Hollywood hunk has Manitoba jones

March 7, 2001
Winnipeg Sun
by Rob Williams

Hearts were beating at warp speed last night as Hollywood hunk Harrison Ford landed in Gimli for a movie shoot.

"My heart's just pounding, I just served Harrison Ford," an excited Lakeview Resort lounge server Janice Penziwol said moments after serving a cocktail to the star of such movies as Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark. "When he first came in I scared the heck out of my co-worker, saying 'He's here!' "

Ford flew into Winnipeg last night at about 6 p.m. and was quickly whisked to Gimli, where an exterior scene for his upcoming submarine drama, K-19: The Widowmaker, is being shot.

He is staying at Lakeview Resort, where the movie production company has set up shop. Female staff at the hotel were taken aback last night by how friendly, personable and good looking the star is.

'He was very friendly' "I was coming down the stairs and I looked up and saw him and said, 'Hi,' and he said hi back. He was very friendly," said Lisa Merchant, director of sales and marketing for Lakeview Management, owners of the hotel.

"I'm so star-stricken. Usually I'd go up to him, but he's just so damn handsome I don't know what to say." Front desk clerk Debbie Johnson said she didn't know Ford was in the hotel until she looked up and saw him at the counter.

"My mind went blank, I didn't know what to say. I thought, 'Say something brilliant,' " she said. Ford went to his room for a while before grabbing a drink at the hotel lounge and going for a walk along the beach. He returned and ate supper in the hotel restaurant.

Hotel management knew he might be coming two weeks ago, but had to keep it quiet when they found out earlier this week his arrival might be more than a possibility, said hotel manager Blue Moffatt.

"Even staff didn't know," she said. A film crew has been working with about 70 extras and a mock-up submarine hull on Lake Winnipeg, which is standing in for the Arctic. But unit publicist Stanley Brossette said access to the site is extremely limited.

"You can't even get on the lake. I think part of it's for privacy and part of it's for safety. On shore, I think you can probably see some tiny dots that are part of the set," he said.

The movie began shooting in Moscow about two weeks ago. Yesterday was the first day of filming in Canada. Filming in Gimli is scheduled to wrap by 3 p.m. today so work can begin in a Toronto studio tomorrow. Further exterior scenes will also be shot in Halifax before the project is completed in mid-June.

Ford is reportedly earning a $25 million paycheque for the film, which is based on the true story of a disaster aboard Russia's first nuclear submarine in 1961. Ford, 58, plays Capt. Nikolai Zateyev, who, in the wake of a nuclear accident, must either expose his own men to devastating radiation or risk setting off a third world war.

The local extras are playing Russian sailors who enjoy a game of soccer during a break on the arctic ice. K-19 line producer Brent O'Connor said earlier this week Ford's co-star Liam Neeson will not be needed on the Gimli site.

But just having Ford in town is enough, staff at the hotel said. "We've never really had any big stars come to Gimli so it's great," Johnson said.  "This is great for Gimli, we're just happy to be a part of it," Merchant added.

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