It was only two weeks, but for the cast and crew of "The Best Two Years," the time spent filming in Holland paralleled a full-time mission in many ways.
K.C. Clyde, Kirby Heyborne, Cameron Hopkin and David Nibley, the four stars of the film, are all LDS and have served full-time missions.
Many of the actors, including Clyde and Heyborne, had never been to Europe. Similar to their missions, they were tossed into a situation where they had to quickly form relationships as friends, roommates and co-workers.
"We didn't really know each other very well," Heyborne said. "You're thrown into that situation and you react differently [than] if you had known everybody for a long time, which makes it perfect for missionary work."
Film director and writer Scott S. Anderson served his mission in Holland in the 1970s. The film originated from a play he wrote in 1981. The play was successful and generated a seminary and institute film called, "The Best Years Of My Life".
Anderson had 20 years to perfect the script and really knew what he wanted to portray with the film.
In order to create a feeling of camaraderie between the cast, Anderson roomed the stars in their respective companionships during their stay in Holland.
Clyde said that rooming with Heyborne forced him to quickly develop a working friendship much like his mission experience.
Additionally, the cast struggled with quickly learning a foreign language-another experience that brought back memories from their missions.
Heyborne said that towards the end of the film, the few lines he had in Dutch began to make sense the same way Spanish did on his mission.
The entire film was shot in four weeks. All exterior shots were filmed in Haarlem, a suburb of Amsterdam, while the interior shots were filmed in Alpine, Utah.
Anderson used the Dutch LDS members as the extras in the film. These members welcomed the cast and crew into their homes with the same hospitality they extend to missionaries.
"We were there in the middle of all these blooming tulips and ... It was so fun to get to know a lot of the members of the church there that came and helped out with production just out of the goodness of their hearts," said actor David Nibley.
Members of the cast said they believe this movie stands out among the growing LDS film genre because of its visual beauty and touching message. They hope that people will respect it for the work of art it is.
"A lot of people have that stigma that it's just another Mormon film," Heyborne said. "It may be an uphill battle ... but once they go to see it and they get past that, the word of mouth is going to make it successful."
However, prior to filming, some cast members did have hesitations about working in the LDS film industry.
"I was extremely nervous to do this," Clyde said. "Every LDS film I had seen before ... wasn't something I felt that I could commit to for a certain amount months ... but when I read this script, it was the first one that I read that I was truly excited about. I think it is a step up because of everybody involved."
The cast and crew of this film are confident that audiences everywhere will enjoy this production.
"Even if you weren't one of these four missionaries, you knew someone like them," Clyde said. "There's these beautiful, real moments in it that I think everyone can relate to who has either been on a mission, who knows someone who has been on a mission, or knows about a mission."
PHOTO CAPTION:
Hard-working greenie Elder Calhoun (Kirby Heybourne) meets his trainer Elder Rogers (K.C. Clyde) in Haarlem, Holland.
Contrary to popular belief, Kirby Heyborne has not been in every LDS movie ever made. But he has been in quite a few -- especially over the past couple of years.
For those who don't recognize Heyborne's name -- or face -- here's a quick role call:
- In "The Singles Ward," Heyborne co-starred as a would-be missionary waiting for his call.
- In "The R.M.," he starred as the title character, a returned missionary.
- In "The Work and the Story," he had a bit part as a member of a film crew.
- In "The Book of Mormon Movie, Vol. 1: The Journey," he was Sam, the brother of Nephi.
- In "The Best Two Years," which opens today in local theaters, he plays yet another missionary.
- And two upcoming films in which he'll appear are "Saints and Soldiers," a World War II drama, and "Sons of Provo," a boy-band spoof.
"I was not in '(The Legend of) Johnny Lingo,' " he quickly points out, adding with a laugh, "Also, you may not have noticed this, but I'm in the background in Richard Dutcher's movies. I'm playing 'the set.' "
The 27-year-old Heyborne is humble about his rising success in Mormon cinema, as well as his future acting prospects. "I certainly don't think I'm the most talented actor -- here or anywhere. I do think I might be the luckiest one, though. I've either auditioned very well or people just seem to like me. Either that, or they've pitied me and given me jobs. That really is something I should look into."
"The Singles Ward" was his first film; before that, he was selling insurance in Utah County.
Heyborne said he is thankful for the breaks he's received in mostly local feature-film productions. Though he admits that it also led to him being typecast as a missionary. (In real life, he served an LDS mission in the Dominican Republic.)
In "The Best Two Years," Heyborne plays Elder Calhoun, a newly arrived LDS missionary in Holland whose enthusiasm for his work rubs off on his jaded companion, Elder Rogers (KC Clyde). "I'm what they like to call in the industry a 'plot device,' " he said during a telephone interview from Southern California.
Actually, Calhoun, a bit of a naive rube when he first arrives in Holland, is something of a departure for Heyborne. "He's the least cool character I've played -- or maybe he's the most cool one, I'm not exactly sure."
Most of "The Best Two Years" was shot in Alpine, with Heyborne shooting just a few days of exterior footage in the Netherlands. "That was really nice. And the film itself ain't too bad."
Heyborne said he's quite proud of the movie. And he's also happy that "Sons of Provo" is "a real change of pace. And believe it or not, it's actually us singing and dancing in the film. So I hope we don't come off as complete idiots. Or if we do, I hope people enjoy watching us come off as complete idiots. That would be all right. It would be par for the course."
He's also proud of his work in "Saints and Soldiers," in which he plays a British spy during World War II, complete with an accent that was honed through his improv work with the Comedy Sports troupe in Provo.
"I'm excited to be in my first R-rated movie," he said, joking about "Saints and Soldiers' " rating, which ignited a local controversy a couple of weeks ago. 'I'm hoping it will give my career that needed edge."
Though Heyborne shot all these films while living in Utah, he's now in Los Angeles, where he and his wife, Trisha, and their two young children moved over the holidays. He's hoping that his success here will also translate there. "I'm trying to be realistic about it. It's hard work to make it as an actor -- doubly so in Hollywood. I mean, you may be the big cheese in Utah, but here you're simply another face with a few movies on your resume. And it takes time just to get the casting people to recognize your face or name."
When they decided to make the move, Heyborne and his wife came up with what he calls their "seven-year plan." "Hopefully by then I'll be making money. Otherwise, we'll be back here."
Although he jokes about being in the (currently) R-rated "Saints and Soldiers" -- and although that film does have him "smoking" (with stage cigarettes, not tobacco) -- Heyborne said he is concerned about the kinds of roles he'll play. If a part conflicts with his LDS values, he says he simply won't take it. "Fortunately, nobody wants to see me with my shirt off."
While on "Saints and Soldiers," Heyborne met fellow LDS actor Corbin Allred, who also lives in L.A. -- and who is already a seasoned veteran, though he's still in his 20s. Allred has been acting since he was 12, starred in a TV sitcom ("Teen Angel") and has more recently been seen in guest spots on such high-profile shows as "ER" and "CSI." "He was very supportive, and the fact that he is still so successful and so humble makes you believe it can really be done."
However, he has been busy auditioning for guest spots and bit parts in television series and pilots. Most recently, Heyborne auditioned for a role on the ABC sitcom "It's All Relative," which, from his perspective, seemed to work. "I think it did very well, but you know how it goes, Hollywood people will say anything to humor you. I've got my fingers crossed. Obviously, that doesn't help pay the bills, though."
PHOTO CAPTIONS:
Kirby Heyborne is a British spy in the World War II drama "Saints and Soldiers."
Heyborne plays chess with a fellow missionary played by KC Clyde in "The Best Two Years," which is opening today in local theaters.
Heyborne appears in the LDS parody "The Work and the Story."
In Utah, Kirby Heyborne is a movie star, perhaps the biggest star in Mormon Cinema.
In Los Angeles, where he relocated a month ago, Heyborne is -- like thousands of people in L.A. -- a struggling actor, going out on auditions and hoping for a good role.
"I was in an H&R Block commercial," Heyborne said over the phone from Hollywood recently.
That may seem like small potatoes compared to starring in successful LDS-themed films -- like "The R.M.," in which Heyborne played the title character. But for a fresh-off-the-bus actor in L.A., it's a great start.
Heyborne's leap, from big fish in a small pond to little fish in a huge pond, comes just as two LDS-themed films in which Heyborne co-stars hit theaters -- the upcoming World War II drama "Saints and Soldiers," and the missionaries-abroad comedy "The Best Two Years," which opens here today.
The new films reveal that Heyborne and the Mormon Cinema genre have matured quickly in the past two years.
Heyborne, 27 and the pride of Alta High School, made his movie debut in "The Singles Ward," as a young BYU student getting his mission call to Boise. Though Heyborne said it was his first experience before a camera, the film's director, Kurt Hale, said he was a natural.
"I was so surprised to see people audition well, and then when you start rolling film they clam up," Hale said. "In Kirby's case, the opposite happened -- there was such an ease and natural ability there that we ended up giving him lines." That ease led Hale to cast Heyborne in the lead of "The R.M."
Heyborne's work in "The Singles Ward" attracted Scott S. Anderson, who had been working to adapt his play "The Best Two Years of My Life" into a movie.
"I thought, 'Who is this kid?,' " Anderson said. Anderson had Heyborne audition, and cast him as Hezekiah Calhoun, a hick-from-the-sticks missionary who becomes the comic foil for his jaded mission companion, Elder John Rogers (KC Clyde).
"KC carries the film, and Kirby kind of steals the film," Anderson said. "He's a naturally funny kid. . . . If you watch him around the other actors, people gravitate to Kirby. It's because he has more funny anecdotes, and he will just get you laughing so hard."
Heyborne also co-starred in the insider-spoof "The Work and the Story," and later this year will be seen in the boy-band mock-documentary "Sons of Provo," directed by his "Singles Ward" and "R.M." co-star Will Swenson. And he has branched into drama, playing Nephi's brother Sam in "The Book of Mormon Movie" and, perhaps more tellingly, a British soldier in "Saints and Soldiers."
Doing drama is "breaking me away from that stereotype," he said. "I'm not just this cute funny guy, but I can act."
Heyborne's career arc has followed the growth of Mormon Cinema, and he has seen the quality of the films steadily rise. "There were some things people asked me to do that I didn't do -- and that was, in hindsight, good," Heyborne said, adding that the LDS target audience "wants a regular film now, rather than just being 'Oh, cute, it's Mormon.' "
Heyborne's move to California, he said, "is not like a last-minute thing. For the past year now, I've been driving down, setting up meetings with casting directors and producers and agents and managers."
He had been commuting to L.A. practically every week, so he decided to move, with his wife and two small children, to California. "There was more work and more opportunity down here, for the money, than there was in Utah," he said.
"I'm starting from zero here," Heyborne said. "I'm nobody here. Nobody here really watches the LDS films I've done." (He said he is recognized in one place in L.A.: His ward house.)
Nobody watches Heyborne's LDS films in L.A., but having them on a resume is a head-start. "I would still be looking for an agent," Heyborne said, adding that some of his movies "were released nationally, limited but they were still national releases. Ninety percent of the acting population in L.A. don't have that on their reel or their resume, and they would kill for it."
So Heyborne goes out for auditions, trying to land movie and TV roles. Not that he wouldn't come back to Utah "if someone calls me from Utah and has a great script," he said. "I would love to be freezing my butt off right now."
Hale said he expects Heyborne's likeability will take him far.
"Kirby has all of the leading-man qualities -- the girls love him, and he's got this sensitive thing where you want to like the guy," Hale said. "He's every kid across the street, he's your neighbor. . . . I think we'll be seeing more of him."
PHOTO CAPTION:
Actor Kirby Heyborne, center, on the set of "The Best Two Years," in which he plays a rookie missionary in Holland. Heyborne, who has starred in several Mormon Cinema movies, has moved his family to Los Angeles in an effort to break into mainstream films. His first work there? An H&R Block commercial. (HaleStorm Entertainment)
[EXCERPT]
...Halestorm's latest film, "The Best Two Years," takes a comedic look at Latter-day Saint missionary work. A premiere performance was Wednesday, and the general opening is tonight on 22 movie screens in Utah...
PHOTO CAPTION:
The actors from "The Best Two Years," a comedic look at missionary work, attend the premiere at Jordan Commons Megaplex on Wednesday.