Anglers with fishing poles were replaced by filmmakers with cameras Tuesday on the Virginia Beach Fishing Pier.
The pier was taken over by a crew shooting a scene for a Hollywood musical based on music producer Pharrell Williams’ 1970s childhood in Virginia Beach. Private security guards meandered along the Boardwalk and Virginia Beach Marine Patrol officers guarded the pier entrance throughout the morning, repeatedly explaining to each new curious passerby:
The pier would remain temporarily closed to the public during filming.
The biopic, directed by Michel Gondry, doesn’t have a title yet, but is being filmed in Richmond and Hampton Roads and drawing on locals for its production. The Chad Darnell Casting agency invited Virginia natives to apply to become movie extras and, about 1:30 p.m., about 50 filed out of vans.
Everyone was decked out in 1970s clothing and colors: faded greens and dusty yellows, striped burgandies and opaque couché. Men wore short swimming trunks and some donned straw hats. Marceo Richardson-Cahoon, 22, wore a holey, green tank top.
He and his sister, 26-year-old Lynia Cahoon, both from Norfolk, stood in line near the pier, excited. A couple weeks ago, they drove to Richmond to be fitted by costume designers. Cahoon said her brother is autistic and this would be his first job.
“So,” she said. “I was like, that’d be a good story for you to tell people; ‘I was actually an extra in a movie.'”
Her brother smiled. They were cast as beachgoers and assumed they’d be asked to walk around on the sand as the cameras rolled. Cahoon was also cast as a “clubgoer” for a scene, she said, that would be shot later at another Virginia Beach location.
“I can’t wait for my face to be on the big screen,” she said, with playful gusto.
Her brother said: “It’s exhilarating.”
Caroline Tetschner of Virginia Beach and Erna Pulley of Chesapeake chatted while waiting in line. They’d also carpooled to Richmond several weeks ago.
“It’s so cool to see somebody like Pharrell Williams, especially with his roots in this area, bring something of this scale to life,” Tetschner said, “and to be a teeny tiny part of that, is pretty awesome.”
Colin Warren-Hicks, 919-818-8138, colin.warrenhicks@virginiamedia.com
