Thomas Belesis, chief executive of John Thomas Financial, speaks to...

Thomas Belesis, chief executive of John Thomas Financial, speaks to reporters after U.S. Senate GOP candidate Bruce Blakeman led a news conference and rally for an organization known as SaveWallStreet.org on the firm's Wall Street trading floor on Wednesday. (Jan. 27, 2010) Credit: Kevin P. Coughlin

It is 23 years later, and fictional investment banker Gordon Gekko is out of jail after serving a 20-year prison sentence for financial fraud. Once again, as Gekko said in the 1987 hit film “Wall Street,” greed is good.

The sequel that is to be released in April, “Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps,” will have a special significance for Long Island’s business community: One of their own, Thomas Belesis, 35, of Merrick, chief executive and founder of the investment banking firm John Thomas Financial, with locations in Hauppauge and Manhattan, will play one of the film’s investment bankers. In fact, the sequel’s director, Oliver Stone, took a tour of John Thomas Financial in Manhattan to get the feel of how an investment banking firm looked and felt. The Hauppauge office, although smaller, is similarly appointed.

“I’m in four or five scenes,” Belesis said, adding he could not discuss the plot of the new movie, except to say, “This ‘Wall Street’ is going to blow away peoples’ minds.”

Michael Douglas is back as the evil Gekko. Shia LaBeouf plays a young Wall Street broker. Frank Langella is a veteran broker. Donald Trump, one of whose building managers introduced Belesis and Stone, has makes a cameo.

This is the same Thomas Belesis who earlier this week staged a “rally” inside his Wall Street office to stick up for the Street against the populist outcries of President Barack Obama and others. The rally, attended by about 30 brokers, was inside because, Belesis told The New York Times, “It’s cold out.”

Belesis’ 3-year-old firm has gone from about four employees to more than 200, and although it started in about 400 square feet of space it now occupies 43,000 square feet. So is Belesis an actor? A rabble-rouser?

Neither, he says. “I’m a financial guy.”

VIDEO: Click here to see a recent Wall Street rally that Belesis took part in

MORE: Click here to see photos from other Oliver Stone movies, and vote for your favorite

Rock climbing? Indoor beach volleyball? Water parks? Arts and crafts? NewsdayTV's Elisa DiStefano and Newsday deputy lifestyle editor Meghan Giannotta have your look at ways to spend your winter break. Credit: Newsday/Howard Schnapp, Kendall Rodriguez; Gary Licker

Things to do now on LI Rock climbing? Indoor beach volleyball? Water parks? Arts and crafts? NewsdayTV's Elisa DiStefano and Newsday deputy lifestyle editor Meghan Giannotta have your look at ways to spend your winter break.

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