A crowd gathered early in the parking lot of the high school in St. Anne, Illinois on Thursday, a parking lot that had been transformed into base camp for Michael Mann’s film PUBLIC ENEMIES. As word spread that Johnny Depp might be filming a scene at an abandoned farmhouse east of the town, the crowds grew larger. And larger. “This doesn’t happen here,” explained resident Terry Weber. “We are everyday people, hard-working people, and to have somebody here of that stature? It’s just awesome!” The crowd got to see Johnny leave for the shoot, but it was after dark–almost 10:30 p.m.–when he finally finished work, shed his Dillinger wardrobe, came out to greet a group that easily exceeded the total population of St. Anne. “That’s got to be the whole town,” Patrick Rios told a local reporter, assessing the crowd. “That’s all of St. Anne.”

Wearing his orange Gonzo t-shirt and a familiar striped knit hat, Johnny walked down the long line of fans, shaking all the hands he could reach and smiling as fans raised their cameras and cell phones to take his picture. Johnny was accompanied by ever-present security chief Jerry Judge, the security team from PUBLIC ENEMIES, and deputies from the local Kankakee County Sheriff’s Department. Shift commander Lt. Bill Callahan, who led the way for Johnny as he greeted fans, told local press that “the actor was a gentleman the entire time, paying special attention to children and going out of his way to ‘personally thank each and every law enforcement officer and the Village of St. Anne.'” How gracious.

To see a larger version of our photo at left, CLICK HERE, and to see a different photo of Johnny and Jerry greeting the crowd at St. Anne, CLICK HERE. The Zone thanks Emma for the pictures and for posting several articles about the St. Anne filming. –Part-Time Poet