“Jackie & Ryan” will be viewed as a rare film by Utahns. Not only was the movie shot entirely in Utah, but the story also is set in Ogden, and many characters portrayed are residents of Ogden.
That is something that will be evident to Utahns from the opening scene of “Jackie & Ryan,” when film star Katherine Heigl is shown walking the sidewalks of Ogden’s Historic 25th Street.
“One of the things that I’m most proud about in the film is that we shot in Ogden, Utah, without pretending that it’s any other place but Ogden, Utah,” said Ami Canaan Mann, director of "Jackie & Ryan," which ran in limited release and is now available on DVD and through video on demand. “And I hope I did the beauty of the state justice.”
An early version of the independent film’s script had the action taking place in an unnamed Indiana city. But after the choice was made to film in Utah, it was decided that Ogden would play a prominent role.
Mann said once she began scouting specific locations, she was taken aback by what Utah has to offer.
“Utah was a beautiful place to film,” she said. “I wanted to find a landscape that was wide and open, and with Utah’s mountain ranges, the state was perfect. I was very pleased to be able to showcase the beauty of the state.”
“The entire city embraced the production of ‘Jackie & Ryan,’” said Caren Werner, senior sales manager of Visit Ogden. “The director was able to use locations that you would think were filmed in New York City but were actually filmed in Ogden.”
Mann additionally discovered a talent pool that she embraced. Many production crew members were hired locally, and several Utah actors who have played characters on Utah stages were cast in key roles.
“The talent in Utah is extraordinary, really extraordinary,” she said. “It was an embarrassment of riches in the casting and with the crews we hired. There were many, many talented people to choose from, and they all did a terrific job on the film.”
Mann pointed to one performance that was memorable for a role that was challenging to cast.
“Nell Gwynn, who plays a school principal who interviews Kathryn Heigl for a teaching position, was a real find,” she said. “It was a real hard role to cast. We were down to the wire. She came in and just knocked it out of the park.”
Gwynn has also played memorable characters in local productions, including the role of Margie Walsh in “Good People” at Salt Lake Acting Company and Felicia Dantine in Pioneer Theatre Company's recent production of “I Hate Hamlet.”
“My intent has never been to do film, but ‘Jackie & Ryan’ was a super unique experience,” Gwynn said. “With a theater background and if you prepare yourself, it’s super easy to find film work.”
The actress was cast in the film although she was invited by the casting director to read for a separate character in a separate movie.
“The role was for a completely different movie,” she said. “That furthers my belief that as an actor what’s yours is yours. You come to the right experiences. You find yourself in the right place. You just keep your sails up.”
Gwynn’s abilities in the film did not escape the attention of another Utah actor, Terence Goodman, who also worked with Gwynn in SLAC’s production of “The Exit Interview.”
“Nell’s role is one of the highlights of the film,” Goodman said. “When I saw her scene, I said to myself, ‘Give me a role like that.’ She handled the scene so well. From an actor’s point of view, she handled the scene very well. Someone else could have gone totally overboard with the role, but she didn’t. She held it back and kept it real, but just as funny — and better. Actors often don’t have a lot of time with a script, and some actors can take the easy way out and be overly bombastic and over-the-top and go that route, which she also would have been great at. The scene really shows her acting skills.”
Goodman is a film industry veteran, beginning with his costarring role in “Ode to Billy Joe,” which was released in 1976, and was a series regular on “Days of Our Lives.” He also noted the proficiency of Utah film crews.
“We have tremendous crews here in Utah,” he said. “I’ve worked all over the country with different crews. I think Utah has the best crews out there. Our people really know their stuff, from sound to makeup to lighting to key grips. They are top-notch.”
“I have to say it was a great experience filming in Utah,” Mann said. “It was a tough shoot, as all independent films are. We shot in 20 days, in January, with many night shots. So it was not the most comfortable of positions. But the crew did a fantastic job. The crew members put everything they could into making the film a success.”
Goodman and Gwynn agreed with Mann that the talent in Utah and the versatile beauty of the state is an under-recognized asset to the film industry.
“Our landscape here in Utah, the moodiness, the beautiful light — what an incredible thing for a director to see and appreciate,” Gwynn said. “That is exciting. We live in an incredible, beautiful state. And the movie is like a love letter to Utah, to the most simple, beautiful, pastoral parts of the state. I just love that the director and others who may have grown up in Hollywood with that life would come to Utah and see what we have to offer and say, ‘I want to film here. This is what my story is about.’ That is really thrilling.”
“We have the scenery, bar none, that can’t be beat — the mountains, deserts, city streets that double for New York,” Goodman said. “We really have it all, right here in Utah. It’s a very unique and creative place to film.”
Other Utah theater actors who played roles in the film include Adam Dietlein, a frequent performer at Hale Centre Theatre, who plays the role of Heigl's estranged husband; and Annette Wright, known for SLAC roles in "Love, Loss and What I Wore" and "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson," who plays music store clerk Darlene.
“Jackie & Ryan” was also a family affair for Heigl, who maintains a home in Utah. Observant filmgoers will note that her real-life husband, singer-songwriter Josh Kelley, can be spotted in a cameo role as a musician.
The film is rated PG-13 for brief strong language and suggestive material.