The streets of Fernie were transformed last week into the Hollywood set of a new action film, Hard Powder, starring mega-star Liam Neeson who plays an upstanding snowplow driver whose son is murdered by a Colorado drug kingpin.
Throughout the film, Neeson sets to dismantle the cartel, but driven by revenge, sparks a turf war between a Viking gangster and Native American mafia boss.
With store-fronts modified, the bank turned into the sheriff’s office, snow placed on the sidewalks, and extras dressed in fur, the downtown sector became a glitzy dreamscape overnight.
Liam Neeson Movie HARD POWDER Shooting in Fernie. #ferniestoke https://t.co/85jpZmFnBF
— FernieBC (@TourismFernie) April 9, 2017
Two solid days of filming gave locals a chance to both observe, and act in, a real Hollywood set.
Fernie Mayor Mary Giuliano was very excited to host the crews as they filmed Hard Powder, as well as meet Liam Neeson in person. After watching the film crews work their magic in front of The Northern Bar and Stage, Giuliano stepped out into the street for a little tour.
“I turned around and there he was,” she said. “He was so friendly, he was very gentle, I was very surprised. He looked a little older than what I expected him to look, but that’s probably because he had a five-o’clock shadow.
“He shook my hand, thanked me that we allowed them there. (He) apologized several times for disrupting the street and the town, to which I responded that he was causing excitement, it was not a disruption.
“He said, the mountains in Fernie are stunning, he said that he will come back to do some fly fishing.”