For one viewer, movie captured a big moment
KATE NICKLES COURTESY PHOTO
Southold resident Kate Nickles (right), an extra in ‘The Romantics,’ got some face time with leading actress Katie Holmes during last year’s movie shoot in Southold.
Unless they want to head into the city, North Forkers will have to wait until the wide release of “The Romantics” on Sept. 24 to see if they recognize friends and neighbors on the big screen.
One local performer took a trip to New York last Friday for the movie’s premiere. Warren McKnight, a banjo player from Riverhead who performs at farm stands and as a street musician, played the preacher in the climactic wedding scene of the romantic comedy, whose ensemble cast featured Katie Holmes, Anna Paquin, Elijah Wood and Adam Brody.
The film, which chronicles a group of college friends who gather in a seaside town for the wedding of two of their friends, was shot in Southold last November. The Old Field Vineyard provided the setting for the wedding scene. Other scenes were shot at the Southold Yacht Club and elsewhere around town.
Mr. McKnight was very happy with the finished film, which premiered at the Regal Union Square Stadium Theater. He said the film’s director invited him on stage for photographs and a question-and-answer session with the actors.
“It was thrilling. It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” he said.
Like many of the 100 local extras hired by Plum Pictures over the course of the shoot, Mr. McKnight was chosen after responding to a classified ad for extras in this newspaper. He said that another local actor, David Markel, had been slated to play the preacher, but had to back out due to illness.
“He deserved the part. He’s an excellent actor,” said Mr. McKnight. “I was part of the wedding audience, hanging around, and they picked me.”
Mr. McKnight, 66, who is easily recognized by his scruffy hair and beard, needed to disguise his Brooklyn accent for his paragraph-long speaking part.
“I said, ‘Love is like the ocean, which knows no depths.’ I tried to do a phony Irish accent. I did the shtick I do on the street,” he said. “They say their own vows, then it rains fake rain and we all run off. I thought at first I had to speak to the wedding people in the back, but I was miked and I was 90 percent too loud.”
He was impressed, however, with how the finished scene looked on the screen.
“I actually look very angelic. That was one of the most beautiful scenes,” he said. “It was really nostalgic for me. I thought, ‘Hey I can act.’ I was surprised I did so well.”
He said that he went to the cast party after the premiere, which “wasn’t like the cast party of the North Fork Community Theatre. There was nothing but alcohol served.”
Mr. McKnight, who made $1,000 a day for two days’ work, said that the filmmakers had told him he would be eligible for a Screen Actors Guild card after the shoot, but he said he wasn’t sure he’d fill out the paperwork to join.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be called up again, if I’ll ever be the preacher guy,” he said. “Those people can really act.”
Hollywood trade papers reported that the film brought in $44,000 from the premiere weekend, where it was showing on one screen in New York and one in Los Angeles. It is scheduled to open on five more screens in Manhattan and Brooklyn and at the Malvern Cinemas and the Manhasset Triplex this weekend before opening in theaters nationwide Sept. 24. No information was available this week on whether the movie is scheduled for Mattituck or Greenport.
Bob Rothman, who owns Rothman’s Department Store in Southold, was an extra in the wedding scene, as was his wife, Audrey. He said he plans to see the film as soon as he can.
“My wife responded to the ad,” he said. “They said bring two sets of clothing to the filming that day down at the Lutheran church in Greenport at 7 o’clock in the morning. They interviewed us right there, we filled out the paperwork and were bused over to the site.”
“They told us there was going to be a simulated rainstorm and we might get wet. We were supposed to jump up out of the rain. We did that two, three or four times,” he said.
He said that there was barely any food on the set, but at the end of the day there were “pizzas galore” on the bus and a big buffet dinner at the church, where he and his wife “were treated to nice conversation with Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise. We had a nice fat dinner with them. It was great fun.” Mr. Rothman said that he’s been researching the film on the Internet and has been impressed with the reviews.
“Of course, we’ve got to go see if we’re in it. There were a lot of people in the wedding scene. I’m not sure if you’ll be able to see us,” he said.
Southold resident Kate Nickles, who had done some modeling and acting before appearing as an extra in the film, said this week that she had received her SAG card after three days on the shoot.
She lives not far from the The Old Field Vineyard and told the casting director that she could roll out of bed and go to the shoot. She also appeared in the scene at the yacht club.
“At the yacht club, you were sitting there with all of them. I wanted to see how they work. I’m like a sponge. A lot of kids who were in it had to stand outside in the cold and complained that there wasn’t enough coffee and food. But I said, if you need anybody to come back, let me know,” she recalled. “I hope it gets good reviews. I hope it does really well.”
Mr. McKnight has already prepared his own review.
“On a scale of one to 10, I give it at least a nine,” he said. “But it’s not for kids. There was one scene where there was a girl taking cocaine, there was nudity and kissing. Use your imagination. It’s rated PG-13.”
