THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT
HBO series starring Kate Winslet sets up shop at vacant Kmart in Chesco
CALN >> A little bit of Hollyood has set up camp in the vacant parking lot of the sprawling Kmart on Lancaster Avenue in the township.
The shuttered store is serving as the production base for the new HBO limited series “Mare of Easttown” featuring Academy Award winning actress Kate Winslet.
The series has been shooting in both Delaware and Chester counties. Shooting also has been done in Sun Center Studios in Chester Township.
Winslet will not only star in the series, she is the executive producer, according to HBO officials who are in co-production with Whiip. Officials announced little about the details of the series, but said that as her life crumbles around her, a smalltown Pennsylvania detective, played by Winslet, investigates a homicide.
Film crews have been staging at the Kmart in Caln Township, which closed earlier this year in January. Several people have stopped by that location in the Thorndale section of the township to see if Kmart had reopened. Kmart last year had announced that several locations across the country would be closing.
The series is being filmed in five counties, including Chester County and Delaware County with set shooting being done at Chester Township’s
Chester County native Brad Ingelsby, a graduate of Villanova University, is writing all of the episodes, and is also an executive producer. Gavin O’Connor, who is a University of Pennsylvania graduate, is the director and executive producer.
Sun Center Studios. Officials said that all locations would be filmed in Pennsylvania. They also filmed locally at Ash Park in Coatesville, and Carville Courtin Caln, and have plans to film in Easttown Township, Coatesville, and Downingtown.
Filming will continue through April 2020 and the series will air next year. Winslet arrived in the area to begin filming in mid-October.
Winslet is playing Detective Mare Sheehan. Broadway’s John Douglas Thompson fills the role of the police chief of Easttown and Evan Peters plays a county detective. Other stars include: Jean Smart playing Mare’s mother; Julianne Nicholson as Mare’s best friend; Angourie Rice fills the role of Mare’s daughter; David Denman will play Frank Sheehan, Mare’s ex-husband.
Chester County native Brad Ingelsby, a graduate of Villanova University, is writing all of the episodes, and is also an executive producer. Gavin O’Connor, who is a University of Pennsylvania graduate, is the director and executive producer.
There is a sign on the door at Kmart informing people that they are not casting at that location for the series. Those interested in auditioning for a role can contact Heery Loftus on his “Heery Loftus Casting” Facebook page for the posts about possible casting opportunities, which is based in Philadelphia.