Life on the set
March 30, 2023
A neighborhood street in Cotswold is the backdrop for the film adaptation of Judy Blume’s beloved coming-of-age novel, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret., scheduled for release April 28.
by Sharon Smith
Only Hollywood magic could make it snow in Charlotte during late spring. Much to the delight of neighbors on Cavendish Court in Cotswold, when the filming of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. called for a snowy scene, the white stuff did indeed materialize magically along the street.
The movie, filmed in locations across the Charlotte area, chronicles sixth grader Margaret Simon as she navigates puberty growing up in New Jersey as part of an interfaith family. Set in the 1960s, a midcentury-style home on Cavendish Court was the perfect place to re-create Margaret’s childhood home.
“It was fantastic. They moved in vintage cars and a vintage mail truck. They did a lemonade stand scene, a car wash scene,” says Sally Mueller, who has lived on Cavendish Court for 18 years and observed filming over the course of three months.
Some two years later, her face still lights up describing the excitement when their quiet street became a movie set in 2021. “It was so much more extensive than what we thought it would be,” she says. “We had no idea it was going to be as big as it was.”
Mueller got to rub elbows with Academy Award-winning actress Kathy Bates, who plays Margaret’s beloved grandmother. “I just started chatting with this lovely man on the set one day,” Mueller says. Turns out it was producer James L. Brooks, who became a friendly face during filming.
But the highlight was meeting the author herself. Sally had already begged a member of Blume’s team for signed books to give the neighborhood kids. ”It looked like a little book club out there. They would sit on the lawn and watch the filming while they were reading.” Once word got to Blume about the “book club,” she arranged to meet the girls. “Well, isn’t that just what it’s all about? … We had the most lovely little conversation.”
More than 50 years after its release, the book still resonates with young readers. Margaret wonders about getting her period, what it’s like to kiss a boy, and whether she’ll be liked in her new neighborhood.
My own 10-year-old girls devoured the book in a few hours. They read it again. And again. A barrage of questions quickly followed, and so did plenty of good conversation. Just as it was for me back in fourth grade, the book is still a talker — though I admit the chatter back then was more among my friends than with my mom.
Sally Mueller is pictured with Judy Blume (in blue) along with friend Jennifer Daily and neighbor Victoria Stack. Mueller says filming was a welcome distraction as she stayed home recovering from a series of leg surgeries.
The movie is a talker, too. Mueller says neighbors bonded over the shared experience of witnessing a major film production. “It was like a movie family. It was just this lovely thing, everyone was so kind.”
Mueller can’t wait to see the film with her neighbors. She’s betting if the crew can make it “snow” in Charlotte, there’s a good chance they captured the magic of Judy Blume’s groundbreaking book. SP
Want to see the movie? Join SouthPark at AMC Park Terrace on May 2. BUY TICKETS HERE.
Photographs by Sally Mueller
