Ray Liotta was sporting a matching pair of metal bracelets when he was led out of the Schenectady Police Department and into a circa-1990s Caprice Classic.
The movie star was in plainclothes, as were the two actors leading him out of the station around noon Monday during the latest shoot for Derek Cianfrance’s “The Place Beyond the Pines.” Karen Kehrer watched all the action from her office at Schenectady Regional Orthopedic Associates, which is located across from the station and courthouse on Liberty Street.
“It was crazy,” she said, proudly showing a picture of Liotta she took with her digital camera. “We don’t have something like this too often.”
Liotta, who was spotted in the city Friday, apparently joined the set Monday.
He greeted fans warmly as they walked by his trailer parked on Lafayette Street, even taking a moment to pose for pictures.
Liotta plays the role of Deluca, a cop who runs afoul of the law after he brutally beats a suspect. He’s the latest Hollywood star to be filmed for the movie, which also features Bradley Cooper, Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes.
Assistant Police Chief Michael Seber said he couldn’t discuss much about the scenes at the station. He said scenes included several hallways and one of the front offices.
Remarkably, the station remained fully operational during the filming. Seber said several adjustments were made based on conversations with the film crew, but that none of them interrupted the normal activity inside the department. “We’re fully operational,” he said. “We scheduled everything around our busy times and we scheduled it in a manner that it wouldn’t disrupt the operation of the Schenectady Police.”
Nearly a dozen off-duty officers were used as film extras during filming, which lasted for about 12 hours. Seber said the most notable impact was having to close certain hallways in the department for up to five minutes at a time, but both the production and police found a way to make it happen without causing any significant issues.
“They’ve all been great,” he said. “From the stars of the show to the production crew, they’ve been outstanding.”
Monday’s filming was the second of three scenes expected to take place at the department. Earlier this month, Gosling was filmed inside the city court and at the jail.
Liotta’s appearance with the production didn’t seem to draw nearly the fanfare as his fellow actors in the film. Still, about a dozen people stayed parked at the corner by the movie trailers in an attempt to spot the veteran actor, star of “Goodfellas” and dozens of other movies.
Debi Bird was ecstatic at the opportunity to see Liotta. The Rotterdam resident has already taken pictures of the other stars during about 10 other shoots around the Schenectady.
“Now it’s time for Ray Liotta seeing that he’s in town,” she said with a smile.
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