Sep 23, 2007 - 04:03:03 CDT
FAULKTON, S.D. (AP) - A couple of myths about Hollywood were exploded for custom harvesters Craig Mutsch and Jim Beidler, of Faulkton, during the filming of the new Sean Penn movie "Into the Wild."The film crew and actors were not arrogant, Beidler said, and they worked much harder than he ever imagined.
"I was surprised how much they worked," he said. "It's not all fun and games."
The 135-person crew that filmed in the Carthage area was there for more than two weeks. And all that work yielded about five minutes of footage, Mutsch said.
The Hollywood types weren't exactly the best combine drivers, though. During a scene depicting a wheat harvest, a steady stream of valuable wheat was flowing out of the combine - and ended up on the ground instead of in a truck.
"Wheat was flying everywhere," said Mutsch. "I told them they had to stop."
But they were on a tight schedule - and the camera was not filming the wasted wheat anyway.
Mutsch said he's sure the wheat grower was generously reimbursed for his loss.
The two harvesters became involved in the movie because Mutsch is a friend of Wayne Westerberg, of Madison, a former custom harvester from Carthage. Christopher McCandless, the young man whose short life is the subject of the film, worked for Westerberg before moving to Alaska.
Actor Emile Hirsch plays McCandless, who wandered North America before dying in the Alaska wilderness in 1992 at the age of 24. Penn directed the movie.
Westerberg no longer had combines, and Mutsch was asked if his could be used because they were made during the time when McCandless worked for Westerberg.
Mutsch and Beidler hauled their combines to Carthage. And both actually ended up in the movie, playing custom-harvest crew members.
"I wasn't even in my fourth-grade play," Mutsch said.
Hirsch drives a combine in the movie, as does Vince Vaughn, who portrays Westerberg.
The South Dakota premiere was Friday night in Aberdeen at the inaugural South Dakota Film Festival.
Mutsch said he attended the movie's premiere for cast and crew in Los Angeles earlier.
"It's very moving," he said.
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