Filming Begins On Nantucket For New Movie "A Woman In The Sun"

Filming for the upcoming movie ”A Woman In The Sun” got underway at several locations on Nantucket, including at the mid-island Stop & Shop where Academy Award-winning actress Renée Zellweger was spotted Thursday morning shooting a scene with several local girls who were serving as extras.

“A Woman in the Sun” is now the second major production in as many years to travel to Nantucket, after Universal Productions shot portions of the television adaptation of local author Elin Hilderbrand’s novel “The Five Star Weekend” on the island last fall.

Starring Zellweger, Sissy Spacek and Mia Threapleton, “A Woman in the Sun” follows a bartender on Nantucket who has to grapple with her mother’s illness and her daughter’s return home. The directorial debut of Julia Cox, who wrote the Oscar-nominated film “Nyad,” the movie appears to have an interest in what it describes as “Nantucket’s dwindling middle class.”

The Select Board voted unanimously in September to approve the necessary permits for the film production, despite concerns from some board members and other island organizations.

One local’s testimony proved especially influential in the film crew securing those approvals. Two Select Board members - Matt Fee and Jill Vieth - said that they voted for the production because of comments made by Sophia Reis, an aspiring local filmmaker who grew up on the island and spoke passionately in favor of the production and the opportunity it afforded her. Vieth specifically requested that Reis be involved with the production going forward.

"I did have the pleasure of joining the small crew for this project's scout back in August, and it got to be my first time working on a bigger set, which was really cool, and I got to talk to Julia [Cox], the writer and director on the project, who told me stories of visiting not just in the summer with her family, but in the offseason as well," Reis said. "On a completely personal note, I really hope to come back someday and film my own love letter to this community, and I wouldn't want to see my chance get jeopardized by too many invasive projects creating mistrust with the community, so I would not be promoting any projects that I didn't personally think were coming from the heart and truthful with their intentions."

On Thursday, Reis was on set working with the film crews. 

While on Nantucket, the crew plans to film at numerous locations, including Sconset Beach, the Summer House, downtown bars, and the Steamship Authority terminal.