Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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September 20, 2009

Hickam’s on-screen mother excited about Coalwood visit

By CHARLES OWENS

COALWOOD — When she first read the script for “October Sky” more than a decade ago, actress Natalie Canerday never anticipated the lasting appeal of the true story of the Rocket Boys of McDowell County.

“I knew it was going to be a good movie,” Canerday, who portrayed Homer Hickam’s mother Elsie in the 1999 motion picture “October Sky,” said. “I knew it was a very good script. I hadn’t read the book at that point. But I knew it would probably be successful. But 10 years from now I never dreamed it would be as popular as it is.”

Canerday will be joining Rocket Boy Homer Hickam in Coalwood on Oct. 3 for the annual October Sky Festival. Canerday, who first gained fame starring alongside Billy Bob Thorton in Sling Blade,” also has appeared in a number of other films, including “Biloxi Blues,” “Walk the Line,” and “Shotgun Stories,” and even did the voice acting for a character for an episode of “King of the Hill.”

Canerday, a native of Russellville, Ark., said she is excited about seeing the real Coalwood. The 1999 movie was filmed in Tennessee — and not West Virginia.

“I’ve never been to West Virginia — so I’m excited about that,” Canerday said. “I’m really looking forward to it. I just can’t wait. I’ll probably be the most excited person there.”

Canerday has remained in contact with Hickam over the years, talking to him frequently over the telephone and in person during the annual George Lindsey UNA Film Festival held on the campus of the University of North Alabama.

“I’ve gone down there six out of the last seven years,” she said. “But I try to go down there every year, and Homer lives in Alabama. Burke Allen, Homer’s publicist, called me in 2007 because it was the 50th anniversary of Sputnik. So he called me and said we were doing this festival, and asked if I could come down. But he called only one month before the thing, and I said — ‘gosh I’m booked through Jan. 16. I do a lot of plays when I’m not doing movies here in Little Rock.”

When Allen called again this year, Canerday said she decided to drop out of a play so she could visit the real Coalwood.

“I quit a play here in Little Rock because I wanted to do it so bad,” she said. “Because I’m a history buff. I like real stories. I’m dying to see Coalwood and the area. Burke said they are going to have real rocket launches there on the pad.”

While she never had a chance to see the real Coalwood during the filming of “October Sky” more than a decade ago, Canerday said Hickam was pleased with the location selected in Petros, Tenn. to serve as Coalwood in the movie.

“When Homer saw the street, and those little uniform houses every several couple of feet, he said — ‘oh my gosh — this is just like it (Coalwood),” Canerday said.

While she was told the film shoot would take only two months, Canerday ended up in Petros for five months. She remembers it raining almost every other day — except for the one day when the script actually called for rain.

“The night of the explosion — when they had the mine explosion and Chris Cooper gets injured — that was the one night in six weeks that it didn’t rain,” she said. “So they had to bring in a rain machine.”

Canerday said many of the locals in Petros got a good laugh out of the film crew having to use a rain machine. She said many wondered why the scene wasn't filmed on a night when it actually rained.

This year’s festival will include a kickoff parade feature Hickam, Canerday, and fellow Rocket Boys Roy Lee Cooke, Billy Rose and O’Dell Carroll. Dreama Denver, the wife of the late “Gilligan’s Island” star Bob Denver, also will be returning this year.

As in year’s past, students from across the country will converge upon Cape Coalwood on Oct. 3 to participate in rocket launches. A NASA team with a moon rock exhibit also will be on hand, and live music will be performed by Delbert Kiser and Company. The festival also will include the Bluestone Classic Car Show, a coal museum exhibit, a Coalwood school reunion, guided trolley tours of Coalwood, and children activities in and around Cassell Park, which features a replica of a NASA shuttle.

– Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com

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