Movie magic: Life on set of thriller filmed in East Greenwich staring Hayden Panettiere

EAST GREENWICH − This town took its place in the movie-making spotlight over the last month as a local production company teamed up with Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way Productions to film a psychological thriller starring Hayden Panettiere.

The film, produced by Appian Way and East Greenwich's Verdi Productions , tells the story of Sarah, a grieving mother played by Panettiere who is haunted by the tragic loss of her daughter in a car accident that left her abusive husband in a coma. As her sleepwalking episodes intensify, paralleling her descent into darkness, she becomes plagued by haunting visions as the lines between reality and nightmare blur.

The cast and crew worked about a month shooting the movie around the southern part of the Ocean State, wrapping filming on Saturday with barely any public notice they were there.

More than 150 people, from star actors to extras, plus crew and vendors, were paid to work on "Sleepwalker." Here's a glimpse at how some of them contributed.

For writer-director Brandon Auman, this story is deeply personal

While writer-director Brandon Auman has writing credits on TV series including "R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour" and animated shows "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and "Star Wars: Resistance," "Sleepwalker" will be his feature-film directorial debut. And so he's sticking to material that's close to home. Very close.

"It's a very personal story," he said on-set Saturday during a break in filming. "A lot of the elements occurred in my childhood."

Auman described "reliving elements of childhood trauma and manifesting it in reality": "At times it's very obviously emotional, surreal."

Hayden Panettiere no stranger to the otherworldly

Panettiere vaulted to stardom in the 2006 TV series "Heroes," in which she played indestructible Texas cheerleader Claire Bennett, object of the show's iconic line "Save the cheerleader, save the world." She has gone on to play heroine Kirby Reed in two installments in the "Scream" horror-movie franchise, country singer-songwriter Juliette Barnes in the TV series "Nashville" and protagonist Jaq in the 2024 thriller "Amber Alert."

From the moment she read the script, Panettiere felt compelled – and challenged – to play the role of Sarah. While Panettiere looks to draw from her own experiences to bring the characters she plays to life, she found few such touchstones when it came to the grieving mother.

"There are many facets of this that I have no experience with, so I really have to use my imagination."

Panettiere's one disappointment in Rhode Island

While the actor found Rhode Island charming, with its deep sense of history – "It reminds me a lot of where I grew up," she said. "I enjoy places that have a rich background" – and enjoyed visiting places like Newport and having food from Gregg's, there's one experience that disappointed the woman known for her roles contending with the supernatural.

"I was really bummed because The Conjuring House wasn't open," she said. "Because I really wanted to go."

The dream continues for Westerly's Emmalee Bettez

When the action pauses as Panettiere and Cathy Salvodon act out a scene set in an art gallery, a platoon of hair and makeup artists swarm around the actors to touch up their looks.

Among these stylists is Emmalee Bettez, who began working on movie sets the summer before her senior year at Westerly High School , from which she graduated in June. "Sleepwalker" marks the sixth Verdi Productions movie on which she has worked.

Her movie career shows no signs of slowing down, except that, in two months, she will be heading to Los Angeles to attend makeup school.

From the ghost of Christmas Past to the ghost of a young girl: Corinne Sweeney's journey toward Hollywood

The Verdi Productions headquarters, a former Methodist church at 214 Main St., is a beehive of activity as Saturday afternoon rolls by. Cast and crew members hang out, chatting during their last big break together before an evening that will mark the end of their time together, as filming for the project will wrap at about 10:30 p.m. The wardrobe and hair and makeup departments begin preparing actors for the evening shoot. Caterers from Twisted Pizza set up for lunch, including pizza and tacos.

At the center of it all, is 9-year-old actor Corinne Sweeney, of Holden, Massachusetts.

The poised actor, bubbling over with infectious enthusiasm, is a veteran of stage and filming commercials. This Christmas season past, she played Young Scrooge and Belinda Cratchit in Trinity Rep's "A Christmas Carol."

One of the first things on Corinne's agenda this afternoon is sitting in a director's chair for special effects makeup artist Jade Figueroa to airbrush her skin with a special pale color – one invented just for Corinne in "Sleepwalker" – so she can play a young ghost.

"I love doing film because I've done a couple of commercials and I did a lot of theater and it's exactly like that but a lot funner," Corinne described her first feature-film experience. "And I love the costumes and the makeup and all the lighting and how it looks at the end with all the special effects."

Corinne, normally a student at Davis Hill Elementary School, in Holden, keeps up with her schooling during filming under the guidance of former Rhode Island school teacher Cynthia Kendall, who teaches Corinne and Laird Lacoste, the other child actor on the "Sleepwalker" set.

"They've probably gotten more done on-set than they would in school because of one-on-one attention," says Corinne's mother, Christine Sweeney.

The money Corinne earns – she gets Screen Actors Guild minimum – will go toward her college fund, says mom.

Although the road ahead is not charted, it seems Corinne could be headed for an acting career.

"It's just really fun," she says, "and you can do it for a living if you want to."

Where in RI did 'Sleepwalker' film?

Verdi Productions and Appian Way filmed in more than half a dozen locations around Rhode Island, including:

• An art gallery scene at YJ Contemporary Fine Art , East Greenwich.

• The car crash that is central to the story at Goddard Memorial State Park , Warwick.

• A house in Newport.

• A house in Saunderstown.

• Hospital scenes at the New England Institute of Technology , East Greenwich, which has simulated hospital rooms for its nursings and health sciences programs.

• Pezza Farm , Johnston.

• School scenes at Academy Field, East Greenwich. 

Lead actors in 'Sleepwalker'

Hayden Panettiere.

Beverly D'Angelo, known for playing mom Ellen Griswold in the "Vacation" film franchise.

Justin Chatwin, known for the movie "War of the Worlds" with Tom Cruise.

Mischa Barton, known for the TV series "The OC" and the Bruce Willis movie "The Sixth Sense."

Lori Tan Chinn, known for the TV shows "Orange is the New Black," "Awkwafina is Nora from Queens" and "A Man on the Inside."

Laird Lacosteand Corrine Sweeney, child actors.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI company teams with DiCaprio to film thriller with Hayden Panettiere