Jeff Fraser, an Essex native and frontman for the award-winning wedding band Men In Black, is hoping the gig that he and his six-piece group filmed in May 2008 will make the final cut of the made-in-Massachusetts flick "The Proposal" starring Sandra Bullock.In the romantic comedy slotted to hit theaters on Friday, June 19, diva boss Margaret Tate (played by Bullock) forces her assistant Andrew (Ryan Reynolds) to marry her in order to keep from losing her visa status in NYC and avoid deportation to Canada. The Rockport-shot scenes act as a stand-in for ... get this ... Sitka, Alaska.
In addition to the celluloid wedding reception shot with Men In Black at an old mansion near Singing Beach overlooking Manchester harbor. additional scenes for "The Proposal" were filmed at 225 Franklin Street, Bearskin Neck in Rockport, the Myopia Hunt Club in South Hamilton as well as scenes in Gloucester.
Fraser, who says his band has performed at hundreds of wedding receptions, but never at one where the bride and groom were movie stars, chats with Loaded Gun Boston about his big-screen debut in "The Proposal," the elaborate set for the flick which included fake leaves on trees and a dance floor built over the family swimming pool as well as how Men in Black landed the high-profile gig.
LOADED GUN: How did Men in Black get involved in filming the wedding reception scene in 'The Proposal' starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds?
FRASER: The drummer's sister had an in with Boston Casting and we were selected that way.
LOADED GUN: Any behind-the-scenes experiences from the shoot at the old mansion near Singing Beach overlooking Manchester harbor?
FRASER: We watched Ryan Reynolds and Craig T. Nelson's confrontation scene about 20 times. They ran it again and again with different camera angles. Ryan [Reynolds] was pretty serious in the reception scene and he didn't mingle with the extras. Craig T. Nelson was mingling, walking around smoking his cigar. He was friendly. I didn't want to bother any of the stars. Sandra Bullock was not in the scene, so I didn't get to see her. They brought in some old boats which was pretty cool. They spent a lot of time with the 'sea plane' scene.
LOADED GUN: The movie is set in Alaska but shot in Massachusetts. Did the filmmakers do anything special for the location switcheroo?
FRASER: There were totem poles ... they brought in a lot of evergreen trees.
LOADED GUN: Have you heard if Men in Black made it into the final cut of the movie?
FRASER: I haven't heard anything yet, but I'm hoping.
LOADED GUN: What are your thoughts on the dramatic influx of big-budget films to Massachusetts?
FRASER: I think it's great! I have a friend who is a local carpenter who now has steady work building movie sets. I'm looking for a way to get a spot as an extra in the new Adam Sandler movie which is being filmed in my home town of Essex this summer.
--Photos courtesy Jeff Fraser. Still from "The Proposal" courtesy of Touchstone Pictures
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