Omaha goes Hollywood (Transcript) by Bill Kelly / STATEWIDE PERSPECTIVE / May 25, 2001 It’s a wrap on the set of “About Schmidt” - the new Jack Nicholson movie will open next year. For two months locations in Nebraska City, Minden, Kearney, Lincoln and Omaha brought a touch of authenticity to the film. The film crew came here because the director, Alexander Payne, grew up in Omaha. Payne’s first two movies – “Citizen Ruth” and “Election” – were popular with critics and movie-goers, and were also shot in Nebraska. All three films share something else – the people responsible for choosing the locations and the cast are also products of Omaha. “Statewide’s” Bill Kelly takes us inside the making of “About Schmidt,” and reports that these two men, and the hometown director, worked hard to make this new movie something that looks and feels like Nebraska. The film tells the story of Warren Schmidt (Jack Nicholson), a retiring insurance executive in Omaha, Nebraska. Just days before he and his wife are to take the trip of their dreams, she passes away. The loss devastates Schmidt, and leads him to take a look at what was important in his own life, while reconciling with a daughter with whom he could never connect. On Omaha's far north side, the turn of the century district called Florence became the Sandhills town of Brule, at least for a day. [John Latenser V] "And Florence being an older part of town kind of looks like a small town. So we figured, well, we could make this look like a small town if we just close down all the traffic." It was Omaha native John Latenser who could see this urban business district doubling for Main Street Brule for a few minutes of screen time in the movie "About Schmidt." [Latenser V] "You know, through the windows we'll see all these things. Like do you see this sign right here? This normally says Florence Drug Town like it does over here on the front. We've put this up to make it look like a small town." The drug store became a feed store. The Post Office got a makeover. And inside the neighborhood diner, not much needed to be changed. [Latenser V] "We're going to run over to the Post Office. We're going to shoot it just an exterior of Jack mailing a letter. And then we're going to run back inside the diner here." Jack of course is Jack Nicholson. A small hoard of Omaha star seekers hope to catch of glimpse. [Latenser V] "There's crowd control just for the scene and then there's crowd control because of Jack. "He wants some crowd control down here for both Jack and the crowd." As location manager John Latenser has a second responsibility, finding order in chaos when a community is not familiar with the pressures and demands of professional filmmakers. [Latenser V] "They need everything right now, right away, and then they make you wait. Like here, we rushed, we got all these police in order, ready to close down the street and get our shot. And then they say, well its going to be a little while. So we sat around and waited until they're ready to go." The process that brought the "About Schmidt" crew to Florence and 42 other Nebraska sites began months ago. Latenser and his team scouted dozens of possible locations after reading the script. [Latenser V] "I start to get a feel for the character, the area they would live in. I start to think about things like income level, background, all that kind of stuff. It's kind of like an actor preparing for a role. You read into the script as much as you can to figure out everything that would go into it. And after you get all that done, you go out and you start to find the locations." Latenser located a real life barbershop that fictional insurance executive Warren Schmidt would trust with his thinning hair. [Bill Kelly/Reporter] "And this sort of barbershop, this 1960's era was a Warren Schmidt barbershop?" [Latenser V] "Absolutely. We figured he would have been going to the same barber for many, many years." These "presentation files" give the director a good idea of the look and the feel of the location. [Latenser V] "There's the Schmidt house. That might be interesting." The house in Omaha's Memorial Park neighborhood fit the director's vision perfectly, outside and inside. [Latenser V] "The kitchen which had not been modernized like most houses in that neighborhood. Still had the original range, things like that. "For us it was more, let's go find a house that is believable. So we found the house that somebody really lived in. They really have the wallpaper in their house that we have on our stage. They really had the layout that we were looking for. There really was a house out there that existed. We didn't just make this up." And weeks later, the home's owner, Bess Ogborn moved out and Warren Schmidt, in the form of Jack Nicholson, moved in. They are here because of the man in the white shirt, a local boy… the film's director, Alexander Payne. He insists his movies look like his hometown of Omaha. [Latenser V] "I go through that much trouble for Alexander Payne because I know how important it is to him to have that kind of background. He makes references that location casting is just as important… just as important as casting people." There were changes made to Bess Ogborn's home to accommodate the on-film family. Outside, a false brick wall made a sunroom appear as if it were a den for the retiring Mr. Schmidt. Inside, adjustments were made for the fictional Mrs. Schmidt's taste in furniture and knick-knacks. [Latenser V] "Everything is brought in. The wallpaper is the same. Actually her curtains… those are her curtains, but we've added the valence." But the basics… from the wallpaper to the floor plan were perfect for the Schmidt's and for the film's director. [Latenser V] "You know when he likes a house because he just lights up. He stpers dancing around. He stpers acting out the scenes. He becomes Warren Schmidt. He becomes Warren Schmidt's wife. He walks through the house knowing exactly where to turn just based on him having written the script and visualizing this for all the… you know, he's been visualizing… you know, visualizing this for about a year before he finally got to see the house that was perfect. "And he knows when its perfect because he can just… he can walk through with his eyes closed and know where everything is. That's how perfect it has to be." [Kelly] "And this was perfect?" [Latenser V] "Absolutely. Absolutely perfect." Even perfect has its limitations. You can't move the walls and ceilings of a real house when a shot gets tricky. You can't block out all the noise of a neighborhood. Solving those problems meant building an exact duplicate of the interior of the Schmidt house in a warehouse in central Omaha. A giant photomural made Izard Street appear through the windows inside. Every detail of the rooms on two floors was reproduced from the wallpaper in the front hall… to the kitchen sink. It is an eerie parallel universe… [Bess Ogborn] "Here we go." Especially for the owner of the real home, Bess Ogborn. The director took her on a tour. [Ogborn] "I think this is the amazing room of all. Because it is so true." The set designers had made some changes to the kitchen decorating scheme. [Ogborn] "I like my floor better." The overall effect amazed the woman who'd lived in the real Schmidt house for nearly forty years, right down to adding a little bit of dirt and grime to the back screen door. [Latenser V] "Alexander likes to film on location. If he had his way we would film the entire thing on location. But because of weather and things we can't control occasionally we need to build things on the set that is in a controlled environment. That's why we did the Schmidt house on stage, was because when we began our film production it was still in March. And everybody in Nebraska knows around March you cannot predict the weather." Take spring for instance. In the two weeks between the film's visits to the Schmidt house, the trees bloomed. Crewmembers carefully removed every single apple blossom branch by branch. Mrs. Ogborn was paid for a brand new tree and that too is part of John Latenser's job. [Latenser V] "I talk people into doing things they wouldn't do normally." [John Jackson] "I've been really, really overwhelmed and very, very, very pleased by the response that we've gotten…" John Jackson doesn't have to talk people into helping on "About Schmidt." The casting director received over three thousand pieces of mail from people begging to be actors and extras. [Jackson] "This would be underaged males, underaged females, females, males, and this is just a sort of conglomeration of out of town people who have contacted us from as far away as, good heavens, Florida, southern California, Arizona, you name it." Jackson ran a talent agency in Omaha when Alexander Payne chose him to cast his first film. This is number three. He knows what the director is looking for. [Jackson] "The main thing in casting these in filling out these roles is to find people who are interesting. Not just… not just in terms of them being brilliant actors, but that they are interesting people. That they look interesting. That they sound interesting. That they are good actors, or that they have such a strong sense of persona that that's may be enough." Photos of the actors line the wall. The professionals with their 8 by 10 glossies. The newcomers with Polaroid mug shots. And more photos come in every single day. [Chad] "The worst was right after we put something in the World Herald. We probably got fifteen hundred pieces of mail in three days. So you were just sitting there opening for hours and hours and hours…" [Jackson] "What a lovely woman. What a lovely woman. She would be wonderful as a business traveler at the airport." Many of those came from the real people… the 'just make me an extra' folks… with whom Alexander Payne loves to populate his films. [Jackson] "I'm amazed at how a lot of times people will come in here and… and… and it's not… there's something more at issue. It's not just wanting to be in movies. It's not about wanting to be validated as an actor. "I know… oh honey… I know I'm nothing special, but I have some unique characteristics. Uh-oh, should I read on? If you give me a chance at this you would give new meaning to my life which has been going downhill lately. Please consider. Thanks. Oh, my goodness. She's in. "Make me special." And isn't that a nice thing to be able to do! [Jackson] "Yeah it is. I love it. And I will always… you know, that's what's so great about doing this kind of work in places like this." "About Schmidt" needed extras for a lot of different events. In a scene at Johnny's Steakhouse, it was a retirement party for Warren Schmidt. There was also a funeral, a wedding, a scene in a grocery store and the airport. John Jackson needed a lot of bodies in the right place at the right time. [Jackson] "On this day we need eight, on this day I believe we're at 75, at this day we drop to 25, we jump back up to 40… "I would love to think that… you know, that this department was artistic and creative and all of this kind of stuff. But it's really kind of like being a traffic cop, you know. You really… you're really telling people where to go, when to be there and… and… and how to… what to bring and how to do… "So we're going to jump in here any second now and start to call the airport people, right?" Any image of fun and glamour for casting a movie evaporates when the staff must phone nearly a hundred people in just a couple hours with the next day's call time. [Theresa] "This is Theresa from the casting office of "About Schmidt."" [Man speaking] "Your call time tomorrow is going to be 10:30 a.m." [Theresa] "And from there you want to report to Erica." [Jackson] "They are going to put you in as a Sikh so wear… wardrobe will provide you with that." [Woman speaking] "Keep in mind it's a scene that's late February, early March so no sandals, no shorts." [Girl speaking] "No cameras or recording devices." [Theresa] "Bring whatever you… suitcases or you know luggage wheels or briefcases with you. Whatever you would travel with." [Girl speaking] "Don't be nervous about it. It's no big deal." [Theresa] "You guys are going to have fun. It's going to be fun for you." Most of the people recruited… fifty dollars for eight house, time and a half after that… did find it fun. Even if the waiting seemed endless. Jackson has to warn his part-time actors that there is serious business going on here. [Jackson] "The biggest mistake you can make is to forget that the rest of the people who are there, this is how they make their living. They are at work. They are working. The camera guys are working. The actors are working. They are all at work. You're coming into it because it's the first thing that you've ever done and it's like this great experience. And it's almost like vacation and all of this stuff. And these guys are walking into it like its this… like its going to be a party. This is like, you know, this is great. This is… this is Worlds of Fun, you know. And it's not. They're working. They are working hard and they have been working hard for seven weeks now, twelve to fourteen hours a day." The hard work is so very clear in the two scenes that will open this movie. When Warren Schmidt leaves his retirement party at Johnny's it's raining… and raining hard. And for the film that is all artificial. Schmidt drives to his Memorial Park home… so the rain must continue. And it does in a scene shot three weeks later. Two giant cranes with sprinklers, three more for lights, two cameras, an army of technicians, and two hours of set up for about thirty seconds of screen time. [Crewperson] "Stand by." The people and places discovered by casting and location directors filled in the details that made it all look real. With Jack Nicholson in the lead this is a movie that will be noticed when released. So when the rest of the world takes their seats to watch "About Schmidt" they will see an authentic slice of Alexander Payne's hometown, Omaha, Nebraska.