Kate Hudson, Kathy Bates and Whoopi Goldberg are among the cast in New Orleans this month for the filming of “Earthbound,” a romantic drama set for release this fall.
Filming has taken the actresses and other cast and crew in recent weeks to tucked-away French Quarter courtyards, the city’s zoo, parks and the elegant Le Pavillon Hotel.
On Wednesday, Hudson was part of filming at the Napoleon House, a 200-year-old French Quarter building that was once home to Nicholas Girod, mayor of New Orleans from 1812 to 1815. The building got its name when Girod offered his home to Napoleon Bonaparte as a refuge during the Frenchman’s exile in 1821. Though Bonaparte didn’t take Girod up on the offer, the name stuck.

Today the old haunt is a bar and cafe, the same purpose it’s being used for in “Earthbound,” said the film’s director, Nicole Kassell.

In one scene filmed Wednesday, Hudson is enjoying a visit to the bar with friends. She plays the film’s lead character, Marley, who falls in love with her doctor, played by Gael Garcia Bernal. Marley, who Kassell describes as a “ballsy and bright” character “who lives life to the fullest,” is struggling with her fear of falling in love while confronting a life-threatening illness.

Still, the film has many doses of comedy, Kassell said.

“It’s not a one-genre kind of film,” she said.

Kassell, whose previous works include 2004’s “The Woodsman” with Kevin Bacon, said this is her first time to New Orleans and she is enjoying her stay. She said there’s nothing better than shooting a film in the city in which the story is set.

“It makes it more authentic,” she said during a break in Wednesday’s schedule. “It makes it feel like real people, real places.”

Moviemakers are including real New Orleans music in the film as well. New Orleans native Ivan Neville has written at least four original songs for the movie, she said, and he appears in it with his band, Dumpstaphunk.

“I think this film will make people want to visit New Orleans, if not want to live here,” she said. “It’s one of the most special cities in the country.”

Kassell said working with a cast that includes Hudson, Bates, Goldberg and Rosemarie DeWitt is “a dream come true.”

“Look who’s in the house,” she said with a smile. “To have all these top-knotch actors, it makes us all rise to the occasion.”

Kassell said the real draw for the actors was the story. “It’s an actor’s piece,” she said, “and it’s a brave story to tell.”

“Earthbound” is scheduled to wrap production in New Orleans on March 10. Producers include John Davis, Mark Gill, Robert Katz and Adam Schroeder. Neil Sacker and Michael Goguen serve as executive producers.