Thibodaux movie seeking actors

Makers of a movie being shot in Thibodaux with Glen Pitre and Michelle Benoit as executive producers are looking for area residents to fill roles as extras and in some speaking parts.

“Chesterfield,” named after one of several “cigarette camps” set up in France for American soldiers during World War II, will film in Thibodaux during the last week of October, Pitre said.

Auditions will be held on Sunday, Oct. 4, at the Hampton Inn and Suites (826 N. Canal Blvd. in Thibodaux) from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for men and women ages 18 to 60.

Auditioners are encouraged to wear clothing from the 1940s, said casting director Lorna Farrar.

Extras will be paid minimum wage and will be provided with meals, she said.

“Chesterfield” is the story of French women who married American soldiers fighting in France in World War II who are staying at the Chesterfield rest camp.

The American husband of one of the women, Jeannette, dies in an accident while stationed in France.

The film, written and directed by veteran French filmmaker Fabrice Cazeneuve, follows Jeannette as she decides to come to the U.S. to visit another war bride, Marie-Therese, who is having a troubled marriage with her husband in Alabama.

There, Jeannette encounters segregation and sees extreme poverty. Marie-Therese’s marriage disintegrates and the two head out together. Unfortunately, the friendship dissolves, but Jeannette eventually finds another husband.

Most of the film takes place in France and is being shot there, Pitre said. The Thibodaux area will fill in for scenes occurring in the South and in Connecticut.

“After D-Day, 6,500 American soldiers married French women,” said Pitre, director and cowriter of 2002’s “The Scoundrel’s Wife,” which was set in Louisiana around the time of World War II.

“But you don’t hear much about war brides,” he said.

Pitre said participating in the movie allows grownups to play make-believe.

“The main roles have been cast but there are a few speaking roles,” Farrar said. “When you audition, you never know if you’ll be pulled to do a speaking part. It’s not a grueling schedule, two weeks at most during the week – no weekends.”

Pitre said “Chesterfield” will play on French television sometime around March and will then be available on DVD in the U.S, though local screenings will probably take place.

The movie’s producer is Denis Poncet, who won an Academy Award in 2001 for producing the documentary “Murder on a Sunday Morning.”