Matthew McConaughey Movie Filmed In Lakewood Gets 1st Trailer

LAKEWOOD, OH — Get ready for your close-up Lakewood. The first trailer for "White Boy Rick" has been released and the Matthew McConaughey vehicle filmed chunks of its story in Northeast Ohio.

Set in the 1980s, the movie tells the true story of Richard Wershe Jr., a 14-year-old, who goes undercover as an informant for local and federal law enforcement. We'll spoil the movie with its real-life ending lower in the story and give fair warning before doing so.

While in Lakewood, the crew filmed in unused portions of the former Lakewood Hospital. Kevin Foster, the assistant location manager for the film, said they chose Lakewood because active hospitals are extremely difficult to film in and appropriate looking vacant hospitals are difficult to come by.

Approximately 120 actors and crew members were in the city to film for three days in April 2017.

Lakewood officials were delighted the film chose to shoot in Lakewood. The city's economic planner Bryce Sylvester said in an online statement last year that, "This certainly adds to our profile. It's encouraging to us that we have an environment that film scouts find attractive. In Lakewood, we continue to build off of our successes. This film is just another example of that."

"White Boy Rick" also spent time filming in Strongsville at an old motel.

Besides McConaughey, Bruce Dern and Jennifer Jason Leigh are slated to star in the film.

Oh, and spoiler alert. After serving as an undercover agent for law enforcement, Wershe Jr. reportedly turned to a life of crime. Eventually, he was convicted of drug trafficking and was sentenced to life in prison. So there may not be a happy ending for this film.

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