If the house is right, it could play a major role in a film about Ernest Hemingway which is being shot in the Bay Area next year and is set to star Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen.
Thanks to Ira Serkes over at Berkeley Blog Cast, we learn that HBO Films is making Hemingway & Gellhorn, a drama centered on the romance between Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn, and location scouts are looking for a house, perhaps in the Berkeley hills, to stand is as Hemingway’s home in Key West Florida (yes, could be difficult, given the different architectural styles of these two regions.)
Clive Owen is signed to play Hemingway, Kidman will be Gellhorn, Hemingway’s inspiration for “For Whom the Bell Tolls”, and the film is being produced by James Gandolfini of The Sopranos fame.
HBO location scout Alex Pearcy says he is hoping to find a home — maybe Mediterranean, Hacienda style, or stucco — that feels older. Hemingway’s house dated from the late 1800s-early 1900s.
“I’m looking for larger rooms and higher ceilings, large windows with arches and a swimming pool, if at all possible. The home does not need to be a fancy, just larger and period. A neglected or unrestored home would be of particular interest to me,” he says.
If you think you might have what it takes — and take your inspiration from the photos here which show Hemingway’s Florida home — contact Pearcy direct at alexpearcy [at] sbcglobal.net