From The Daily Comet:THIBODAUX, La. — A small but devoted group of onlookers were attracted to the city’s downtown area Monday, eager for a close-up view of Academy Award winners Forest Whitaker and Renee Zellweger.
They are filming “My Own Love Song,” billed as a comedy-drama, through today on several downtown streets.
City officials, downtown workers and housewives were among those who waited near the Lafourche Parish courthouse through many minutes of silent inaction.
Then Renee Zellweger’s wheelchair-bound character burst out the door of Fremin’s restaurant and yelled “I’m not a child,” slamming the door behind her as she rolled herself to the edge of Green Street.
The scene was a source of much speculation.
“I’m not sure if she’s angry or upset because she’s looking for her lover,” said Eva Shanklin, president emeritus of the Lafourche-branch NAACP, who stopped by to see if the movie needed extras. “I think that’s what it’s about. At least that’s what I’ve gathered.”
Just as spectators will have to wait until the movie hits theaters to learn the scene’s significance, Thibodaux Mayor Charles Caillouet said time will tell whether “My Own Love Song” brings additional opportunities for the city to be used as a filming location.
“Because of Winn-Dixie” in 2005 was the most-recent film to use Thibodaux as a location, prior to this week.
“I would love to see it because it brings an economic boom,” Caillouet said of more films coming to Thibodaux. “I’m guessing at the end of the movie, in the credits, it will thank the city. That’s more publicity for us as a retirement community.”
Whitaker, Zellweger and Academy Award nominee Nick Nolte star in “My Own Love Song,” which centers around a wheelchair-bound singer and her best friend taking a roadtrip to Memphis. The film does not have a release date yet.
“They’ve made some great movies,” Caillouet said. “They are big-time actors and actresses. To have all of them in Thibodaux at the same time is exciting.”
The Thibodaux portion of filming for “My Own Love Song” is scheduled to end today. Scenes were shot inside and outside Fremin’s, as well as in front of the main courthouse. The locations were meant to resemble Kentucky, according to Caillouet.
Portions of West Second and Third streets were blocked off for filming and equipment-storage purposes. The Courthouse Annex was open, however, and business was conducted there as usual.
Though the scenes shot in Thibodaux feature few actors, Caillouet estimated that 100 to 150 crew were on the set, each staying in local hotels and buying food, gas and other products nearby. The exact economic impact would be hard to measure, Caillouet said.
Thibodaux Police provided security on nearby streets where filming occurred. Officers also kept an eye on equipment left outside once the day’s shoot ended about 6 p.m.
Police Chief Craig Melancon watched the day’s proceedings with much interest. He and his wife are film enthusiasts. He is particularly fond of Whitaker’s performance as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in “The Last King of Scotland”, a role that earned him a Best Actor Oscar in 2006.
“Generally speaking, when Forest Whitaker is in a movie, it’s a great movie,” Melancon said.Whitaker was not visible during the shooting of Zellweger’s mini-scene outside Fremin’s. He did appear once it wrapped, leading to speculation from observers that he was involved in a scene inside the restaurant that preceded the other character’s blow-up.
As he watched Zellweger, a 2004 Best Supporting Actress winner for “Cold Mountain,” maneuver her wheelchair multiple times, Melancon observed that this kind of painstaking attention to detail would be lost on many people who end up seeing this movie.
“When they make movies, you see the excitement on the big screen but to see each slice of film, it’s not only time consuming but it’s a slow, meticulous process,” Melancon said.
The deliberate pace did not bother Mary Hidalgo, a mother of two, who showed up in light blue sweatshirt and pink slippers.
She said she viewed the film as a time capsule that she could one day use to remind her daughters, 4-years-old and 13-years-old, what downtown Thibodaux looked like.
“I might buy the movie and make a special note on the inside case: ‘We watched this being filmed in downtown Thibodaux,’” Hidalgo said.
