By Cliff Hamilton
Odessa American

Odessa’s stint as the movie-making hub of the Permian Basin ended this weekend.
Local filming for “Friday Night Lights” ended Saturday morning as the production’s second unit wrapped its last night of all-night shooting at Ratliff Stadium.
The first unit, which films the stars and principal scenes, wrapped Thursday.
The crew now moves to Houston where on Monday it will begin shooting the movie’s climax in the Astrodome.
Publicist Ernie Malik said the first unit will shoot for about a week and the second for about two weeks. Shooting is scheduled to wrap April 15.
Malik said the film would then go to Los Angeles for post-production. The movie is slated for release Oct. 15.
“They have something they think the town’s going to be proud of,” Malik said.
For the three weeks they were here, the cast and crew spent their off time kicking back in Odessa’s bars and restaurants.
“It was exciting,” Barnaby’s manager Tamara Moersch said. “I’m looking forward to seeing the movie, saying ‘I saw him. I talked to him.’ ”
Moersch said at a wrap party last Sunday night the cast and crew packed the bar with about 150 people.“It was a blast,” Moersch said. “They drank us out of everything.”
Moersch said despite giving last call at 2 a.m., “at 2:30 it was still wall-to-wall. They didn’t want to leave.”
Nancy Massey, who owns the Oasis Bar and Grill, said the the cast and crew frequented her place. She said the bar was a little lighter when the crew left, too.
“They drank more Petrona (tequila) than I’ve seen in a year,” Massey said. “They went through almost a year’s worth of tequila in three weeks.”
Raymone Allen, a waiter for the Oasis, said the filmmakers often brought a party atmosphere with them.
“There’s a couple of them who would liven up the crowd some,” Allen said. “Garrett (Hedlund, who plays fullback Don Billingsley), he would go up and do karaoke all the time. He’d get up there and sing at night.”
Local stargazers sometimes packed the star hangouts as well.
“It was our job to keep the fans away,” Massey said. “When they’re all in here it’s just like a zoo.”
Massey and Zucchi’s Ristorante owner Larry Burdette said they wanted the crew members to not have to worry about hoards of autograph hounds, even those in their employ.
“The staff was really cool about it,” Burdette said. “They said ‘Let’s don’t bother these people.’ ”
For the employees at the restaurants who got a chance to know some of the “Friday Night Lights” crew, the movie makers turned out to be very human.
Oasis hostess Brandy Barnett, who also was an extra in the film, said the movie’s stars were in reality very down-to-earth.
“They’re really nice, wonderful to talk to,” she said. “They’re just like normal people. Just getting to know them makes me think no one’s really different from anybody else.”
Massey said actor Billy Bob Thornton, who plays Permian coach Gary Gaines, couldn’t have been any more normal.
“He’d sit at the bar and have his Budweiser just like everybody else,” Massey said.
He just happened to be a big tipper as well. Massey said the staff members who delivered room service would fight to make delivery to Thornton’s room for the tips.
Massey said everyone she met from “Friday Night Lights” was very polite.
“I think the general consensus was they were the nicest bunch we’d ever had in here en masse,” she said.
Burdette agreed.
“It was just fun. We didn’t have to do anything special for them. They didn’t ask for anything special. They were just good patrons,” he said.
“The people themselves, they’re good people. We had some great times with these guys,” Burdette said. “I hope they make a ‘Friday Night Lights 2.’ ”

Related posts:

1. Interviews from the World Premiere of “Friday Night Lights” Neither Garrett Hedlund or Lee Thompson Young had much experience...
2. On The Road Movie Wraps Up Filming in SF Article Written by Jerry Cimino from ”The Beat Museum / Kerouac.com”...
3. SPOTTED: gwyneth paltrow and garrett hedlund wed 13th january gwyneth paltrow, garrett hedlund (you might remember...
4. Gatineau goes Hollywood and stargazers have a blast GATINEAU, QUE. – When a film crew asked Charles Séguin...

For a country boy there’s nothing better than some down home tunes that remind you of where you come from. For Garrett, that’s smack dab in the middle of the Midwest! “I grew up in a small town in Minnesota. It has about 2,500 people in it, and I lived out on a farm about 30 miles away,” he says. “My family and I were into country music, so I can’t live without my George Strait, Tim McGraw and Johnny Cash.” But don’t be fooled — this country boy likes to mix things up too. “Rock, rap, you name it — I listen to it,” he insists. As much as he loves his country roots, Garrett is also into modern music too. Besides giving a shout-out to the Beatles, he’s also quick to rave about rap acts like Eminem, and OUTKAST. (Hey Garrett, we’re sure your costar, Andre 3000 appreciates the props!)

Related posts:

1. ‘Country Strong’ Star Garrett Hedlund Recalls His Country-Music Roots Garrett Hedlund really is just a small-town guy at the...
2. Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw, Garrett Hedlund and Leighton Meester will star in the country music drama “Love Don’t Let Me Down” The country music drama “Love Don’t Let Me Down” will...
3. Garrett on his Country Strong Roots, Tender Moments With Gwyneth & Leighton’s “Undeniable Cuteness” Garrett Hedlund is clearly one to watch in 2011. The...
4. Garrett Hedlund takes to the Country Strong stage The Minnesota town he grew up in was so small...

“There’s a couple of them who would liven up the crowd some,” Allen said. “Garrett (Hedlund, who plays fullback Don Billingsley), he would go up and do karaoke all the time. He’d get up there and sing at night.”

Related posts:

1. ‘Friday Night Lights’ crew wraps up its Odessa shoot By Cliff Hamilton Odessa American Odessa’s stint as the movie-making...
2. Wall Street Journal Article With Garrett Hedlund A Little Bit L.A. and Nashville Garrett Hedlund on Barbecue...
3. Lumo Vogue Article In Wolfgang Petersen’s colossal epic “Troy”, Garrett Hedlund is Patroclus...
4. Shana Feste talks about Garrett SourceAgain, you’re working with buzzy young talent on Love Don’t Let...

Neither Garrett Hedlund or Lee Thompson Young had much experience acting in movies, so co-starring in the much-anticipated football drama “Friday Night Lights” provided both young actors with a chance to show off their skills while learning from two seasoned veterans, Billy Bob Thornton and director Peter Berg.
Both Hedlund and Thompson Young seemed to be having a great time working the red carpet at the World Premiere of “Friday Night Lights.” They responded to questions and posed for photos like they’d been doing this whole thing for years. I had the chance to grab a few minutes with Hedlund and Thompson Young and took the opportunity to find out what it was like working on such a big film:

INTERVIEW WITH GARRETT HEDLUND (‘Don Billingsley’):

You’re in two big movies this year – “Troy” and “Friday Night Lights.” Are you ready to do something a little smaller, maybe an indie film?
Yeah, I’d love to. I really kind of strive for character roles, and if it happens to be an indie film or it happens to be a bigger film, whichever allows me to perform I would love to do. Was it tougher to prepare mentally or physically for this role? I think more physically. I got to a physical state that I’d never been to before. I played football, I wrestled, I ran cross-country, so I was always a pencil. I was always a string bean. I really gained a lot of weight for this. And post-“Troy” weight, I kept that on. I had to gain 30 pounds for “Troy” and then I gained another 20 for this. I was up to 200 pounds when I’d usually been 145. Having that weight on, emotionally it affects you when you look in the mirror every day and you see rolls that weren’t there before. It definitely really helped. I wanted to get to the physical [build] of the average footballer who’s not necessarily fit like a supermodel and who’s definitely emotionally passionate about the game, and to really portray your average high school [player].

What was it like working with Tim McGraw? You two shared some pretty emotional scenes.
Tim was great and he really knocked this out of the park being his first film. It was a pleasure for me because I grew up with Tim filling the radio stations. I grew up on a farm in Minnesota and he was all over the air. We had one radio station and it was country. Faith [Hill] had even brought Tim out on stage one year when she played at our county fair. The town’s like 2,500 so for me to go from the farm and to come out here and be in a film with him, it was a pleasure. What was it like filming in Texas? Odessa wasn’t as small as my hometown. It was like 98,000 times bigger (laughing). But it helps with your mental state and your mental strength for your character. Being out there was a lot more helpful than being in a studio and trying to pretend it was Texas. Do you know any coaches in real life who are like Billy Bob Thornton’s character? I think every coach out there is kind of like Billy Bob’s character. I think he really did a great job at portraying a character that a coach out there will empathize with and relate to, and a coach that a lot of players will recognize. Do you think people who don’t enjoy the sport of football will still enjoy this movie? Yes. It’s really a film that I think touches a lot of people and there’s emotion in it and there’s brilliant, happy moments in there. I think people will like it – I love it.

Related posts:

1. Georgia Rule Premiere Less than a month after coming out of rehab, actress...
2. ‘Friday Night Lights’ crew wraps up its Odessa shoot By Cliff Hamilton Odessa American Odessa’s stint as the movie-making...
3. Hedlund hits a new high note Actor digs deep for role in Death Sentence Garrett Hedlund...
4. Cinema Blend Interviews Garrett The last month has been an absolute whirlwind for Hedlund....