2020 Gumbo Final - Book - Page 63
Swing Movie
he University is the host for a new movie, “Swing,”
that features “Riverdale” actor Charles Melton.
The filming brought excited students to the Quad
on Monday afternoon.
According to IMDb, “Swing” is centered around
an Ivy League rowing team that is taken over by a
new army veteran coach. The movie, directed by
Michael Mailer, features actors Michael Shannon,
Melton and Alexander Ludwig
“Swing” producer Lucas Jarach said they chose
to film the movie at the University because of the
architecture. Jarach said the crew toured many
schools in the region but fell in love with LSU.
“Even though the story does not take place at
LSU, the traditional architecture of this beautiful
campus is the ideal setting for our story,” Jarach
said.
Jarach said, filming would take place on the
University’s campus for two days, and then
continue around the Baton Rouge area. Portions
of the movie were filmed at False River on Sunday
where several University students were featured
as extras.
Computer science freshman Matthew Kleimeyer
was a background actor, which was the first time
he had ever been on the set of a movie.
“It was really cool to see in person behind the
scenes of what goes into making a movie,”
Kleimeyer said. “I’m really excited to see the
finished product.”
The crew began filming in the Quad on Monday. It
drew many curious students to the area to watch.
Wildlife ecology freshman Haley Brassard was
one of the students in the Quad watching the
filming take place.
“It’s great that we have such a pretty campus
and such an atmosphere that they feel that they
can do that here,” Brassard said. “We had ‘Pitch
Perfect’ done here, and now another one, so it’s
nice seeing our campus being used for things like
this.”
Political communication sophomore Jalisa Francis
was confused when she saw the crowd and
cameras in the Quad, but was intrigued when she
realized famous actors were on campus.
“I think it’s big because it gives us a lot of
credibility and when people see the campus,
they’ll be like ‘Oh my gosh I want to go to LSU,’”
Francis said.
University students took selfies with Melton and
Ludwig. Biology senior Ayah Ibrahim stood by the
set and held a sign that said “I love you Charles
Melton.”
“Swing” is set to debut in theaters next fall.
Story: Katherine Manuel
Photo: Abby Kibler
Design: Mariah Graham
T
LSU’s ‘traditional architecture’ to be featured
in new movie “Swing” starring Charles Melton
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