Matthew McConaughey Film Shoots In Strongsville

STRONGSVILLE, OH - Seeing a Hollywood star in Northeast Ohio? It's more common than you might think. With the low cost of filming here, more productions are bringing their crews, their equipment, and their stars to the region. Which is why you may have seen Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey roaming about Strongsville on Tuesday.

The architect of the McConaughey-renaissance was in town filming 'White Boy Rick'. Set in the 1980s, the movie tells the true story of Richard Wershe Jr., a 14-year-old, who goes undercover as an informant for local and federal law enforcement. We'll spoil the movie with its real-life ending lower in the story and give fair warning before doing so.

McConaughey was joined by his costar Jennifer Jason Leigh in Strongsville. The duo were filming at the Kings Inn. The crew were reportedly trying to capture the older motel feel that the site offered. Older cars were brought in to create that 1980s-feel, the city of Strongsville said on Facebook. Bruce Dern is also slated to appear in the film, though he was not in Strongsville on Tuesday, it appears.

The movie has also been filming in Lakewood at the former Lakewood Hospital building. Kevin Foster, the assistant location manager for the film, said they chose Lakewood because active hospitals are extremely difficult to film in and appropriate looking vacant hospitals are difficult to come by.

Oh, and spoiler alert. After serving as an undercover agent for law enforcement, Wershe Jr. reportedly turned to a life of crime. Eventually, he was convicted of drug trafficking and was sentenced to life in prison. So there may not be a happy ending for this film.

You can see photos from the set below.

Photo from Shutterstock