I was called to be the stand-in for David Strathairn during his performance in We Are Marshall. I live in Huntington WV, the home of Marshall University, a college you may not have heard of, but will be better known by the end of this year.

David's character is that of Dr. Donald Dedmon, the interim president of the University during the tragedy. His role as someone pivotal in the theme of the movie is a good one for his persona. He plays a serious man going through some trying times. It shows him circling the funerals (in the local newspaper) he can attend after the plane crash, and follows him as he makes the decision of whether or not to shelve the football program for a while.

He makes the right decision, and then there is the issue of trying to get the assistant coach that was not on the plane that crashed into the hillside near the Huntington airport on that cold November night in 1970, to take over the team. That coach (Red Dawson, now a local business man, is played by Matthew Fox (Lost). Mathew McConaughey plays the coach that they ended up getting. You can go to IMDB.com now and see a little about it, as most of you have already done by now.

I know the whole story pretty well, but the movie will take a few liberties and change some minor facts and make a few up to dramatize the events. I was only 12 when the plane crashed, but I’ve grown up listening to the stories from the people around me. The neighbor that lives across the street from me was in the National Guard at the time and stayed up all night helping to identify bodies. The movie does not dwell on the crash, but on the rebuilding of the team and staff and the healing of a community that was devastated when many of the areas most well known businessmen and women, most fathers and mothers of small children, were now gone. I knew people that died that night but am still learning the whole story.

Back to David. He was a perfect gentleman at the movie set. We filmed at 3 different locations in 3 days. Some of the time it was raining, others it was very cold and lightly sleeting with wind chills below freezing. He thanked me each time as I moved from my spot and he took over. I never saw him do or say anything to offend or snub anyone. He didn't seem to mind that people blew by him to see the two Matthews on the set. Those people missed visiting with the best actor there. I was not a huge fan of his before this film started, but after identifying him as Ira from A League of Their Own I knew I liked him. Now that I've looked at the other roles he has had I realize that I should have already known him. I hope he gets some good leading parts in the future. In this movie he is probably the #3 man, but does have an important character to play.

I watched a lot of the scenes play out on the monitor that the director McG was watching. It looked just like watching an old classic movie. McG and his staff are very nice and were good to the actors. They have respect for our story here in Huntington and are doing the story justice. I will never watch a movie in the same light again. I have a totally new respect for what it takes to get the perfect shot. They spend approximately 8 hours for each 5 minutes of movie. They never had to do a re-take of any of David's scenes due to him screwing up. He just doesn't screw up. The rest of the actors were also amazing in that respect.

I just sent my picture and a description of me in to the production's email address that they posted locally and got a call from them to do this. I cleared my calendar (not a hard thing for me to do) for them. I will try to get in the picture in a scene later this coming week, as my stand-in duties aren't needed again until April 19th when David is due back in town. I was allowed to mingle with the actors and roam the set like I was a member of the cast. We all even ate lunch together. We ate breakfast and then worked about 7 hours before breaking for lunch. Then we worked another 6 or 7 hours and left for home or the hotel.

My back is killing me from all the standing, but I think it was worth it just to get to know David Strathairn.

Note: See Andy Finley's exclusive photos from the set in the Photo Galleries: Career Photos section.



• Mike Egnor (Huntington, WV)

I watched the filming on Friday. Strathairn did a scene that was done on the top floor of the old library. They replaced three of the windows with clear glass so that they could set up cameras and lights on the outside with cranes to film. Strathairn is playing the President, and it looks like some kind of meeting. The actors at one point all get up to look out the three windows at some sort of commotion. I think what they will be looking at in the movie is the mass of Marshall students chanting We Are...Marshall which they are filming Monday. I'm guessing, but I think that in this scene they were discussing whether or not to continue the football program, and seeing the mass of students shows the support for the team. After filming, Director McG came out to talk about the filming to the media.

I ran into Strathairn early Sunday morning. I think he was heading out of town for awhile. I asked him for an auto, and he went all out. He asked me my name, asked if I went to Marshall (I did), and said he liked my picture from Eight Men Out. He thought about a quote, and really took his time to deliver a nice signature.

Note: See Mike Egnor's exclusive photos from the set in the Photo Galleries: Career Photos section.



• Kiki (Huntington, WV)

I'm from Huntington and went to the big block party the city organized to welcome the cast and crew here. It's a small town and we're all excited both about a film being made here and also having the story of the Marshall plane crash told.

Obviously, I don't know David Strathairn personally, but I get the impression that he's sort of a self-effacing man who is more interested in "the work" as opposed to "being a celebrity".

I went to the block party hoping he would appear on the stage and maybe speak to the crowd. McG gave him a glowing introduction as a distinguished actor and said how thrilled he was to be working with him. Then, McG asked him to step over to the mic & say a few words.

As he walked across the stage, the crowd fell silent in anticipation. I knew it was "now or never". He paused a moment in front of the mic. I was about 40 feet from him and I have an extremely loud voice. I yelled, "YOU SHOULD HAVE WON THE OSCAR!"

The crowd laughed and applauded. David gave us a shy grin and sort of ducked his head. He looked up and said, "Aww, it's okay!" to more applause and laughter.

I was so thrilled to see him in person, I just had to share it with other fans.