Kevin Bacon spotted filming ‘City on a Hill’ in Boston

The 'Footloose' star turned heads in Chinatown on Tuesday morning, then headed to City Hall Wednesday afternoon.

Kevin Bacon filming "City on a Hill" in Chinatown. Brian Lacey

February 4, 2020

Kevin Bacon and filmmakers rolled back the clock in Boston on Tuesday and Wednesday while filming season two of “City on a Hill,” the Showtime drama set in 1990s Boston.

Crews filmed exterior shots in Chinatown and the South End on Tuesday morning, with Bacon spotted filming on Beach Street alongside some retro cars, while Bacon and co. headed to City Hall Wednesday afternoon to film additional scenes.

“City on a Hill” takes place in a fictionalized early 1990s Boston. Season one focused on renegade FBI investigator Jackie Rohr (Bacon) and up-and-coming assistant district attorney Decourcy Ward (Aldis Hodge, “Hidden Figures”) as they overcome their differences to take down a gang of armored car thieves.

City on a Hill is a crime drama on Showtime set in Boston in the early 1990s. Nearly 30 years ago, it was just after one…

Posted by Brian Lacey on Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Shortly after noon on Tuesday, crews had wrapped in Chinatown and were packing up the set, with some of the older cars loaded onto carrier trucks parked on John Fitzgerald Surface Road.

A car used for filming season two of Showtime’s “City on a Hill.”

A notice sent to residents near the South End’s Union Park called for filming from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, during which “period vehicles” would be parked on the main part of the street, and local traffic would be routed through a coned-off lane near the curb where cars typically park.

On Wednesday afternoon, crews filmed at City Hall, where a crowd of onlookers formed as Bacon staged conversations with other actors on the plaza steps.

Kevin Bacon is back filming “City on a Hill” in Boston today, this time at City Hall, where a sizable crowd has formed. pic.twitter.com/OzFHnY7FsB

— Kevin Slane (@kslane) February 5, 2020

The show, which is produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, was renewed in August 2019 for a second season.

While “City on a Hill” is a Boston-set show, don’t expect to see Bacon and Showtime film crews for too much longer. Primary production for the show’s first season was based in New York, as is season two. A source familiar with the production told Boston.com that crews were only expected to be in the Boston area for a few days in total.