Hollywood comes to Pawtucket: 'Ella McCay' films in new location

PAWTUCKET – Excitement abounded Monday afternoon on Glenwood Avenue as movie crews took over the street to film scenes for "Ella McCay," the production starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Woody Harrelson and Emma Mackey.

"I think it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing," said Ros Johnson, sitting on her front steps, watching moviemaking magic directly across the street. "I've never seen anything like this. I'd never expected this much hullabaloo. It's fascinating."

But probably no one on this street was more excited than Lydia Breckon.

"I relocated out of the house for the last three days so that they can go in there and dress it," explained Breckon, whose kitchen is being used for interior scenes.

"You know it is a little discombobulating to move out of your house and give other people free license to kind of redo it," she said. "That said, I just popped in there and the creative energy is awesome. The decorations are awesome. You can see the story of the movie already unfolding in the way that they have redone my kitchen."

Just down the street, Rick Taylor took the movie shoot as an excuse to rest while walking his dogs, Mosi and Zulu.

The teacher at Gaudet Middle School in Middletown noted that movie trucks were parked up and down Glenwood Avenue, on several side streets and even a block over on Ridge Street.

"To see it at this scale is pretty impressive," said Taylor.

Ariel Noorparvar sat on a curb watching Breckon's house with her young nephew.

"It's something fun happening in the neighborhood," she said, noting that it's not often a Hollywood studio makes a movie, "at least on our street."

The location, in the city's Oak Hill neighborhood, is roughly across East Avenue from the shopping plaza that that is home to several restaurants, including Rasoi, Garden Grille, Feast & Fettle, Antonio's Pizza by the Slice, Wildflour, Moonstar and Maven's Delicatessen.

It was not immediately clear whether Curtis, Harrelson, Mackey or any of "Ella McCay's" other stars, including Albert Brooks and Spike Fearn, would take part in filming at the Pawtucket location.

"Ella McCay," the James L. Brooks film being made by Twentieth Century Studios, began filming on Providence's East Side on Feb. 5 after a star-studded kickoff at the State House four days earlier. Providence locations have included a storefront on Broadway remodeled as a bar, a University Heights house remodeled as a coffee shop and the State House. More quietly, "Ella McCay" has also filmed in Cranston and Bristol.

The movie is expected to continue filming in Rhode Island for a week or more before wrapping up.

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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Jamie Lee Curtis, Woody Harrelson movie 'Ella McCay' filming in Pawtucket