The filming of “Jersey Girl” brings movie magic to fans in Paulsboro, Gloucester County.

By Sara Isadora Mancuso
Inquirer Suburban Staff

PAULSBORO – Police Chief Ken Ridinger’s headphones hung off his neck as he stood behind the yellow crime tape keeping cameras, reporters and fans from creeping into off-limit blue tents and trailers.

“He’s really knocking it down in this scene,” Ridinger said as Ben Affleck’s lines for Jersey Girl filtered into his ears.

Yesterday’s sprinkle went unnoticed by the 80 or so fans praying for a star sighting as they lined the sidewalks across from Paulsboro’s municipal building on Delaware Street. Mothers and fathers with babies in arms, teens, and shop owners huddled together, waiting for a wave from Jennifer Lopez or Affleck, the stars of the $35 million Miramax movie.

The dramatic comedy stars real-life sweethearts Affleck and Lopez as newlyweds with a newborn. The story is set in Highlands, Monmouth County, but Paulsboro is doubling for the coastal town, where director Kevin Smith, of the 1994 sleeper hit Clerks, grew up.

During the fans’ stake-out, which for some started at 8 a.m., disposable cameras never left their sides, and pens and paper for autographs stayed gripped in hands, wet from rain.

They had a great view of Affleck – his stand-in, at least – clad in black-and-white Adidas pants outside the back doors to Borough Hall.

Eventually, the fans’ screams were answered.

Only partly.

J. Lo was off-set, in New York for the MTV Video Music Awards.

But Affleck walked down Delaware Street around lunchtime after portraying a New York City entertainment publicist in a scene. In Jersey Girl, George Carlin plays Affleck’s father, a municipal employee.

Back on Delaware, traffic crawled while Affleck spoke on a fan’s cell phone; doled out hugs, kisses and autographs; and posed for pictures.

A few hours before, real Borough Council members signed autographs before heading into Borough Hall for a scene with Affleck.

Councilman John Gentile took the seat he always uses at borough meetings. “We were just sitting there being ourselves. Then Ben Affleck appears,” he said, incredulous.

Inside, municipal business was slow. Borough Clerk Kathy VanScoy, a movie star for a day, slipped in and out of the office. Her hair, usually long and flowing, was fashioned with bobby pins in a loose bun, and her makeup had just been done at Hill Studio, Mayor John Burzichelli’s production studio.

Robert “Ratface” Holtzman, a production designer who has worked with Smith and Burzichelli, scouted Gloucester City, Collingswood and other towns before settling on Paulsboro, known for its high school wrestling championships, oil refineries, and borough pride.

“Paulsboro is a diamond in the rough,” Holtzman said.

He had been searching the area for a Craftsman house like those that could be mail-ordered from the Sears catalog in the 1930s.

“I found the perfect house and the perfect street,” Holtzman said.

No, he’s not releasing the particulars.

During the next few weeks, more cast members will be filmed in the borough. They began their 10-week shoot in the Philadelphia area Monday.

The crew and cast, which includes Liv Tyler, also will be at Paulsboro High School and Loudenslager Elementary School in the coming weeks.

For now, the movie crew is getting comfortable shopping in Gloucester County thrift stores and restaurants.

Weiss True Value in Paulsboro has supplied the set dressers with lightbulbs, tools and tape – sometimes three or four times a day.

“They’re down-to-earth, regular, cool people,” manager Phil Weiss said.

The fans were a different story. Dana Truhan and her best friend, Emily Buffington, both 18, were gushing when they entered Gervasi’s Restaurant after taking pictures with Affleck.

“People were screaming his name,” Buffington said. “And we were just like….”