Emmy-award winning actor Jon Hamm will soon be strolling Purchase Street to film his latest role as a former hedge-fund-manger-turned-petty-criminal for a new Apple TV+ series.
The Rye City Council on Wednesday, April 17 unanimously approved Apple Studios’ request to film on Purchase and Purdy streets and to use city parking for a fee-to-be negotiated at its April 17 meeting.
According to a December press release on the series,Hamm plays Coop, “a recently divorced hedge fund manager who, after being fired, resorts to stealing from the wealthy residents in his tiny upstate New York suburb in order to keep his family’s lifestyle afloat. These petty crimes begin to reinvigorate him until he breaks into the wrong house at the wrong time.” It also stars Amanda Peet (“Dirty John: the Betty Broderick Story”) and Olivia Munn (“Newsroom”).
The new Apple Studios production, referred to as “Swipe” in council documents, is understood to be Your Friends and Neighbors. It will film an episode in town from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on April 29, with the bulk of filming that would disrupt traffic on Purchase street to take place between 7 and 10 a.m.
Hamm is most well-known for his Emmy-award winning performance as Don Draper in AMC’s “Mad Men,” a character that coincidentally lived in Westchester for the first four seasons of the television series.
The new project marks the latest collaboration for Hamm and Apple TV+, following his supporting role in the last season of “The Morning Show” and it is the first time he will anchor an ongoing series since “Mad Men.”
Hamm also serves as executive producer for the show.
The production’s location manager Shane Haden appeared before the City to assure council members disruption would be “very minimal.” The production said it would “prefer not to advertise” to attract residents and was “not looking for additional background actors.”
“Our goal is to come in and have a successful filming day here in Rye.”
“I know that you’re maybe reconsidering filming but we would love to be able to come back and do it again… we certainly don’t want to be the ones to ruin it for Rye.”
City Manager Greg Usry said the city clerk’s office and police department, specifically Commissioner Michael Kopy and Lieutenant Al Hein, have worked for several weeks to hash out details of the filming and that the request was “more significant” than most productions that have previously requested to film in the town.
The production will use 35 of 174 parking spots behind Aurora and Bareburger restaurants, for “a few” box trucks. Usry said to compensate for lost parking people would be able to park after 9 a.m. in the train station parking lot.
Rye Chamber of Commerce president Brian Jackson said a survey sent out to 685 members of the Rye Chamber of Commerce drew 23 responses; 18 favored the production and five opposed.
He said businesses were concerned with parking and loss of business ahead of Mother’s Day, but some were hoping the filming would attract business.
Haden agreed to have staff and crew of the film use open restaurants during the shooting day, but said the production would prefer to “fly under the radar.”
“If people are walking around and want to see it, we want to make sure people can get to businesses.”
The production is expected to finish shooting in July, though just the one day is currently scheduled within Rye City. Haden said the episode would likely come out at “Christmas-time” or possibly in the new year.