Heartthrobs film in Bayou Gauche

McConaughey, Efron film scenes for ‘The Paperboy’

Bayou Gauche is quickly becoming a Hollywood hotspot.

Last week, movie stars Matthew McConaughey and Zac Efron filmed scenes for upcoming movie “The Paperboy,” which follows a reporter who returns to his Florida hometown to investigate the murder of a sheriff. The movie also stars Nicole Kidman.

This is the third major movie to film in Bayou Gauche in the last two years. Supernatural thriller “Jonah Hex,” which featured Josh Brolin and Megan Fox, shot in Bayou Gauche in 2009 and “The Fields,” which will star Sam Worthington of “Avatar” fame, filmed in the area last year.

“Meeting Evil,” starring Samuel L. Jackson and Luke Wilson, filmed in St. Rose and Luling earlier this year.

According to one location manager, St. Charles Parish attracts filmmakers because of the variety it offers.
“You can shoot within the city to get the feel of a city environment or suburbs, then you can go right outside to get a different look…more of a rural feel,” Katie Calhoon, the location manger for “Meeting Evil,” said.

In the “Paperboy,” which is based on a novel of the same name, McConaughey plays the lead role of a reporter who, with his brother (played by Efron), digs into the events surrounding a murder. The results of that investigation could lead to a man on death row going free, according to Empire Magazine.

Kidman will play a woman with a dark side who writes letters to death row inmates and brings the case to McConaughey’s attention.

Carol Lockhart owns land near the area where the film was shot and said it has been a neat experience.

“We got to see the actors as they walked into the closed set they constructed,” she said. “It’s exciting seeing them in person, though they tell you not to talk to them because that would get them out of character.”

The movie began filming in the area last Tuesday and wrapped Friday. A majority of the movie is being shot in New Orleans and Lockhart could get another chance to see the actors.

“Me and a friend of mine might get the chance to be extras in a wedding reception scene that will shoot somewhere in New Orleans,” she said. “I’m excited.”

Corey Faucheux, the parish’s director of Economic Development, said the parish benefits from the filming because production crews spend money on things such as renting property and equipment, catering and purchasing gas for their vehicles.