I’m just back from a mini-vacation to beautiful Newport, Rhode Island. A few weeks ago I saw Woody Allen’s latest film – the mystery romance “Irrational Man” (expanding to nearly 1,000 theaters this weekend), which is based and was mostly shot in Newport. So while there this week I wanted to try to locate the places where key scenes take place, and get some inside scoop from the locals who were around when Woody and the cast and crew where there last summer.
My first stop – the Newport Historical Society, where two workers filled me in on how the production shut down Newport’s Washington Square for a couple of days to film some critical scenes with stars Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone. The Square is also home to the world famous Jane Pickens Theater, which Phoenix and Stone walk-out-of in a brief, 10-second scene.
A few blocks away is the Fastnet Pub, the location of a scene in which Stone and Parker Posey discuss a town controversy at the bar. One of the owners showed me the exact stools they sat on. He actually bought one of the motorcycles used in the movie “Moonrise Kingdom”, which was also shot in Newport. He didn’t get any “Irrational Man” props.
Six blocks away from the Square is the Franklin Spa – a diner that Phoenix eats at in the film. A waitress sat me at the same table used for that scene. And she said that both Stone and Posey (who went unrecognized by customers) would often eat there before and after a day of shooting.
The majority of “Irrational Man” takes place on the campus of Salve Regina University, which is adjacent to the famous Newport Cliff Walk. Phoenix and Posey play college professors and Stone an eager student. The University (which was in the middle of cutting down its signature 125-year-old, 100 foot tree because of a lightning strike the night before I arrived in town) has been used as a location in several film over the years, including “Amistad” and “True Lies”.
A longtime security guard at the University told me that many of the students were extras on “Irrational Man”. But unlike when Schwarzenegger was on campus for “True Lies”, Phoenix didn’t like anyone watching him during his scenes, demanding that fans and onlookers be removed from the area while delivering his lines.
You’d think, because of the months spent there shooting, that Newport would have been awarded a premiere screening of “Irrational Man” before its NY/LA release on July 17. But, unfortunately it wasn’t. And the directors of the Jane Pickens Theater weren’t at all happy about it. But they were anxious to hear about the movie. In fact, I think I was the only person in town who had already seen the film.
“Irrational Man” finally opens in Newport today (Aug. 7).