Hollywood Invades Atlanta

HEY ATLANTA - If you catch yourself doing a double-take and asking yourself, 'Is that....?' You're not alone. Atlanta is quite the hot spot for celebrity sightings these days. With the increased film and television production and our already established stranglehold on the hip-hop industry, the citizens of Hotlanta are seeing stars - literally!

In the past twelve months alone I've been able to meet and/or work with a proverbial who's who of Hollywood. Last Spring the Farrelly Brothers filmed their #1 comedy, "Hall Pass", with Owen Wilson, Jenna Fisher, Christina Applegate, and Jason Sudeikis and that's just for starters. As we rolled into Summer two made-for-tv movies and two feature films fired up production: "Marry Me" with Lucy Liu, "The Lost Valentine" starring Betty White and Jennifer Love Hewitt, "Wanderlust" with Jennifer Anniston, and last but not least, "Fast 5" with Vin Diesel. I know right?!! Wait it gets better...

As Summer slid into cooler temperatures and the leaves started to fall from the trees; production began on"Footloose", with Julianne Hough, "My Future Boyfriend", co-starring Sara Rue (that girl from all those shows and current Jenny Craig spokeswoman), Barry Watson, and Fred Willard...and "The Change-Up" co-starring Jason Bateman and 'People's Sexiest Man Alive', Ryan Reynolds. (I think they had the wrong Ryan, but I digress)

Need more? Well it gets sweeter than the tea at Cracker Barrel -

Current productions include "Wettest County In The World" with Shia Labeouf, "Hail Mary" with Minnie Driver, "Joyful Noise" with Dolly Parton and Queen Latifa, and lastly, "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" with Jennifer Garner.

Like any good infomercial... insert your own 'BUT wait there's more!' here. Production of 'Mississippi Wild" with Dakota Fanning, Mickey Rourke, Robert Duvall and Forest Whitaker is about to get into full swing. And now we've come full circle with the Farrelly Brothers; they're coming back to Atlanta to shoot "The 3 Stooges". The final cast hasn't been announced, but you can bet that there will be some good stargazing associated with it.

OH you thought I was done? Ha-Ha silly you. I haven't even mentioned: 'MTV's Teen Wolf", "Drop Dead Diva", "The Vampire Diaries", and A&E smash hit "The Walking Dead". Yeah, they all film right here in the Peach State!

It's a great time to be an actor in Atlanta, and there are auditions and casting calls happening daily. I'll be sure to write about those very soon!

So keep your eyes peeled as you zip around the largest city in the South and you just might convince yourself that you took a wrong turn off of I-285 and ended up in Hollywierd.

Shine on Georgia!