did the time go? An actor’s work is never done. Actor? Yes, Gault has been studying professionally seven years dating to his days in Chicago at the Goodman Theatre and Second City. Even during this Raider season, in which he plays a significant role at wide receiver, Gault takes lessons two or three nights a week and every Tuesday, the team’s day off. Gault isn’t looking for a post-career of dumb-jock roles and light-beer commercials. He’s talking about pushing Billy Dee Williams out of the picture.

“Leading-man types,” Gault said. “Serious actors. There aren’t enough black people right now in the industry. I want to make quality movies that are important to life.”

Gault has read for most of the major studios in town, he said. He turned down significant roles in two projects last summer because they conflicted with the opening of football training camp. One film, “The Killing Street” was to be shot in Israel with Gault playing a detective. The other was an ABC-TV pilot called, “Moe’s World,” which we’re assured had nothing to do with the Three Stooges.

No worries. Gault made up for the disappointment by doing a cover shot for the October issue of the Cable Guide with actress Jamie Lee Curtis. In the revealing photo, Curtis covers Gault better than in the days of cornerback Lester Hayes and stickum.

Then came letters that objected to the interracial pairing.

“I think a lot of conservative people from the South, basically, didn’t like the idea of a black man with a white woman on the cover,” Gault said. “It’s very amazing, in this day and time. I know it happens, but to be so blatant like that. It’s very disappointing.”

In his spare time since, Gault has also tried out for the U.S. bobsled team and lent his name and time to a dozen or so charities.

You wouldn’t think it leaves much time for football, Gault’s real profession, but it doesn’t reflect in his work. In fact, Gault is the Raiders’ leading receiver this season with 42 catches for 713 yards. With four games remaining, Gault will probably break his career marks for receptions and yardage. He has already tied his best season for catches, set in 1986, and he’s 124 yards short of surpassing his best season for yardage, set as a rookie with the Chicago Bears in 1983.

Gault, a sprint star at the University of Tennessee, is also dispelling some deep-rooted myths about his abilities. It’s the stuff that follows most former track stars into the NFL.

In his eight-year career, the first five spent in Chicago, Gault was considered a deep threat with bad hands, a speed ornament used to stretch opposing defenses. He wouldn’t risk his body by running routes over the middle.

But 1990 has changed some opinions. With Bo Jackson and Marcus Allen in the backfield and Jay Schroeder at quarterback, the Raiders aren’t throwing deep as much as they once did. Gault has only two touchdown receptions this season but has become a more complete receiver.

Last week against Denver, he had 99 yards in nine catches--a career high for receptions.

“I don’t know who makes up what a player should be,” he said. “But I’ve always been known as a player who’s not a possession-type receiver, who doesn’t go over the middle a lot. But if you look at my stats, probably 85% or 90% of the passes I’ve caught have been over the middle, in one form or another. I feel that I’m somewhat of a complete receiver.”

Gault is convincing others.

“I don’t think there’s a secret to being a great receiver in this league,” he said. “You just have to get the opportunity. The great ones drop passes: (Fred) Biletnikoff, (Steve) Largent, (James) Lofton, (Henry) Ellard, Jerry Rice. You’re going to drop passes. I haven’t dropped my last pass. No one still playing this game has dropped his last pass.”

Despite his multiple interests, Gault, 30, said he has no problems concentrating on the task at hand. He played for the Super Bowl champion Bears in 1985 and has longed for another ring. He thinks the Raiders (8-4) are on the threshold of something special, so Hollywood can wait. In acting, everything is self-indulging. In football, Gault leaves personal goals in the locker room.

“If I catch more passes than I’ve caught in my career and have the team win, that’s great,” he said. “But if I catch 100 passes and we don’t do anything, then it really doesn’t mean much. Because when I look back on my career, I can’t tell how many passes I caught in a year but I can tell you what we did as a team. The Super Bowl in (the) ’85 (season). Last year we were 8-8. The year before we were 7-9.”

Gault doesn’t know how many more years of football he will play, but he wants to make a smooth transition into acting.

His manager, Travis Clark, said Gault has turned down several roles that would have served only to exploit his football celebrity.

Gault said he recently turned down a role in “Angel of Death” because it wasn’t right. Gault wants his first role to reflect his work ethic. He once studied under respected instructor Sal Dano, and presently is working with method instructor John Sarno.

“Most athletes don’t prepare themselves,” Gault said. “They expect to go off the field, and just because they’re a celebrity, to do well. It’s not like that. You have to prepare yourself. It’s not just saying lines. It’s emotions. It’s as hard as one of the actors trying to come out here and play football.”