Richard Cook

Title: Leatherheads, feature film
Cast: George Clooney, Renee Zellweger
Extra: Richard Cook
Producers: Grant Heslov, George Clooney, Casey Silver
Director: George Clooney
Script: George Clooney, Stephen Schiff, Duncan Brantley, Rick Reilly

About Richard
Real job: Central Piedmont Community College as IT specialist.
Hobby: Cook admits he is a photography bug.
Through the looking glass: “I didn’t know how some of the shots would turn out since I was shooting through the window and it created a glare.”
What others say: “Some people tell me I just have an eye for taking photos, although I never had any professional training.”
My first camera: “I saw a guy have a digital camera when they weren’t as popular as they are today. I liked the idea of shooting a bunch of photos and just erasing the ones I didn’t like.”

By George! The 'Leatherheads' are here
Richard Cook figures he had one of the best seats money didn’t have to buy.
On the fourth floor of Central Piedmont Community College Cook had a near-panoramic view that included Charlotte’s intimate Memorial Stadium.

That provided Cook and other college staff and students a birds-eye view to watch the filming of George Clooney’s “Leatherheads” movie.

“I had a fantastic view to watch and take photos,” Cook said. “Our building is backed up to the stadium. I didn’t know in advance the movie was going to film there. We were just told we had to park somewhere else instead of the parking decks for two weeks. I couldn’t find out why and then I heard that a movie was going to be filmed in Charlotte.

“As I was trying to find out which movie and when I kept hearing rumors the stadium was going to be used. It go to where I was determined to find out and when I did it was like being a kid and wanting to peek to see what was going on. The security people removed people away from the buildings during the filming but they couldn’t clear the building because we had classes and work to do.”

Cook is a football junkie. “I have been all my life,” Cook said. “I cheered for the Miami Dolphins when they beat the Redskins (14-7, Super Bowl VII) in 1973 to now when I cheer for the Carolina Panthers.”

A time for game planning
When Cook found out “Leatherheads” would be filming next door he began to plan his strategy. “I am friends with a guy who ran the physics lab in the classroom I took the photos in. I asked him if I could come by on my lunch break to watch and he agreed. I would eat my lunch as fast as I could in 10 minutes and then break up the remainder of my lunch break to come by and shoot photos at different times. I must have shot at least 100 pictures. Other classes would come in and watch what was going on in the stadium, too.”

Cook was privy to the filming of a complete game that will be part of the movie. He viewed from the opening coin toss to where the field was made muddy for some action shoots.

“I watched the coin toss and it seemed like it took such a long time for them to get past that part. They would toss the coin at midfield and then Clooney and some of the crew would view it on the sidelines. They must not have liked what they saw because it took about five takes before they moved on.

“Watching them play in the mud was the most fun. The crew would water down the field and make it muddy. Then the players would trample through it to make it muddier. They didn’t like that so they brought in some dirt, watered it down some more and the players would trample through it again. It looked like the players enjoyed playing in the mud. They would be slinging it at each other. They would run the play and they were so muddy you couldn’t see their numbers.”

The one that got away!
Cook said he would focus on Clooney when taking photos and when watching him act and direct. “I watched Clooney all week and he looked like was having so much fun. His mannerisms toward the crew and extras showed he was a very people oriented person. He would be smiling when directing and positioning the extras. I never saw him show anything but respect to those working around him. It seemed like he genuinely cared how everyone was doing.”

Cook said there was one thing he wished he had done. “I would have loved to have been an extra and even been part of the scene of the players in the mud. I had a blast while they were here.”

But for all of Cook’s strategizing he didn’t get the one photo opportunity he coveted the most.

“I watched all week just to get a glimpse of Renee Zellweger and never saw her. That’s someone I really wanted to get a picture of.”