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Community Corner

One Degree from Billy Bob Thornton

Looking for stars in Oakhurst

At first we were confused. Why was what appeared to be a carnival attraction, complete with a ticket booth and “death car”, parked down the road from our house?  

Then, overnight, there seemed to be a new discount store in the old Big H/Mulligan’s/NAVO space.  More than one neighbor I spoke with was thrilled with its retro look and the promise of a thriving business in the hulking and mostly unoccupied building.

But what about that strange car exhibit parked in front? I googled it.  “Jayne Mansfield’s Death Car” it turns out, is a Billy Bob Thornton movie filming in Georgia.  How quickly our hopes for the store were dashed. Oh well, we thought, no new store…but maybe we’d see some movie stars…maybe we’d get an autograph.

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(Click for Decatur Patch's first report on the filming.)

First, we’d check out the set.  My son and I went with some friends to take a closer look and snap some photos of the transformed building.  A security guard told us we could look around but photos of the “death car” were forbidden.  He also said they’d be filming on Tuesday morning and that Billy Bob Thornton and Kevin Bacon would probably be on location.

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My daughter recently watched Bacon in Apollo 13 and so when I told her the news she was so excited she had tears in her eyes.  We knew where we would be on Tuesday – even if it promised to be miserably hot and humid.

And it was a very humid summer morning as we headed down the street to little downtown Oakhurst looking for some serious Hollywood Stars. We found them at The Solarium. There was Kevin Bacon with shoulder length hair, wearing a dark jacket and tie and there was Billy Bob Thornton directing the action wearing a dark baseball cap and jeans.  We stood across the street with a small crowd clustered in front of the fire station and watched them film two scenes – in the first, Kevin Bacon drove a VW van/pickup down Hill Street.

When we realized that they were finishing up at The Solarium my daughter and her friend tried to get positioned for an autographThey split a piece of paper in half and each held a pen. 

A van was pulling up to ferry the actors to the next set and Kevin Bacon was walking our way.  The girls were ready, but Bacon quickly jumped into the van and off the van drove. The crowd waved as it went past and Bacon waved back. Goodbye Kevin Bacon, no hard feelings.

The girls still had a chance at an autograph.  Billy Bob Thornton, who we heard had been very friendly earlier that morning, hadn’t left. (Let me admit that I was looking forward to seeing Kevin Bacon slightly more than I was to seeing Billy Bob Thornton.  I was a teenager when Bacon played Ren in Footloose – kick off your Sunday shoes -  and in my twenties when Thornton played Karl in Sling Blade – hmm.)

But now, Thornton stood directly across the street from us laughing and speaking with the Decatur Police and unlike her mother who, star struck, didn’t dare move another inch, my daughter calmly walked across the street with her friend and asked for an autograph. With a smile, Billy Bob Thornton graciously obliged and while my daughter won’t be allowed to watch most of his movies for many years, The Astronaut Farmer, moves to the top of our Netflix picks.

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