NEWS- 'Evan Almighty': Filming takes over River City
The stream of cars had come to a halt, turning downtown Waynesboro in an instant into a movie set.
"We're rolling!" came the call from the assistant director, and Evan Almighty was rolling, literally, through the streets of the River City.
The film starring Steve Carell and Morgan Freeman was on location in Waynesboro Monday, April 24, but the threat of showers canceled Tuesday's filming.
Two scenes were shot Monday afternoon– one involving Carell driving up West Main Street and turning at the corner of Main and Wayne avenue, the second featuring Carell and Freeman stopping in front of Sam's Hot Dogs and exchanging a brief bit of dialogue with an extra in the role of a uniformed police officer.
That said, there wasn't a lot of action– but that didn't dampen the spirits of the hundreds of area residents who spent the day taking in the goings-on.
"Who wouldn't be a fan of Morgan Freeman? He's classic. And Steve Carell– I love The Office," says Stacey Strawn Evans. “It's one of the funniest shows on television right now, if you ask me." Evans is co-owner of Blue Moon Galleries, which was center stage, in essence, for most of Monday.
City manager Doug Walker was so close that he was actually part of the filming– as an extra in the scene showcasing both Carell and Freeman reprising their roles as Evan Baxter and God from the 2003 box-office smash Evan Almighty.
"It's just getting out there and walking down the street. It's fairly straightforward. As long as you're not making eye contact, the direction, the action, is very simple. It's no pressure at all," Walker says of his part.?
As a city official, Walker has been playing a key behind-the-scenes role for the past few months.
"The intensity has built over the course of the past several weeks," Walker says of the logistics between the city and Universal Pictures, which is producing Evan Almighty. Walker hopes to have shooting go so well that Waynesboro is considered for future movie projects.
PHOTO BY JEN FARIELLO?#