Today, I was able to experience first-hand what a day on the set of a major motion picture is like. While I am not allowed to release many details or any photos from the movie shooting at my family’s ranch in Guthrie, Oklahoma, I am proud to say that the first day of filming was an eye-opening, enjoyable, once-in-a-lifetime experience in which I met many incredible and kind people. My family (Wayne and Rebecca Halvorson and my two brothers) and I were treated extremely well and we were constantly thanked for allowing them to use our ranch for a few days.
In between takes of the film titled, Cowgirls N Angels, I was able to visit with the film’s star Bailee Madison. Madison, 11, has been featured in films such as Adam Sandler’s “Just Go With It” and in Disney’s “Wizards of Waverly Place.” The movie is about a young girl who joins a group of trick riders on the road in search of her estranged father.
In Madison’s first scene, she had about a minute and a half speaking role. I watched her go through the scene at least 15 times. Each time the directors kept telling her it was perfect. This made me realize just how hard it is to film a movie. However, Madison never lost her cool and stayed the same happy little girl the whole time.
Once the scene was finished, a torrential downpour came out of nowhere. During this time period I visited with Madison and her mother. They told me they had lived in Florida and shot in many locations across the country, but had never seen weather like this. All I could say was “Welcome to Oklahoma. If you don’t like the weather, just wait one minute and it will change!” They laughed, but it was true. The rain was gone in about half an hour and they were able to continue filming.
During my visit with Madison, I realized she is your typical sweet 11 year-old. She said she is not home schooled, but she attends a school in Florida that is flexible with her busy schedule. She also informed me that she had never ridden before this role, but absolutely loves horses. Madison did not mind talking to my brothers and I or taking pictures and signing autographs. I felt like I was just hanging out with one of their friends.
The other actors included James Cromwell (Secretariat, Racing Stripes, Babe…) and Frankie Faison (The Thomas Crown Affair, Hannibal, Silence of the Lambs, Seven, Coming to America…). I was not around them as much as Madison but they seemed to be really nice guys. I complemented Faison on his Oklahoma State University baseball cap and he said that he toured the campus when they were filming in Stillwater and he loved it.
The story of how the producers found out about our ranch is pretty funny. My parents were having dinner one night at a local restaurant, Steak and Catfish Barn. This restaurant has been featured on many television shows such as “Man Versus Food,” and we are very good friends with the owners. My dad noticed a group of people who looked a lot more like they were from California than Guthrie, Oklahoma. Come to find out, they were movie producers looking for a large old barn for their movie, and they were in luck. Later, they came out to our ranch and saw our old dairy barn and decided it was perfect for their film. They also used a couple of the other barns and our indoor and outdoor arenas for the film.
Filming will continue through Saturday and I cannot wait to see the rest of the movie unfold and hang out with my new famous friends!
Check out this link for more details about the movie and its stars. Thanks to Lauren Halvorson for giving us an inside look!
