Hey folks, Harry here.. with a few tidbits from the set of GIRL INTERRUPTED... a flick starring Winona Ryder (and some other people liiiiiike CLARENCE BODICKER) So read on..
Lancaster here, looking forward to both your appearance on Siskel and Ebert and the arrival in theatres of the movie Girl, Interrupted, Winona Ryder's latest.
The final scenes for Girl were filmed last week in my beloved namesake Lancaster in the state of Pennsylvania. Principal filming has been taking place since January primarily in Harrisburg including scenes shot at the Harrisburg State Hospital.
Girl, Interrupted is based on the book, and takes place in the 60's. Apparently Winona's character has a breakdown and is hospitalized in the course of the film.
Although, the crew spent the majority of last week preparing for the filming, the actual filming took place on Thursday, April 1 (No Joke). Three main scenes were shot. One involved Winona's character walking across the street and entering a market. Scenes were shot in the market, out of view and finally a scene where a brooding Ryder, sitting on the steps of a building that is supposed to represent where she lives, is shown clutching a cat while a body is removed from the building by ambulance workers.
The shooting took all day and then the period cars and other paraphenalia were packed up and transported back to Harrisburg. Although the stars were done, it was expected that some final work would be done in Harrisburg this week and then the film would wrap sometime around Friday or Saturday.
In addition to Ryder the film stars Whoopi Goldberg (not present at the filming). Whoopi's association with the film caused quite a controversy here because of her vocal support for Mummia Abu Jamal. Lancaster City Police were asked to provide security for the filming, however officers refused because of Whoopi. An 11th hour agreement was struck whereby the majority of officers will be donating their pay to the Daniel Faulkner fund (officer slain by Jamal). The fact that Whoopi was not here was also a factor.
The film crew was really nice and the public had been encouraged to attend the filming (although told Ryder would not sign autographs). Some locals were used as extras. The last major film done here was "Beloved" and this was absolutely a different animal. While the public knew Ryder would be filming here, the public was not told whether Oprah Winfrey would be here (she was as was Danny Glover). The public was discouraged from attended "Beloved" filming and even the newspapers were not granted access. All in all it made for a bad feeling. Despite the dark (it was a dreary rainy day and they still used a rain machine!) nature of the filming everyone was really upbeat, and friendly.
A final note, on Thursday Kurtwood Smith, the Dad on the 70's Show (and Clarence the bad guy in my fave Sci-Fi flick RoboCop) was on a Philadelphia station where he talked about how he had just finished filming the latest Winona Ryder film in Harrisburg, the day before. So although not listed, he also appears in the movie.
