North Seattle residents will recognize many faces and locales in Robin Williams' upcoming dark-comedy movie "World's Greatest Dad," which finished its month-long filming in local neighborhoods on Aug. 15. According to James Keblas, director of the Mayor's Office of Film + Music, the cast and crew members numbered in the "hundreds," with actors from throughout the Greater Seattle area in supporting roles. And numerous North Seattle locations figure prominently in the movie, which takes place in an unidentified city. The movie was filmed "almost exclusively in North Seattle. [The film crew] focused on the texture of the neighborhoods," Keblas said. "They fell in love with Seattle."The movie's main star enjoyed the local scenery so much, Williams rode his bike often on the Burke-Gilman Trail and he visited neighborhood coffeehouses, Keblas said.STRIKING A BALANCEThe movie producers scouted locations for the film, with Keblas helping to "balance the creative feel" with whether it would disrupt the surrounding community, he explained. He said he vetoed a request to film in Wallingford during prime business hours because it would require street closures that would virtually shut down the business corridor; instead, filming started in the late afternoon.But the former F.A. McDonald School and Rusty Pelican Cafe in Wallingford, the Jackson Park Golf Course, Green Lake Park, the Helene Madison Pool and even a traffic circle at North 42nd Street and Bagley Avenue North made the cut.Keblas was on hand during much of the "high-impact" filming, including the shoot along North 45th Street in Wallingford. He fielded complaints and concerns from residents affected by the filming around the production office at McDonald School; most were about the late-night noise from the generators and the diesel exhaust, which he considered to be "manageable problems," he said. With about 400 projects filmed each year in Seattle, there's inevitably going to be filming in North Seattle, Keblas said; however, no other upcoming projects in Wallingford have been scheduled.BEING ON STANDBYOne local actor got herself a non-speaking part in "World's Greatest Dad," while another actor's role was cut because of the rainy weather on the last day of filming for extras. Both had learned about the movie through a Bellevue talent coordinator's mass e-mail.Queen Anne resident Jessica Hendrickson filmed a scene with lead actress Alexis Gilmore, though Hendrickson waited about four and a half hours to shoot for 45 minutes at McDonald school.Hendrickson portrayed a spectator who was watching her boyfriend play ball. However, the day's weather called for rain so a football scene was changed to basketball, which effectively eliminated Chris McCafferty's role as a football player.At more than 6 feet tall and 380 pounds, the Puyallup resident didn't fit the role of a high school basketball player so he was paid for his six to eight hours of waiting and excused for the day."I know I'm a specialty item," said the classical opera singer who took the summer off to work in films.McCafferty's father and best friend were luckier; both won roles in the film as teachers. His father ended up sitting in a room with Robin Williams for six and a half hours."It's harder than it sounds," the McCafferty said. "It's hard to relax when you need to be ready [to shoot a scene].... People with speaking roles [need to] become a completely different person on the spot."You learn how much work it is," he said about watching behind the scenes. "Standing around for six to eight hours has never been such hard work in my life."Hendrickson, who usually works in a bioscience lab, explained that she often found herself wondering if she was smiling or cheering enough, or whether she was "looking fake" in her scene."You're aware of what you're doing," said Hendrickson, who has been acting professionally for two years. "On film, it's hard to act normal. It's tempting to look at the camera, the crew people." "World's Greatest Dad," written and directed by comedian Bobcat Goldthwait, is scheduled to premiere in mid-January at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.[[In-content Ad]]
