NBC films Lynch story in Dallas

U.S. Army hero Jessica Lynch is Canadian, snipers loyal to Saddam Hussein crouch on a roof flanked by the skyscraper that was home to television’s J.R. Ewing, and the streets of the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah are near downtown Dallas.

Welcome to the world of NBC’s TV movie “Saving Jessica Lynch,” where Iraq meets Texas in the telling of the 20-year-old Army private’s ordeal in Iraq. Five weeks of filming are due to end this week. Canadian Laura Regan plays the title role.

To create the illusion of Iraq, several blocks of warehouses in south Dallas were transformed into Nasiriyah by spraying sand-color concrete onto buildings destined to be condemned and creating removable facades for other buildings.

Locals did not take kindly to a two-story-tall poster of Saddam Hussein that was placed on a wall of a hospital outside Dallas that was used for the movie. The poster was attacked in a drive-by paintball shooting.

The full details of Lynch’s story have yet to be told since Lynch said she suffered a loss of memory after her capture. Executive producer Dan Paulson said he had not discussed the NBC movie project with the former soldier. The script is based on accounts of the story found in the media and in the Pentagon report on the ambush.

“Saving Jessica Lynch” is scheduled to air in November.