While the director and camera crew set up a scene, Edward Furlong brushed back his hair and gazed upward at the striking stained-glass windows inside the Bastyr University chapel in Kenmore.
The actor may have been on hand to film scenes for Seattle-based Mirror Images’ “Matt’s Chance” on March 22, but the 34-year-old star of “Terminator 2” and “American History X” in the 1990s was fixated on the 54-year-old European-style building’s offerings for a few minutes before shooting resumed.
“Quiet on the set” and “cue, dolly,” director Nicholas Gyeney said for the umpteenth time that day as the 30-person crew hushed and one of them gently pushed the cameraman — set on the wheeled contraption — toward Furlong and co-star Edi Zanidache on the altar. Furlong, who plays cowboy Matt, consulted with Zanidache, a priest, about what to do after he discovers his girlfriend is a cheater.
They ran through their lines as the camera rolled. After a few tries at the altar scene, they nailed it. And the silence that once ruled over the chapel was blanketed with a round of applause from the crew. Success.
“They’ve hit it spot on every time, which is incredible. I mean, their lines are just perfect and (we) can’t ask for a better eight minutes than what they gave us,” said producer Nate Riley about the two actors. (Furlong also filmed a bank-robbery scene with Seattle Seahawk Marshawn Lynch in Bothell recently.)
Samantha Jones, the producer’s assistant, intern manager and marketer for the film, said that Day 3 of the film’s 15 days of shooting in Seattle was going well as the hours rolled on during the one day of shooting at Bastyr.
“It’s an independent film — gotta get in, get out,” she said of the two-week schedule, which featured Lee Majors, Margot Kidder and Gary Busey acting at Seattle spots like the Acme Barber Shop, Dante’s bar and more.
The Bastyr scenes provided an interesting exchange of ideas between cowboy and priest, Jones said.
“(Furlong is) coming to see his priest buddy, who’s like a rappin’ wannabe gangster priest, and fills him in on what’s going on, and they talk about getting revenge,” she said. “Edi — Daddy Dave is his character — is telling him, ‘Well, she needs to go down, we need to get her back,’ and he pours him a shot in the chapel.”
The secular Bastyr chapel, which also features hand-carved oak paneling, dark oak pews, marble columns, terrazzo floors and glass mosaic artwork, was part of the original seminary grounds and attracted the Mirror Images crew when they were scouting locations for another film. Riley remembered the chapel when “Matt’s Chance” came around and contacted the university.
“(They) wanted to read the script first, though, which was a little bit tough because there’s a lot of swearing in there. We got in, though, nonetheless — we’re here,” Riley said. “We’re going with a neo-noir-type of feel and look, so very vibrant colors, deep dark shadows, so it really fits with the different color schemes that are out here in the chapel.”
Jones said it’s one of the bigger sets Mirror Images has worked on, and it’s a bonus that the chapel is easy on the eyes.
“You’d think that people are glued on the actors, but you can see everyone just kind of … their eyes are wandering all over the walls, it’s really gorgeous,” she said. “I came in here before we started shooting and I was just snapping pictures everywhere.”
Mirror Images plans to release “Matt’s Chance” in 2013.
The chapel’s ideal acoustics have also drawn the attention of Hollywood recording engineers. The orchestral soundtrack to “Mirror, Mirror,” which stars Julia Roberts and hit theaters March 30, was recorded there, along with scores for the films “Mr. Holland’s Opus” and “Die Hard 3” and video games like “Warcraft” and “Zelda,” according to Pam Vaughn, Bastyr’s director of conference services.
“It’s fun having that going on at the university,” said Vaughn, who added that recently a classical pianist recorded there, along with local choral groups. “It’s exciting.”
