Filming of "August: Osage County" has Oklahomans on lookout for movie stars
BY MICHAEL SMITH World Scene Writer
Saturday, September 29, 2012
9/29/12 at 5:31 AM
Read all of our continuing coverage on the movie.
PAWHUSKA - The bus pulls up to a curb in downtown Pawhuska. A slumped-shouldered man emerges, pulling on his suit jacket and approaching his father. The man is upset and apologetic ("I set the alarm," he tells his father). Their conversation concludes when the man breaks into tears and hugs his consoling father.
They repeat these actions for an hour, and after lunch, these men begin talking, crying and embracing many more times.
The man is Benedict Cumberbatch, an English actor best known for portraying a modern-day "Sherlock" on PBS. The father is Academy Award-winning actor Chris Cooper, one of Hollywood's best-known character actors in movies including "American Beauty" and "The Muppets."
The production is "August: Osage County," and on Friday the movie - based on Tulsa native Tracy Letts' award-winning play - filmed in Pawhuska, the county seat of Osage County. The past week has featured outdoor photography of multiple scenes, offering residents of Osage and Washington counties an occasional peek at the making of this major motion picture.
Soon the filming will move exclusively to a large home in Osage County near the Kansas state line for filming through November. The movie about a dysfunctional Oklahoma family also stars Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Juliette Lewis and Ewan McGregor, among others, but they were not involved in Friday's film shoot.
The activity closed off a small portion of downtown Pawhuska, creating a perimeter around which local residents gathered in clusters, armed with cell phones snapping photos to prove that they were there. Some had longer lenses. All of them had stars in their eyes.
Most of the stargazers - a term that all preferred to "celebrity stalker" - had to ask the identity of Cooper and Cumberbatch from a distance. But the women uniformly swooned over George Clooney, the producer of "August: Osage County" along with Grant Heslov, who was also on the closed - but very visible - set on this day.
"I've got a good picture of George here," said Kim Schupbach of Pawhuska, showing a friend a particularly pensive shot of Clooney on her phone. "See, in this one, he's thinking about me," she said with a flirty smile, inducing other women listening to giggle like little girls.
Friday was the third day this week for friends Julie Dumonceaux of Bartlesville and Patty Sanders of Nowata to visit the set of "August: Osage County."
On Monday, Dumonceaux was working as a nurse at Bartlesville's Jane Phillips Hospital when Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep were filming. On Thursday, they dropped off their kids at school and visited filming in a Bartlesville neighborhood, where they received a tip about Friday's filming in Pawhuska.
"Our ultimate goal is get our picture taken with George Clooney," said Dumonceaux, sitting on the steps of City Hall and shooting one picture after another.
"I keep telling her, 'We need a strategy. We need a plan,' " said Sanders, smiling at her friend and adding "I'm not embarrassed at all because this is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. I wouldn't call this stalking. This is enjoying the scenery."
A Friday morning fog bank burned off, revealing an overcast sky but a crisp fall morning for filming. The scene that was being shot again and again involved Cumberbatch's character - referred to by his mother in the play as the family "screw-up" - who overslept and missed the funeral of a family member.
In setting up the scene, a Jefferson Lines bus stops at the curb, and multiple riders (extras in this case) emerge, including Cumberbatch.
While Cumberbatch and Cooper talk, cars and pickups motor down the street behind them, at the command of men waving the vehicles' drivers on at a certain pace, along with other extras walking along the street.
After so many repeats of this scene, onlookers had memorized the patterns at work.
"The bus is going to back up and get in position, but those cars aren't in position yet," said Mary Sullivan of Hominy, pointing down the street as if she were directing traffic.
"See those two cars? They're not in position yet either. Then those people, they're supposed to be together over there, that girl and that guy in the green shirt. She's an extra, I think, but she waved at us. That was nice."
Sullivan had driven a friend to Pawhuska for an appointment, and she said she couldn't sit in a waiting room with all the commotion outside. She dreamed of seeing either Clooney or Roberts, as did many of those attending Friday's filming.
"I've loved Julia Roberts ever since 'Pretty Woman,' and if I ever saw her up close I'd probably pee my pants," she said, laughing. "But George Clooney, oh, I'd love to see him walk up and wrap me in his arms."
Many speculated as to where the production might film in the area next, or where the stars might eat dinner in Bartlesville, or attend an event (Juliette Lewis said on Twitter that she planned to see the Smashing Pumpkins on Friday night at Cain's Ballroom).
Fred D. Davis of Tulsa, a retired Teamsters Union member, signed up to drive a truck and transport equipment between the film's multiple exterior sets. As he watched over his truck's contents, he talked of his fascination at the skills and creativity on display during filming the past week at a church in Ochelata, and in Pawhuska at a funeral home and a barbecue joint.
"It's so unique the way that they can build anything they need on-site," Davis said of the technical crew. "They can build a little track to put a camera on real quick. They construct shades to control the sunlight. The other day, there was this tree they wanted to film, and it didn't have enough branches, so they got some branches and they put them on the tree."
As a portrait photographer in Delaware, Okla., Vicki Madden can appreciate such creativity. But on this day, she had taken off work to see a movie star: Meryl Streep. It didn't happen on this day.
"She's my favorite. I've wanted to own a farm in Africa ever since 'Out of Africa.' I'm serious," she assured, between taking photos of the set across the street.
Madden has been posting on an "August: Osage County" Facebook page in hopes of gaining Streep's attention, she said.
"I invited her to my house because I want her to come and have apple cake and sweet tea with me," she said. "I keep trying to impress to her - and I wrote this - that I am normal. I am. I'm not a stalker. Hey, I've had more than 200 people like my Facebook post. I just hope that Meryl sees it."
The stars were out in Osage County on Friday, and it brought out the dreamers.
Original Print Headline: Star search
Michael Smith 918-581-8479
michael.smith@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Chris Cooper (left) and Benedict Cumberbatch film a scene for "August: Osage County." MIKE SIMONS / Tulsa World
George Clooney talks with crew members during filming for "August: Osage County" on Friday in Pawhuska. MIKE SIMONS / Tulsa World
Chris Cooper (left) and Benedict Cumberbatch film a scene for "August: Osage County." MIKE SIMONS / Tulsa World
Amanda Howerton (left), Linda James, Carol James, Patty Sanders and Julie Dumonceaux watch for stars during the filming of "August: Osage County." "Our ultimate goal is to get our picture taken with George Clooney," Dumonceaux says. MIKE SIMONS / Tulsa World
Chris Cooper and Benedict Cumberbatch embrace for a scene in "August: Osage County." MIKE SIMONS / Tulsa World
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