The N. C. Walk of Fame:

Film Junkie's Guide Leads Movie Buffs

to Tar Heel Locations     

Want to play an easy game? Try 'Six Degrees of North Carolina.' You play by connecting any actor with a movie or television show filmed in North Carolina, in six degrees or less.

Tom Cruise? His left turns in "Days of Thunder" were filmed at Lowe's Motor Speedway near Charlotte, which was also the home of Burt Reynolds's leadfoot in "Stroker Ace." Julia Roberts? When she was sleeping with the enemy, she did it on a North Carolina beach. Sandra Bullock and Julianne Moore have pre- and post-stardom North Carolina connections: Bullock studied at East Carolina University in Greenville and returned to film "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood," while Moore is a North Carolina native who came back to shoot scenes in Asheville for "Hannibal" with Sir Anthony Hopkins. And even though Moore's predecessor as Clarice Starling, Jodie Foster, skipped on "Hannibal," she had already visited the North Carolina mountains (and Charlotte) while filming "Nell." She also used Wilmington for "Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys," which she starred in and directed.

Foster's co-star in "Nell" was Natasha Richardson, who was in "The Handmaid's Tale" with Robert Duvall, who was in "Days of Thunder" with Cruise and Nicole Kidman, who was in "Billy Bathgate" with Steve Buscemi, who was in "The Hudsucker Proxy" with Paul Newman and Tim Robbins, who was in "Bull Durham" with Susan Sarandon. At least one scene from each of those films was shot in North Carolina.

Fans who would like to follow in the steadicam tracks of those movies can now turn to the new book Film Junkie's Guide to North Carolina by Connie Nelson and Floyd Harris.

Film Junkie's Guide is a travel book for movie buffs. The book lists more than 160 sites arranged geographically across the state, from the Wilmington waterfronts where the "Dawson's Creek" kids over-articulated to the Charlotte streets where Gwyneth Paltrow filmed "Shallow Hal" to the Asheville mansion where "Hannibal's" Hopkins had some old friends for dinner.

Nationally, North Carolina ranks third in film production, behind only California and New York. Though the state is home to a few large studios, including Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington, most films shot in the state take advantage of North Carolina's beautiful and varied scenery to shoot on location. Many of these locations are on public property or are easily viewed from roads or overlooks accessible to the public. Nelson and Harris tell readers how to find these sites and the cinematic contexts in which they have appeared.

Connie Nelson and Floyd Harris met while working for Reel Carolina Journal of Film and Video. Nelson now works for the Cape Fear Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau, where she developed a FAQ sheet in response to the number of queries the bureau received about "Dawson's Creek." Harris, who studied writing with Lee Smith and Burton Russell at North Carolina State University, is now a freelance writer and editor. Floyd makes his home in Raleigh and Conine lives in Wilmington.

Title: Film Junkie's Guide to North Carolina

Author: Connie Nelson and Floyd Harris

Publisher: John F. Blair, Publisher

Price: $16.95 trade paperback

ISBN: 0-89587-269-2

Specifications: 5-1/2 x 8-1/2, 429 pages

Publication Date: April / May 2004

Subject: Travel / Film

SEE YOU AT THE MOVIES!

*Press release provided by John F. Blair, Publisher, 1406 Plaza Drive, Winston-Salem, NC 27103; 800-222-9796; www.blairpub.com.