Port Hope Mayor Welcomes Stephen King
It sure appears Stephen King is a fan of Canada.
With IT being filmed in Port Hope a few years ago and now with the follow-up production called Largo, cast and crew of Third Act Productions are almost becoming citizens of the town.
Actors taking part in the film generously have posed for pictures and met fans waiting patiently for them.
People have travelled from across the province and beyond to stand on the street and watch filming take place.
Security was tight for anyone taking pictures from even their cell phones with security guards asking no pictures be taken. But over the days of filming, it seems the rules have become less strict and members of the public have taken pictures of filming without any intervention.
Rumours abounded that author of IT, Stephen King was in town on Tuesday.
King’s books have sold more than 350 million copies, and many like IT have been made into movies. The first IT was released in 2017 with part of it filmed in Port Hope, grossed over $700 million.
People said they saw him, but there were very few pictures, if any showing King in Port Hope.
But Port Hope Mayor Bob Sanderson got the chance to meet King and welcome him to the municipality.
Sporting a Neil Young Harvest Moon shirt, King posed with Mayor Sanderson and director Andrés (Andy) Muschietti.
“I wanted to meet him to welcome him to the municipality.”
Speaking to King, Sanderson quickly realized that the author knew a lot about Port Hope.
“He was absolutely welcoming. Gentle, kind, lots of conversation, they (cast and crew from the movie being filmed called Largo) love Port Hope.”
During his conversation with King, Sanderson said they both spoke about the value of small towns.
King was very gracious about how accommodating Port Hope has been to the cast and crew of Largo.
“They just rave about it,” said Sanderson.
The meeting was planned, “but it was very fluid because of King’s schedule.
“It kind of happened, not impromptu, but we know this time would work, and we didn’t want anything to official. I just wanted to make sure this man was welcomed and he understood that this film was welcomed in Port Hope along with the cast and crew and hope they were enjoying the town.”
“The thing I was most impressed with was how he just fit with Port Hope. I was very happy, on behalf of the entire municipality to tell him how exciting this is and how great it was for the municipality.”
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love