Jon Hamm and Ben Affleck are hanging out in my hood

I’ve been watching Ben Affleck and crew shoot scenes for The Town since about 8am this morning.

Here are a few photos of Jon Hamm (Don Draper on Mad Men), who, like me, is also from St. Louis and a graduate of MU. Jon Hamm is awesome. Ben Affleck is even pretty awesome. Hell, I used to love that guy back in college, so it is kind of cool seeing him film something behind my apartment building.  Between Jon Hamm and Ben Affleck, and the fact I’m fascinated by how films are made, how can I not stand around and loiter on a sunny day like today?

Affleck was only shooting today’s scenes, not appearing in any of them. They were filming the climatic shoot-out scene, so I got to watch fake gunfire and some mild stunt driving. Yesterday, on the way home from work, I watched them flip a truck. YAY! Thank you, Massachusetts, for offering tax incentives to filmmakers! It’s also great to see people like Ben Affleck use this to bring opportunity to area residents. Apparently, most of the lesser supporting roles in the film were given to locals with zero acting experience, and Affleck also chose to shoot in real apartments and homes when sets could have easily been built on a soundstage, as well as employ local crews and businesses whenever possible. It seems he also went into the Charlestown and Dorchester neighborhoods himself to not only scout locations, but also to meet residents and cast them. A production assistant I spoke with told me he is adament about making Massachusetts movies and not just Hollywood movies filmed here.

Ok, Ben Affleck. You are finally forgiven for banging Jennifer Lopez.

I went back outside and got even BETTER photos. Hi, Jon Hamm. You are really, really, really hot. And since I’ve already given mad props to Ben Affleck for giving back to his hometown, I also need to point out how much Jon Hamm still loves St. Louis. Yeah, I totally admit wearing my Cardinals hat in the off chance I would inexplicably bump into him on the street. Instant conversation — what high school did you go to? (He went to John Burroughs.)

I really wanted to yell out to Affleck that I had actually seen Reindeer Games in the theater. But I didn’t. Because I am classy.

Spread the word. Do it.