SECONDHAND LIONS
News:
Movie being filmed outside Austin
A major motion picture, directed by Austinite Tim McCanlies, began filming in Lockhart Friday. Authorities closed down a highway off 183 for a plane to land, to film a scene.Firefighters, police, and city workers helped out with the production. "You can tell when they start shutting the road down, get traffic backed up, you know the planes and helicopters are flying around. Outside of that it's pretty normal," said Chief David Fox of Lytton Springs Fire Department. Bystanders also gathered to watch the show in the making. "It was something I looked forward to all week and it really enlightened my day," said spectator Chad Johnson. Location Manager Robbie Friedmann said 98 percent of the film will be shot in areas around Austin, including some action scenes. "We'll have some great explosions. There's an epic battle and all of that will be pretty incredible, so yes, there will be a lot more action to come," said Friedmann. The movie, starring Michael Caine, Robert Duval, and Haley Joel Osment, is expected to be released next summer. The location manager said nearly 100 of its 150 crew members are locals.
New cast
"Michael O'Neill ("The Legend of Bagger Vance") has been added to the cast of New Line Cinema's "Secondhand Lions". In "Lions," directed by Tim McCanlies, O'Neill will pay Ralph, an opportunistic attorney who is the nephew of two men (Michael Caine and Robert Duvall)."
The IMDb entry now lists another five cast members who have not been mentioned on this board before. The film seems to have as many kids as adults in it. Here is the full cast listing, as of now:
Michael Caine ................................... Garth
Robert Duvall .... ............................... Hub
Haley Joel Osment .............................. Walter
Kyra Sedgwick ................................... Mae
Nicky Katt
Rick Dial ...........................................Feed Store Owner
Marc Musso ....................................... Boy 2
Mitchel Musso .................................... Boy 1
Nick Price (II) .................................... Walt's Son
Jennifer Stone (V) ............................... Martha
Rory Thost ........................................ Walt's Sons
Travis Willingham
Treating Haley Joel Osment
Actress goes from small stage to big screen, and back again. Fourth-grader learning to juggle roles as she works on feature film.
Meeting actor Haley Joel Osment would bring out the best in most 9-year-old girls, but not Jennifer Stone of Arlington. "I get to treat Haley like dirt. It's so much fun," she said. Actually, the fourth-grader at Butler Elementary School is mean to the actor only when the cameras are rolling. For the last few weeks, Jennifer has been playing Haley's cousin Martha in New Line Cinema's Secondhand Lions. The movie, which is being shot near Austin, also stars Michael Caine and Robert Duvall as the young actors' great-uncles. Haley plays Walter, a boy whose irresponsible mother leaves him for the summer with the long-missing uncles, who have recently resurfaced.
Jennifer has been working on the movie weekdays, then returning to Arlington on Fridays to appear in Pocahontas at Creative Arts Theatre and School. Resident director Doug Miller, who cast Jennifer in the Arlington theater's production of Annie early this year, said he wasn't surprised she was chosen for the movie role. She is the kind of actor who makes a director's job a breeze, he said.
"She follows directions so well and she's so eager to learn that it makes it easy," Mr. Miller said. "She really has a passion for acting. She knows her limitations, but she really pushes herself." Jennifer followed her older brother Chris, now 14, into acting two years ago. She wanted to be just like him, she said, so she signed with the Kim Dawson Agency, which represents Chris. Her agent called Sept. 13 to tell Jennifer about the movie auditions, and she and her mother, Christy Stone, drove to Austin that weekend. Jennifer and two other girls were called back to meet with director Tim McCanlies and casting director Ed Johnston. Afterward, Jennifer was convinced she didn't get the part. "Mr. Johnston told me, 'Thank you, it was nice to meet you,'" Jennifer said. "When they say that, it's usually the kiss of death for an actor. I was crying in the car going home."
Her reaction was very different a few days later when her agent called to tell her she got the part. Jennifer began jumping and screaming, and sported a grin the rest of the day. "When I'm casting a movie, I look for two things," Mr. Johnston said. I want to know, number one, are they truthful, and two, are they right for the role. Jennifer was very right for the role, and when we started improvising, she really did a wonderful job and was very truthful."
Producers Corey Sienega and David Kirschner, who watched videotapes of the auditions, were also impressed with Jennifer. "She's very bright and has a natural sense of humor, and she's completely comfortable working around the adults," said Ms. Sienega. "She ran up and introduced herself to Michael Caine and said she was going to save him a seat next to her at lunch. She has a presence that doesn't allow you to say no, so of course he sat with her."
Jennifer met Haley, 14, during wardrobe fittings a few days before she began filming Oct. 2. Her first day was spent sitting in a hot car with her movie family, which includes two brothers. "It took the entire day, and the gnats were everywhere," she said. "It was driving me crazy, and one of the boys had found a dead rat they played with." Jennifer will continue filming through Oct. 23, returning to Arlington on weekends to spend time with her brother and her dad, Johnny Stone, a computer consultant. Mrs. Stone has been picking up Jennifer's schoolwork from Butler Elementary, which Jennifer does under the guidance of an on-set tutor. Her daughter maintains good grades, Mrs. Stone said, but her best education may come from simply working on the movie set.
"It's just almost surreal to watch Michael Caine and Robert Duvall working," Mrs. Stone said. "That has been quite an education." Commuting between Arlington and Austin has been difficult, Mrs. Stone said. But for Jennifer, the hardest part may be her costume - a pink dress, white gloves and a white purse. "The costume is just not me," she said. "But I love playing brats, and I'm good at it. I have to admit I'm a brat sometimes, and that character is just so fun." Plans are to release Secondhand Lions in summer or fall 2003. Jennifer said the only thing she's worried about is her scenes getting cut. Ms. Sienega said that's not going to happen, especially because Jennifer's solo scene with Haley is pivotal to the movie. But after her experience as an extra in Spy Kids 2, Jennifer's not taking any chances. "I told kids at CATS and at my school about Spy Kids 2, then my scenes got cut and they thought I was lying," she said. "So I'm going to wait until I'm sure they haven't cut my scenes before I tell people I'm doing a movie with Haley Joel Osment."
Short Information:
Release Date: September 26, 2003
Studio: New Line Cinema
Director: Tim McCanlies
Screenwriter: Tim McCanlies
Starring: Michael Caine, Robert Duvall, Haley Joel Osment, Kyra Sedgwick, Nicky Katt, Josh Lucas
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: Not available
Official Website: Available
Review: Not available
DVD/VHS: Not available
Movie Poster: Available
Plot Summary: Robert Duvall and Michael Caine star as eccentric great-uncles taking care of Haley Joel Osment one summer. The film will feature f/x sequences, by Digital Domain, that detail the fantastic tales about the uncles' youth with which the men regale the boy.
Trailer: Available
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