By Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa
Boston Herald, The Inside Track
April 14, 2009
Cambridge homey Ben Affleck, in Roxbury yesterday filming scenes for his new flick, “The Company Men,,” says he believes he has made the last movie about a newspaper, with the upcoming “State of Play.”
“This is a movie made around the time that the Internet destroyed newspapers, which is happening now,” said Affleck, who plays a congressman who is being investigated by reporters at the failing, flailing Washington Globe.
(Any resemblance to Affleck’s other hometown paper is, we’re sure, entirely coincidental!)
“All the newspapers are falling apart,” Affleck told MTV.com . “and the Internet is going to take over, for better or for worse. It could be this completely biased, rancorous, ugly noise that takes the place of journalism.”
Yesterday, Affleck and co-star Kevin Costner were on location in Roxbury shooting scenes for the upcoming “The Company Men.” The flick, by “ER” producer John Wells, is about corporate downsizing. Kind of like in the newspaper business . . . .
Affleck plays a corporate hotshot who loses his six-figure salary, his penthouse and his Porsche after he’s laid off. Costner is his brother-in-law, a drywall installer who takes pity on the disenfranchised yuppie and gives him a construction job.
Yesterday, the cast and crew were shooting a scene at two scaffolding-bedecked triple-deckers. Apparently, these are the post-downsizing construction scenes.
BTW, Tommy Lee Jones is also in the cast, but he hasn’t been spotted yet. The Oscar winner plays a senior partner of Affleck’s firm who is horrified by his greedy partners. Apparently, he’s not heard of AIG – or The New York Times [NYT]!
File Under: Stop the Presses!
Gone playwright
And speaking of Ben, Dorchester actress Trudi Goodman, who played a creepy drug addict in Affleck’s made-in-Boston thriller “Gone Baby Gone,” is taking her talents to the stage in a one-woman show based on her family.
“You have everyone from bookies to chief rabbis,” she said of the family depicted in “Sunny Side of the Street: Scenes From Real and Unreal Life,” which is in pre-production.
Goodman, who also has had roles in the made-in-Boston flicks “21” and “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past,” said life as an actress has gotten a lot easier since her role in “Gone Baby Gone.” And she credits the director for giving her the part.
“God Bless Ben Affleck,” she said. “He made it possible for me to get my (Screen Actors Guild) union card.”
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/track/inside_track/view.bg?articleid=1165440