Snow in Old Towne Means Stars Are Out

Although Wednesday was unseasonably warm for winter, snowmen and tinseled wreaths adorned the plaza in Old Towne Orange.

But most people lingering wistfully on sidewalks around the town’s signature circular center were not partaking in belated holiday cheer. Instead, the bystanders -- most of them female, from teenagers to women in their 50s -- were there to catch a glimpse of movie star Ben Affleck filming “Surviving Christmas,” a comedy for DreamWorks.

“Maybe he’ll come over and flash his beautiful smile at me and sign his autograph on one of my pictures,” said an exuberant Miranda Faay, 18, holding up an inch-thick stack of magazine clips and glossies of the actor.

The film, set in Chicago, is about a man who panics at the thought of being alone during Christmas. Christina Applegate and James Gandolfini also star.

Between takes, Affleck waved at his fans. They whooped and cheered in response. One held up a magazine with a picture of him, another stood on a lamppost. Someone yelled, “We love you!”

Aurora Nys, 31, snapped a few pictures on her disposable camera. But Nys, who also visited the set Tuesday and plans to be there again today, doesn’t have the picture she really wants.

“I’m not a stalker,” said Nys, 31, who has admired Affleck since his role in “Dazed and Confused.”

She does have high hopes of getting a picture of herself standing next to the star, however. “If I could get a picture with him, that would be awesome.”

It’s not the first time Orange, with its small-town look, has hosted filmmakers. It doubled as Erie, Pa., in “That Thing You Do!” and a Georgia town in “Big Momma’s House,” said city spokeswoman Tara Finnigan.

Orange charges production companies for a filming license and for the time of city staffers used during filming, such as traffic-control officers. But the city hopes the crew and cast will also boost business, said Finnigan.

Although a few shop owners complain that crew and cast members don’t buy from their stores, Finnigan said most enjoy the shoots.

“I’m real pro-film down here,” said Steve Parker, 40, general manager at Watson Drugs and Soda Fountain. “It brings different people here.”