Depp talk

COLUMBUS — Fake gunshots and real screams — mainly for Johnny Depp — filled the small "Indiana" town during day two of filming "Public Enemies" in Columbus on Tuesday.

It was after the shooting was done, however, that persistent fans got the biggest thrill, a chance to meet the big screen idol.

After shooting Tuesday night, Depp greeted fans and signed autographs for about 15 minutes in a parking lot behind downtown. He signed T-shirts, commemorative newspapers, scraps of paper and shook hands and hugged fans. He also posed for photos and then was whisked away in a black Ford Expedition.

Earlier in the day, there were fewer fans in the streets, but they were no less vocal than on Monday, as a bank robbery getaway scene replayed over and over during the cloudy afternoon. After each scene, Depp, standing on the running board on the outside of the getaway car with a Tommy gun in hand as the car backed up West James Street, smiled and waved at fans, giving them ample opportunity for their own photographs.

The fans — curious residents of Columbus as well as fans making the pilgrimage from across Wisconsin and standing for hours behind barricades in the cold weather — swapped "I saw J.D." stories to pass the time.

"Oh my God, we almost hit Johnny Depp!"

Hayley Ostmann, 13, and Amanda Angell, 14, both eighth-graders at Portage Junior High School, have a story that will last them long past the end of spring break.

Monday, the girls were riding in a vehicle in Columbus driven by Hayley's sister, Maranda Dehn, 16. They were somewhat lost. While driving down one street close to downtown, they stopped abruptly as another car — of 1930s vintage, and carrying a camera — suddenly turned the corner and faced them head-on. Depp was inside the car in the front seat. A nearby police car turned its lights on and signaled them to leave the area — which they promptly did.

"It was amazing because we were like 10 feet from him," Ostmann said. "My sister's just like, "Oh my God, we almost hit Johnny Depp!'"

A breakdown

Two young fans who thought they lost their chance to get a close up look at the actor found themselves in the right place at the right time Monday.

Columbus Middle School students Kaila Witthun and Anna Green went to downtown Columbus on Monday to watch the filming of the movie, but had to leave at noon so Witthun could babysit her sister.

"We saw a car breakdown and smoke was coming out of the car," Witthun said. "It was one of those old cars."

Green said the two saw Depp sitting in the car and as they were looking at him, the actor looked back.

"He waved at us twice," Green said.

Depp got into one of the white vans that the crew use to get around the set. The two got several close up photos of the actor with Green getting the prize photo of Depp sitting on the bumper of the van.

Witthun said the two were about eight feet from Depp at the time.

"I think if the crew wasn't there I probably would have went up and hugged him," Whitthun said.

Witthun said she was not a major fan of the actor until she saw him up close on Monday.

"I absolutely love him," Witthun said.

The two girls were back downtown on Tuesday and screamed "I love you Johnny" as the SUV carrying the star to the set passed by them.

Johnny Who?

The filming in Columbus has attracted not only Depp fans, but residents of the area, curious to see what is going on.

Retired farmer Albert Tiedt, 79, and his wife, Viola Tiedt, 72, of rural Columbus, were in town to pick up eyeglasses and decided to see what the crowd was looking at.

Viola Tiedt admitted that before she came to Columbus, she did not know who Johnny Depp was, but was happy to see him in the scene being filmed Tuesday.

For Albert, who admits he remembers "horse and buggy days" in Columbus, the town didn't look quite as it did in the 1930s of his childhood, but the filming was certainly worth a look.

"It's quite something," he said.

Daily Citizen Reporter Terri Pederson contributed to this story.

Coming today, it's Darlington.

Yet another pocket of the star-struck state is scheduled to be visited by movie-makers today, though this site doesn't require the extensive retrofitting that Columbus required to be authentic.

The 100-year-old Lafayette County Courthouse in Darlington, 65 miles southwest of Madison, is set to host the "Public Enemies" filming. Several county and local officials, who journeyed to Columbus on Monday to get costumes and haircuts, have been tapped for potential extra parts.

The distinctive, carefully tended courthouse is topped with a copper dome, a four-faced clock that chimes on the hour with a mallet rapping on a 1,500-pound bell, and a treasurer's vault that has a window. With indigenous limestone on the outside and marbled walls inside, an elegant skylight and elaborate murals, the courthouse dates to 1907.

The counters, ornate floor tiles and rotunda are original.

-- Capital Newspapers