‘Manchester’ big’s love for the locals
The winter of 2015 buried Boston in more than 9 feet of snow, but when the cast and crew of “Manchester by the Sea” came to the North Shore to film, they were actually praying for more!
“We scouted the movie that February and there were 10-foot snowbanks everywhere and not a soul on the streets,” director Kenneth Lonergan told the Track. “When we came back at the end of March, there was a little patch here, a little patch there. It was quite a different look.”
Lonergan said the cold, bleak New England winter is “woven into the structure of the story,” about a Quincy janitor who returns home to Manchester-bythe-Sea to raise his nephew after the death of his brother. Hence the need for lots of snow.
“You can’t do the movie without the winter,” he said.
The flick, which stars Casey Affleck as the aforementioned janitor, as well as Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler and Lucas Hedges, has received all kinds of critical love since its debut at last winter’s Sundance Film Festival. And the performances by Affleck, Williams and Hedges have all generated Oscar buzz.
“People seem to be liking it, which is wonderful,” Lonergan said.
The director, best known for his 2000 flick “You Can Count On Me,” also wrote the “Manchester” screenplay based on an idea local guys Matt Damon and John Krasinski brought to him. Originally, Damon was going to direct it and Krasinski was going to star. But their calendars quickly filled up and Lonergan and Affleck took on the roles.
“It’s a very special performance for Casey,” Lonergan said.
“He plays a guy who’s been through pretty much the worst of the worst. He brings immense emotion into it; real truthfulness and sadness as well as a good sense of humor, which is one of the things that sustains him,” he said. “When the camera catches the expression in his face, it’s real emotional depth and very compelling.”
Lonergan said he loved filming the movie on the North Shore so much, he may move there.
“I wanted to be faithful to the area and I know that’s not easy to do,” he said. “I know people here are tough critics of movies made here and I didn’t want to fall into any of the traps.”
Lonergan said he used a lot of local actors and an all-Mass. crew for the shoot and found the North Shore residents “incredible.”
“There’s a patina of gruffness here, but I noticed everyone I was afraid would be mean turned out to be incredibly nice and helpful and welcoming,” he said.
As for the Boston accents in the flick, Lonergan said he did them “very carefully.”
“I didn’t want everyone to sound the same,” he said. “All the local actors knew how to talk and those who didn’t were coached. It’s not perfect, but I think it’s pretty good.”
“Manchester by the Sea” hits the megaplexes on Nov. 18.
File Under: Sea-Worthy