Lehigh Valley native bringing Hollywood to Bethlehem
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The drumbeat, cheerleaders, football team and crowd inside Bethlehem Catholic High had all the pomp and circumstance of a fall pep rally. But the celebration spotlighted those on film rather than the field.
Bo Koltnow
Jul 9, 2021 Updated Jul 10, 2021
"I wanted people to see these great kids and these nuns," said filmmaker Daniel Roebuck.
Roebuck cast 25 area teens to be high school football players and 12 local women to be nuns in his upcoming film "Hail Mary."
"It was on my bucket list. I auditioned and they gave me a part," she said.
After 2017's "Getting Grace" and soon-to-be released "Lucky Louie," "Hail Mary" will be Roebuck's third film shot in the Lehigh Valley and his biggest local cast.
Hollywood has also highlighted the Valley. 2019's "Glass" was shot inside Allentown State Hospital.
In 2009, "Transformers 2" used Bethlehem Steel.
But veteran actor Gene Connelly, who plays a coach in Hail Mary, says what Roebuck is doing is different.
"Those speaking parts by M. Night Shyamalan are all pre-cast. By a casting agent in New York or LA. Danny specifically wants these people, those who play integral roles in this movie, to come from the Lehigh Valley," he said.
An opportunity 17-year-old Elijiah Siler, an aspiring actor, hopes becomes a career.
"Not a lot of people come to Bethlehem to get people to be in movies, so I'm on cloud nine," the soon-to-be high school senior said.
Shooting starts later this month.
"My heart is to celebrate my home area," Roebuck added.
