10 December 2012

Driving Through The Hunger Games' District 12

Shortly after coming back from the Pacific Northwest, I attended a conference in Asheville.  On the drive to Asheville from Raleigh, my colleague and I decided to check out one of the locations where The Hunger Games movie was filmed.  We are both fans of the books and thought it was so cool that the movie was filmed entirely in North Carolina.  Unfortunately, most sites were too far for us to drive and visit, but "District 12" is literally a mile off the highway.

Halfway between Winston-Salem and Asheville, we got off I-40 and drove the mile south to the deserted town called Henry River Mill Village.  There, we saw the small, run-down houses filmed in the movie and Peeta's home (the bakery).  I took a few pictures of my own, but there are a few websites that show more pictures and provide greater details.

The bakery was the only distinct building I could recall from the movie, but it was cool to be in a place that was likely swarming with film production staff and actors not that long ago.


Peeta's home - the bakery scene



The sign tells people who are on a Hunger Games tour to stay away

I wouldn't really think of North Carolina as being a hub for movies, but I was recently directed to a casting company on Facebook that is constantly looking for extras in the Charlotte, Raleigh, and Wilmington areas.  The group filmed The Hunger Games and Iron Man 3, and films the TV shows Banshee, Homeland, and a new show called The Witches of East End.  I haven't submitted myself to be an extra, but maybe I will one day.  I don't have the patience to wait in line for auditions, but maybe I'll get a big break by submitting a picture during a call for extras.  For those of you that remember, I was the face for United Way of NYC for awhile!  The image below was on the back of UWNYC folders, on the sides of phone booths in the city, and on lots of our brochures.  Someone once told me it was on a billboard, but I never found it.  

Have you ever been an extra in a movie or TV show?

Where have you seen famous actors/actresses?