By Laura Oleniacz

The Herald-Sun

 

DURHAM – After practicing for a scene for an independent film to be shot outside the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics in Durham on Thursday, Colin Firth waved to a group of students staking out a blocked off area nearby.

 

A chorus of squeals erupted from the group that intensified when Firth, an Academy Award-winning actor, and actress Emily Blunt, a Golden Globe winner and a nominee for the award for her role in “The Devil Wears Prada,” walked over to them.

 

Firth said light-heartedly they would put the fans “out of their misery” as they neared the group, before students and others swarmed around him and Blunt.

 

Blunt chatted with the group around her, saying “nice sweater” to one fan, asking her if a picture on her cell phone was taken with her boyfriend.

 

“You have the best hair I’ve ever seen,” she said to 16-year-old Reba Martin, who said she hears comments “all the time” about her hair, which is died purple. The junior at the N.C. School of Science and Math said she didn’t expect Blunt to comment on it.

 

“It was great, she was really nice,” she said. “A lot of her roles seem really shallow; she didn’t seem shallow at all.”

 

Firth and Blunt veered over to the group after they finished preparing for a scene they were slated to shoot later in the day for the independent film “Arthur Newman, Golf Pro,” produced by Vertebra Films.

 

The film is a dark comedy that tells the story of how Firth’s character fakes his death and goes on a road trip to a new life, encountering Blunt’s character along the way, according to a news release.

 

During the film, which his directed by Dante Ariola from an original script by Becky Johnston, the characters break into empty homes and take on the identities of the absent owners.

 

There were scenes shot for the film at the N.C. School of Science and Math in and outside of the former Watts Hospital that’s now used for classrooms, said Aaron Plourde, a spokesman for the school, a public boarding school for 11th- and 12th-grade N.C. students.

 

For one scene, Firth and Blunt sat outside the former Watts Hospital in a blue Mercedes-Benz convertible. Lisa Bruce, an executive producer for the film, said the scene is about a minute-and-a-half long on screen, and depicts Firth, the main character, dropping off Blunt’s character at a psychiatric hospital.

 

Bruce said the character is visiting her twin sister inside the hospital. Earlier in the day on Thursday, scenes were shot for the film inside the former hospital, Plourde said.

 

The production company has shot in various locations in the state to make it look like the characters are traveling one-third of the way across the country, Bruce said.

 

According to a news release, filming for the movie began Oct. 10 in Wilmington. Guy Gaster, production services executive with the N.C. Film Office, said scenes were slated to be shot in Wilmington, Carolina Beach, Currie, Wallace, Fairmont, Lumberton, Raleigh, Graham as well as Durham.

 

The production company was estimated to spend $7 million on the film in state, Gaster said, adding that there is a 25 percent refundable tax credit, not to exceed $20 million, for productions that spend a minimum of 250,000 in the state.

 

Jeremy Reece, a 17-year-old senior at the N.C. School of Science and Math, said having the production company at the school was “a pretty big thing for the school,” and he also touted the film’s economic impact in the state.

 

“So I felt it would be a good thing to attend,” he said.

 

Vivian Chen, a 17-year-old senior at the school, said she came from a calculus class to watch Blunt and Firth work on the outdoor scene.

 

When she saw Blunt and Firth walk toward the group of students and faculty, she said “all of us ran over here and squealed.”

 

There were at least two times that the stars came over to greet their fans while they worked on the scenes, Plourde said.

 

Chen said she’s seen Blunt in films such as “The Adjustment Bureau,” in which she starred opposite Matt Damon, as well as in “The Devil Wears Prada.”

 

“She’s gorgeous, she’s really pretty,” she said.

 

Chapel Hill resident Angela Cardoso, the employee of a company with offices in the Research Triangle Park, said she’s a longtime fan of Firth’s.

 

The 28-year-old said she’s admired him in BBC’s “Pride and Prejudice,” the film “Love Actually,” and in “The King’s Speech,” for which he won an Academy Award for his role as King George VI.

 

“He’s such a romantic figure, he’s very attractive, he’s so well-spoken,” she said.

 

Cardoso said she Firth looked her in the eyes, and she was able to shake his hand. He seemed taller than she thought he’d be.

 

“He’ll always be Mr. Darcy,” she said.

 

© The Herald-Sun