Movie crew, director Paul Thomas Anderson film in Sacramento — but no sign of DiCaprio

Four downtown blocks in Sacramento were closed off to traffic Saturday as a film crew shot footage of an out-of-service Regional Transit light rail car and extras who, in another context, would have been indistinguishable from workers typically bustling around the Sacramento County Administration Building.

A crew member on the corner of Eighth and H streets confirmed that the film was the Leonardo DiCaprio project. He referenced filming that recently took place in Eureka, where it was, he said, “like Noah’s Ark” due to storms. SFGate reported Jan. 30 that the DiCaprio movie, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, was shooting in Humboldt County.

The film is reportedly based on the Thomas Pynchon novel “Vineland.” In a biting Associated Press review that ran in The Sacramento Bee on March 4, 1990, Mario Szichman called the novel “a sea of boredom, sailed by hardly recognizable characters.”

Did anyone see DiCaprio? No, but there was plenty of excitement as onlookers caught a glimpse of the film’s director standing atop the county building’s staircase talking with the crew.

The Warner Bros. movie, details of which reportedly leaked out Thursday, also stars newcomer Chase Infiniti, as well as actors Wood Harris, Regina Hall and Sean Penn, who were not seen in the capital locale.

Not far away from the set outside the county building, two teenage Citrus Heights autograph hunters had arrived at 8 a.m. with LaserDiscs for the stars to sign.

Ryan Jimenez, 17, had one record and six LaserDiscs in a plastic bag from WinCo. “Titanic” was for DiCaprio; “Above the Rim” was for Harris; and “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and three copies of “Carlito’s Way” were for Penn. He said he gets the LaserDiscs and old albums from thrift stores, record stores and the Cave, which sells collectibles and vintage media formats.

Jimenez had fished the discs out of his collection when he heard the film would be shooting downtown this weekend. He has thousands of LaserDiscs, most unsigned and carefully alphabetized in his room. His friend, Shawn Perry, 19, said that Jimenez “somehow manages to Tetris it all together.”

Jimenez has been an autograph chaser for two years, he said, and he showed a photograph of himself and “Girls Trip” star Jada Pinkett Smith in Sacramento. He couldn’t exactly explain the appeal of having a celebrity’s signature on an object, saying simply, “I just like having them in the house.”

Originally, he planned to come downtown much earlier that morning with Perry. However, the teens were dependent on a ride from Jimenez’s father, and didn’t arrive until 8 a.m.

A little before 11 a.m., they had not yet seen a celebrity. However, as with many endeavors, Jimenez said that the key to success was persistence.

The production moved up shooting to Saturday, ahead of a major storm that was expected to rake across California from Sunday through Tuesday. Still, some elements for the set just couldn’t wait, including the wetting of sidewalks and roads as shooting began again during the afternoon.

Bus routes 11 and 51 were disrupted, and RT set up a bus bridge because the Gold Line was closed between the Sacramento Valley Station and the stop at 13th Street.

Little has been reported on the film, except for road closure notices that had been sprinkled around the grid and news of the permits being requested by Warner Bros. that had been publicized by the city.

“The city and Sacramento Film + Media Office is thrilled Warner Bros. is filming here in Sacramento and we look forward to sharing more details in the future about the project and the economic impacts this will have in our community,” said Jennifer Singer, a city spokeswoman.

Sacramento has been luring Hollywood stars for recent projects.

Most recently, William “Billy” Baldwin and Ashanti were in the greater Sacramento area filming “No Address,” a drama about homelessness. In May 2023, stars Michael Cera, Kristen Stewart and Michael Angarano wrapped up filming a road trip movie called “Sacramento.”

The Bee’s Hanh Troung contributed to this story.