Cast & crew
As Lowell prepares for its closeup, locals have stars in their eyes
LOWELL - Someone strolling along Boston's Newbury Street just might expect to come across a movie star. But in Lowell?
Merrimack Valley, don your shades: Lowell is soon to be the location of a film shoot for a major motion picture with a star-studded cast, including Jennifer Garner.
The prospect has many locals, officials included, brimming with enthusiasm.
"Jennifer Garner coming into Lowell - that's a 10!" said Mayor Edward "Bud" Caulfield. "We're really excited about it. It will certainly put Lowell on the map."
Lowell resident Kevin Landry, 19, said he hopes the filming of the Hollywood romantic comedy "This Side of the Truth" will also put him on the map - or at least on the silver screen.
"It's my dream," said the Lowell High School graduate and part-time
As Lowell spruces up its downtown, the movie shoot is just one more reason making it a must-see destination, according to locals. They say the film will draw tourists to Lowell and its many attractions, including historic mills and the two rivers running through it.
The filmmakers chose Lowell because they wanted a small, self-contained city with a certain look, said Deb Belanger, executive director of the Greater Merrimack Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Earlier this year, Belanger said, the film's location scout arranged a get-together with her to bone up on Lowell. They met at a downtown hangout, Brew'd Awakening Coffeehaus. Afterward, she said, they did a walkabout to assess the scenery for the movie, a first for comic Ricky Gervais as writer and director.
Then, about a month ago, Gervais dropped in to give the city the final once-over, she said, and he later posted a photo on his blog of himself reading the local newspaper, the Lowell Sun.
Until last weekend, much of the buzz for "This Side of the Truth" has emanated from Gervais's blog, which describes the film as "set in a world where no one has ever had the ability to lie. Until now." Gervais plays a character who learns to lie and uses it to romance Garner.
Gervais, who shares writing and directing credit with Matt Robinson, revealed on the blog that the talent also includes Jonah Hill, Rob Lowe, and Louis C.K., as well as Tina Fey, Jeffrey Tambor, Christopher Guest, Jason Bateman, and John Hodgman.
While Gervais's is not a household name, his accomplishments are well known in Hollywood.
He created "The Office" for the BBC; the American version ran on NBC, attracting a cult following. He also wrote, directed, and starred in HBO's "Extras," playing a struggling actor. The comedy series, which won a Golden Globe award this year, featured star appearances by Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, and David Bowie. One episode about a fantasy-film shoot had Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry Potter, as a randy teen who propositions beautiful women on the set, until his screen mother puts a stop to it.
The crew of "This Side of the Truth" will use offices at Wannalancit Mills, a business center affiliated with the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.
UMass-Lowell chancellor Martin Meehan said the movie and its stars will help showcase the area. "I think it will be great for the Merrimack Valley and give visibility to the university," he said.
Meehan probably will not be star-struck because he has hobnobbed with celebrities before, particularly when he was shepherding a campaign finance bill through Congress. He said Warren Beatty, for example, was a vocal supporter. Still, Meehan said, he would be pleased to have a stop-and-chat with the cast.
"It's not a top priority," he said jokingly, "but if any of the stars are thinking of contributing to UMass, I will arrange to meet with them and take their money."
Birthplace of Bette Davis and Jack Kerouac, Lowell, of course, is no stranger to fame. The city has been shown in numerous short movies, documentary films, and TV dramas, and tomorrow, it is set to launch its first film festival.
L.Z. Nunn, head of the Cultural Organization of Lowell, said the city is "increasingly vibrant." She said a visitor today can get a "great dinner, see a play, see a show or hockey game, or go to the baseball field and get a really unique urban experience outside the Boston area - and you don't have to pay $40 for parking."
A small wave of visitors turned up downtown last Saturday, but many of them - about 800 - were Tinseltown hopefuls drawn by the casting call. Most waited for hours in 32-degree weather in a snaking line outside an old warehouse, all hoping to land a part in the film.
As Gervais's blog described it, the filmmakers were "trying to avoid the 'Hollywood actor look.' . . . We want fat, thin, young, and old of every race and demographic. Preferably with faces like a catcher's mitt and teeth like a vandalized graveyard."
Among those hoping to snag a role: Alana Smith of Peabody, a 6-year-old with four missing front teeth dressed in a pink coat with rabbit-fur cuffs, whose acting experience was a school play in which she sang.
Also present were an executive recruiter, hairdresser, office worker, teacher, carpenter, and retired salesman, all of whom expressed a fervent desire to leave their day jobs, if only briefly, for a turn before the lights.
Some were rushing to other casting calls that day. They spoke of the cornucopia of work available in Massachusetts since tax laws were changed last year to favor filming in the state. Desiree April Connolly of South Boston said she had been to so many calls, she wasn't sure what this film was about.
Paul Marlow Jones, an executive recruiter, made the trip from Wellesley with an impressive acting resume and the craving to continue with his calling. "It's an addiction," he said.
Even the mayor has the performance bug.
A musician who started a group called the Highland Players and who sings the national anthem at hockey games, Caulfield said he planned to give the stars of the movie red-carpet treatment, presenting them with citations and pewter pins, "very nicely done, of the City Hall with the American flag attached to it," and possibly keys to the city.
"We're hoping other actors and actresses will say, 'Let's go to Lowell because they treated us well,' " he said.
The film shoot is expected to begin April 14. The would-be extras will not find out whether they have a part until shortly before then.
Connie Paige can be reached at cpaige@globe.com.
