Southport Magazine

I like to think that at one point in my life, I was a movie star. I was actually an extra in the movie “Safe Haven,” and you can’t even see me in my scene. But Hollywood loves a little embellishment, so maybe I can still consider myself a star.

It was the summer of 2012 when “Safe Haven” was being filmed in Southport, out in the county, in Caswell Beach and in Oak Island as well. There was a call for extras to be in the movie’s parade scene, so I took a day off work and my son and I decided to join in with a couple of friends. We knew that filming even just one scene can take a while, so we went prepared with waters and snacks, sunscreen, and whatever else we thought we’d need. The day started out grey and a little drizzly, then changed to a lot of sunshine and heat and humidity. But it was fun and I am so glad we did it. 

The concept was simple. The parade was a patriotic July 4th parade, which was pretty easy for Southport to pull off. We were asked to wear red and blue, and they gave us little flags to wave. We lined a few blocks of Moore Street and they ran a small version of a parade down the street, complete with a few floats and even a small group from South Brunswick High School’s marching band. And then we waited a while and they ran it again. Then we waited a while more and they ran it again. And again. I can’t remember exactly how many times they had that parade come by, but I think it was six or seven. 

As the morning changed to afternoon and the summer day heated up, we started losing some of the crowd. While they were setting up for one final run, the director or whoever was running that scene came on the speaker and asked us to please stay. He pointed to a tall building across the street and pointed out where the camera was on top of it. He said he would do a wide shot of the crowd scene and that he promised we would all be in the movie that way. And we were! 

Let me set the scene for you. Our part was easy. We were to be happy parade-goers. The lead bad guy was supposed to walk around and through the parade, looking for his wife and getting more and more upset that he wasn’t finding her. At one point, he threw his water bottle down in frustration. That’s where we were, near the spot where he threw the water bottle down. I may or may not still have one of those bottles after a member of the crew kicked it over to me. It has a cute label from the fictional store in the movie with a hilarious description of how the water comes from the finest local taps. I love that they put effort into the smallest details and also that they did things that were clearly just for their own amusement. That’s what I would do. 

It was really interesting seeing how many people it takes to make movie magic, and seeing the actors and crew working together to get exactly what the director wanted. Finally, it was a wrap, and we were free to leave. We wandered around a little to see what else was going on before heading home. 

Our family went back another night though, and we stood on the walkway out to the gazebo in the marsh to watch them film the scene when the boy falls in the water and the lead good guy jumps in to save his son. There were lots of people watching, but one thing I have learned being on set, or near set at least, is that spectators quickly learn when to hush and when they can chat, where they can stand and when they can can change their locations to get a better look. 

When part of the pilot episode of the television show “Revenge” was being filmed on an Oak Island beach, it was quite a scene. There were a lot of people involved, and a lot of us spectators. We even took very quick turns getting pictures of ourselves sitting in the director’s chair when everyone was occupied elsewhere on the beach. 

One of my favorite things to watch during filming is the star sightings posted on social media. It seemed like Mel Gibson pictures were popping up on everyone’s Facebook feeds last year. “Safe Haven” filming created the same kind of social media buzz. Lead actor Josh Duhamel was seemingly everywhere in his down time, playing golf, posing with fans, and even sitting out on the beach for late nights with one of the turtle nest watch groups. It really says a lot about our community that people feel at home so quickly and want to do all the great things we get to do.  

When “Safe Haven” was released, of course there was a lot of press, and I remember reading an article in Rolling Stone that pretty much panned everything about it, even the setting. As I remember it, the writer claimed it was just unrealistic because places like that don’t really exist anywhere. We know they do actually exist. We know that we’re fortunate enough to live in one of those places, and I think it’s adorable that sometimes we get to share it with some really creative and fun people so they can do make their stories

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