April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
CAST IN MOVIE
Local Catholics get 15 minutes of fame
But instead of family and friends, the attendees were extras in a movie cast; instead of parishioners, the "parents" were celebrities; and instead of one sacrament, many takes were required while cameras zoomed up the center aisle of the church.
Some Schenectady Catholics were among those cast as extras during the filming of "The Place Beyond the Pines."
Directed by Derek Cianfrance, the film tells the story of a motorcycle stunt rider, played by Ryan Gosling, who becomes a bank robber to support his newborn son. It also stars Eva Mendes and Bradley Cooper as a rookie cop.
Filming began in late July, with the cast and crew being seen everywhere from local banks to diners and a firehouse. In June, parish secretary Gail Wilson was contacted at St. John the Evangelist by the production company to inquire about using the church as a location and parishioners as extras.
She was thrilled. "I'm thankful and happy to have this movie happening in this area," Ms. Wilson told The Evangelist. "It's been a community-wide event, so I'm excited they wanted to use our church."
However, Ms. Wilson was given the difficult task of choosing 100 people out of her parish family of 6,000.
"Among the many people at this parish who do so much, I knew that there were a few who do a lot but tend to get lost in the shuffle, so I reached out to them first," she explained.
The Catholics, joined by about 30 Screen Actors Guild extras, gathered with the other cast and crew at the parish at 5:30 p.m. and began grouping everyone into "families." Everyone filed into the church to be seated, rearranged and told to keep facing forward, as they would during an actual baptism.
Theresa Fitzmaurice and her daughter Maggie weren't disappointed to be seated toward the back of the church. "Ryan Gosling came in the back, so we were glad we could see him from where we were seated. He looked quite nice," Mrs. Fitzmaurice told The Evangelist.
"It was hot in there and it took four hours, but it was exciting just to watch them do what they do," she added. "There were a few takes and it was interesting to see that it's not as glamorous as we think it is."
Phyllis Decker, another parishioner-turned-extra, noted that "it makes you appreciate what these movie stars go through. It's just take after take after take for something that's probably going to end up being 10 seconds in the film."
For Ms. Decker, the most exciting part was seeing Rev. John Facci, SAC, a retired priest in residence at the parish, "up there on the altar. He did such a wonderful job."
The baptism scene was the only one filmed at St. John the Evangelist, but Mrs. Wilson told The Evangelist the entire parish seems excited to see the film.
"I'm probably not even going to be seen on screen," remarked Jeanne Hawkey, an extra who is coordinator for religious education for the parish, "but I'm definitely still going to see it just to connect to a scene and remember what it felt like to be a part of it. It's very exciting."
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