RI hits the big screen in “Infinitely Polar Bear” opening Friday

By News Staff

Reporting by Liz Tufts

ltufts@abc6.com

Rhode Island is about to be spot-lighted on the big screen—the independent film, “Infinitely Polar Bear” is opening on Friday.

The film was shot mainly in Providence’s Wayland Square and stars an Oscar nominee, once again putting little Rhody on the Map.

Inside Wayland Manor Apartments in Providence, John Crouch is hard at work manning the desk, but two years ago his office was transformed into a movie set.

“It was the most exciting things I’ve seen in my career, it was just great,” said Crouch.

By day he’s the concierge, but come Friday, he’s hitting the big screen making a cameo in the independent film.

It’s a story of a bipolar dad played by Mark Ruffalo, struggling to raise his two daughters while his wife, played by Zoe Saldana, takes off for New York to get her law degree.

“Rumor has it that they did an extra shot of me and Mark and the two girls going out the back door,” he says.

It’s a true story based in Cambridge, but Providence somehow won the writer over, filming in Wayland Square, Benefit Street, Lincoln Woods, and Goddard Park in 2013.

“This was the feel for Cambridge at the time so they loved this place,” said Crouch.

Steven Fienberg, the executive director of the Rhode Island Film and Television Office, says weeks of filming paid off for the entire state.

“Having this film happen here, primarily in this Wayland Square area, I can not tell you they amount of traffic—foot traffic—just for people wanting to see Mark Ruffalo and Zoe Saldana. The restaurants were packed!” Fienberg explained.

Wayland Manor was the main back drop for the movie, the home where the father and two daughters lived.

“Some of the people who live here went to the premiere in New York City and called and said, ‘John you're in it, you're in it!’” exclaimed Crouch.

The movie is showing at the Showcase Cinemas in Warwick and the Cable Car in Providence on Friday.

© WLNE-TV 2015