By Libby Richards
Staff Writer
MADISON, Ind. (November 1999) – It’s a sunny, crisp, early October morning on the Ohio River as the cast and crew of the movie “Madison” quietly prepare to film the day's scenes. The calm serenity on the set is unusual compared to previous days of filming, perhaps due to the absence of extra’ in this scene, but more likely due to veteran actor Bruce Dern’s relaxed tranquil presence.

Photo by Libby Richards Actor Bruce Dern (right) confers with co-star Jim Caviezel prior to shooting a pit scene for the movie “Madison.” The two also worked together in “Diggstown.”

As Dern lounges atop the hood of a moving van studying his script, it seems impossible to believe that this is the actor who rose to fame playing “psychos and villains,” as he puts it, including being the only actor to kill John Wayne in the movie “The Cowboys.”
That scene generate death threats from Wayne’s legions of fans.
In a removal from such roles as the heavy, Dern in the hydroplane racing movie "Madison" plays Harry Volpe, who is coaxed out of retirement by driver Jim McCormick to captain the 1971 Miss Madison team.
The fictional Volpe leaves his tranquil life on a boat in Florida to come to the Madison Regatta. Against all odds, the team goes on to win the Gold Cup Regatta, both in real life and in the Hollywood version.
Dern said he was drawn to the role because it is such a departure from his previous work.
“It’s a magical story," Dern said prior to filming the day's scene down at the riverfront. "People may say it’s a father-and-son movie or a sports movie, but it’s a love story about a community that got together to literally save their town.
“It’s also an underdog story. I mean, clearly, Madison, when you consider San Diego, Miami, Detroit, Chicago and Seattle, these are competition. Then you’ve got a small town pulling this together and pulling this off, not just putting on the race but winning the race. It’s big stuff. It’s about the love and appreciation that the people have for their town, in this small place in the heartland of America.”
Dern prefers roles that are pivotal to the movie’s plot. In "Madison," Volpe gives the others the courage to try something "that can take them to another level” of racing.
Dern says his line during the movie's climax sums up the film's message: "The price of a Gold Cup is a piece of yourself.”
“This town paid the price by giving a piece of itself,” Dern said. “I like that; that’s neat. That’s why I’m here.”
On this day, the scenes depict the action in the pits during the race. It will show the competition between the crews and drivers, as well as the tension and nerves that go on at the start of a race.
No stranger to competition, Dern has been a runner all of his life. In his youth, he was highly competitive, running the 800-meters. It’s from this experience that he draws his knowledge of what goes on just prior to a race.
Before coming to Madison, Dern finished the movie, “All The Pretty Horses,” adapted from the novel by Cormack McCarthy. Dern calls it “the best movie I’ve ever done in my career.” He describes the film as a 1950s Western that tells the story of the “American tapestry” in that day and every other day.

As for his experiences while filming here in Madison, Dern who is accompanied by his wife, Andrea, says he has really enjoyed his stay here. He adds that Andrea is “knocked out by it” due to her love of antiques, and that it’s a wonderful community in the sense that in California you’d “have to walk a long way to see a house that’s 150 years old.
“People were still coming to California in wagon trains when this was already a flourishing community,” Dern said.
Meanwhile, local residents who have met the Derns say they are “knocked out” by them.
Frank Jones, Dern’s movie stand-in and an officer with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, said, “They’re the nicest two people you’d ever want to meet. He’s such a gentleman, and she’s just a doll. I hope they come back and make another movie.”
Employees at Mundt’s Candy on Main Street say the Derns have been stopping by occasionally for lunch, and that Dern was especially fond of cherry cokes.
Duke League of Madison worked as Dern's driver while he was in town, ferrying the couple between their private quarters and the movie sets, and to local restaurants. League shared several stories about encounters Dern had had with locals.
Perhaps the best one, however, was Dern's stock reply whenever asked about his infamous on-screen shooting of The Duke: "I didn't kill John Wayne," Dern says, "cancer killed John Wayne."

Copyright 1999-2008, Kentuckiana Publishing, Inc.