Movie shoots in two LI communities bring on the rain
Actress Kate Hudson, left of center, is shown on the set of the movie "Something Borrowed," which was being filmed at the Mills Pond House in Centerport. (May 6, 2010) Credit: Handout
It poured Friday night in Glen Cove and Centerport - even though the rest of Long Island might not have felt a single drop.
That man-made rain was movie magic created during the filming of two different big-name projects, an HBO miniseries starring Kate Winslet called "Mildred Pierce" and a major motion picture starring Kate Hudson called "Something Borrowed."
Both projects called for a rainy night on a sunshine-filled Friday. In Glen Cove, the "Mildred Pierce" producers brought in a 1936 Buick and a 1929 Cord for filming at the Woolworth Mansion on Crescent Beach Road. They rigged rain towers on the lawn of neighbor Nancy Roenfeldt to simulate rainfall over the roadway leading to the manse.
Winslet and co-star Guy Pearce filmed simple sequences, driving up to the mansion and walking up and down its steps. The actors also took driving lessons in one of the vintage cars, which can be difficult to maneuver, says Ilene Landress, co-executive producer, who was on the set Friday.
The five one-hour episodes are scheduled for 2011 television release, Landress said. The miniseries is not a remake of the 1945 movie starring Joan Crawford. "Our miniseries is more faithful to the book," she said. Filming will continue into June at the mansion and other locales in Glen Cove, Oyster Bay, Locust Valley and Merrick.
In Centerport, the Mill Pond House restaurant on Route 25A was transformed into "Rushmore's Jetty" for the Hudson flick, in which Hudson's friend played by Ginnifer Goodwin hooks up with Hudson's fiancé. The movie, set for 2011 release, also stars John Krasinski and Colin Egglesfield. Soaker hoses were rigged in all the trees to create a stormy night, said a state traffic control employee who helped close off Route 25A for the filming, who would give his name only as Ralph.
The movie had filmed at the Mill Pond House on Thursday night as well, doing repeated takes of the stars outside the bar, bypassing extras portraying patrons awaiting entry, said Jack Geffken, a medical officer for the Centerport Fire Department who was on the set for safety precaution. The cast also filmed scenes at the Mill Dam bridge.
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