Exclusive: Shots from the 'We Bought a Zoo' set

Posted Thursday, January 27, 2011 at 6:33 PM Central
Last updated Thursday, January 27, 2011 at 6:33 PM Central

by John Couture

One of the nice benefits of spending the week in Hollywood is the opportunity to sniff out some movie productions and grab a few shots for you, our reader. So, when I heard a whisper that Cameron Crowe's latest movie We Bought a Zoo was filming in the area, we had to get out and see if we could pick up the scent.

Thankfully, with a production so large, it wasn't too hard to find, especially when they closed off a major street in Los Feliz, California. The film, based on a true story tells the events of a man who used his family's savings to buy a dilapidated zoo in the English countryside and moves them there to run it.

The film stars Matt Damon, Thomas Haden Church, Patrick Fugit, Scarlett Johansson and P2784(Elle Fanning and debuts in theaters on December 23, 2011.

The scene that was being shot was an interior in a restaurant that the production renamed "Bernie's." You can see in the wide shot that PAs were timing extras moving outside while the scene shot inside.

It's hard to tell for sure who was being filmed in the scene, but the features of the actor being shot (left in the pics) looks a lot like Thomas Haden Church while it seems that director Cameron Crowe is sitting across from him. You can see it better in the shot below.

Sadly, there were no sightings of Matt Damon or Scarlett Johansson, but maybe next time?