»Movie extra gets surprise call Monday evening Article on C2
OXFORD — Campus Avenue between High and Spring streets is closed as crews of “The Ides of March” movie set up for filming inside Hall Auditorium.
A small crowd has gathered outside the auditorium, lining the yellow tape that is stretched from the building’s entrance to the street and around the trucks parked on Campus Avenue.
Outdoor shooting on campus has wrapped.
Filming continued this morning at the Farmer School of Business for George Clooney’s movie. A large group of extras, dressed in business attire, was at the set.
Clooney and crew arrived in Oxford Tuesday to kick off a week of working on campus.
The sun was barely up as crews began setting up for shots in front of the building. Miami University students took a break from mid-term exams to get as close as security would allow to Clooney, who is also directing the film, and co-star Ryan Gosling. Some stood inside the Farmer building, taking cell phone photos through the windows at the action outside.
News camera trucks from Cincinnati lined the driveway and a chartered bus done up in a “Morris for President” motif parked along the access road by Cook Field. Around the corner, production trailers lined the road leading to the Marcum Conference Center, where the day’s extras waited for their call.
Wearing ear muffs and a dark pea coat, Clooney seemed to be in director mode as he moved among the dozens of crew members. Gosling came out of the Farmer building on several occasions to shoot a scene, at one point emerging from the crowd pumping his fist in the air, spurring a round of cheers from the college women.
The filming in front of the school continued until about 11 a.m. when the crew moved inside to the closed set. The crowd of about a hundred onlookers dwindled to a few still hoping to catch a glimpse of the stars.
“The Ides of March” is based on the play “Farragut North” by Beau Willimon, based loosely on Willimon’s experiences working on the 2004 Democratic primary campaign of Howard Dean.
Clooney, who also adapted the screenplay, will also star in the movie as candidate Gov. Mike Morris.
The production also features Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti and Jeffrey Wright.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2188 or rjones@coxohio.com.
About the Author