Behind the scenes on 'Smith'
From:Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Date:March 31, 2006
By Rob Owen
I did some more snooping around on the set of the CBS pilot "Smith" last weekend and ran into actor Simon Baker, one of the stars of the proposed series.
Baker, who starred for three years in the Pittsburgh-set legal drama "The Guardian," said it was "weird" to be back in Pittsburgh, staying in the same hotel and working with the same local crew as he did during the "Guardian" days.
In "Smith," Baker plays one of the thieves in a gang led by Ray Liotta. In the pilot, the crew steals art from the fictitious Tanner Museum in Pittsburgh. Mellon Institute in Oakland played the Tanner in scenes shot on Fifth Avenue Sunday. Never have more people clogged that sidewalk than when the production hired dozens of extras to walk along it take after take.
While "The Guardian" was meticulous in its faithfulness to Pittsburgh geography, "Smith" will not be. Actress Amy Smart stumbled into an alley along Liberty Avenue in a scene shot last week and then emerged from the other end of the alley, after apparently passing through a wormhole, on Fifth Avenue in Oakland. I'm sure it will work fine on screen, leaving only Pittsburghers with a knack for local geography confused.
Last Friday night, I joined a dozen other onlookers to see police cars race down the 10th Street Bypass, chasing a cigarette boat on the nearby Allegheny River. Cameras in a helicopter above and on another boat on the river captured the action, including fireballs around a delivery truck the thieves left on the 10th Street Bypass. It was rigged to explode, causing a diversion intended to allow the thieves an escape. I didn't stay for the explosion but heard the truck blew up quite impressively around 11:50 p.m.
CBS will announce its fall schedule, and whether or not "Smith" makes the cut, in May.
From Pittsburgh Post-Gazette .
Date:March 31, 2006
By Rob Owen
I did some more snooping around on the set of the CBS pilot "Smith" last weekend and ran into actor Simon Baker, one of the stars of the proposed series.
Baker, who starred for three years in the Pittsburgh-set legal drama "The Guardian," said it was "weird" to be back in Pittsburgh, staying in the same hotel and working with the same local crew as he did during the "Guardian" days.
In "Smith," Baker plays one of the thieves in a gang led by Ray Liotta. In the pilot, the crew steals art from the fictitious Tanner Museum in Pittsburgh. Mellon Institute in Oakland played the Tanner in scenes shot on Fifth Avenue Sunday. Never have more people clogged that sidewalk than when the production hired dozens of extras to walk along it take after take.
While "The Guardian" was meticulous in its faithfulness to Pittsburgh geography, "Smith" will not be. Actress Amy Smart stumbled into an alley along Liberty Avenue in a scene shot last week and then emerged from the other end of the alley, after apparently passing through a wormhole, on Fifth Avenue in Oakland. I'm sure it will work fine on screen, leaving only Pittsburghers with a knack for local geography confused.
Last Friday night, I joined a dozen other onlookers to see police cars race down the 10th Street Bypass, chasing a cigarette boat on the nearby Allegheny River. Cameras in a helicopter above and on another boat on the river captured the action, including fireballs around a delivery truck the thieves left on the 10th Street Bypass. It was rigged to explode, causing a diversion intended to allow the thieves an escape. I didn't stay for the explosion but heard the truck blew up quite impressively around 11:50 p.m.
CBS will announce its fall schedule, and whether or not "Smith" makes the cut, in May.
From Pittsburgh Post-Gazette .
posted by nikita | 7:48 PM
