Final Day Of Film Shooting Sends Dallas' Dealey Plaza Back In Time
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DALLAS (CBS 11 NEWS) - The dramatic final day of Hulu mini-series "11/22/63" filming is wrapping up in Dallas Thursday night. The show, starring James Franco, has taken over Dealey Plaza and the surrounding area since filming started Tuesday. And CBS 11 News learned that even the actors are swept up by the nostalgia.
Dealey Plaza has taken a step back into the history books with the recreation of its most famous - and infamous - moment.
"It kind of hits you when you stand here and look at the X in the road, see the spot where it actually happened. You kind of get a little choked up, " says extra Don Burch.
Tourists were swept up as well, as they lined up to catch of glimpse of the film's motorcade for the climactic end. The Hulu, time-traveling mini-series "11/22/63" stars James Franco. Actor Chris Phipps, who portrays JFK, is a Dallas native who remembers that day.
"I had come home from Kindergarten," says Phipps. "I watched cartoons, and they came on and interrupted it. I went back to the bedroom saying, 'Mom, Mom, what's going on with the cartoons? Somebody's been shot in Dallas.'"
He says walking in JFK's shoes is both eerie and humbling.
"It is a very unique perspective, because very, very few people have ever been sitting in that motorcade during an reenactment and seen the crowd, the school book depository, all that exactly as it was done," he says.
And while the movie takes a fictional twist, he says the filmmakers were painstaking in creating accuracy in the details.
"The tie was custom-made just for this, because that was the one he wore when he landed at Love Field," says Phipps.
The staff at the Sixth Floor Museum have been embedded in that history - but, this week, they got a front row seat of sorts.
"It's exhilarating," says Executive Director Nicola Longford. "Some of our younger staff are thrilled to see all the cars, vintage clothing, people dressed up. It adds more meaning to the work that they do here."
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