Detroit is ‘very cool’: Actor Jon Hamm implores people to visit city after filming new movie

‘No Sudden Move’ film set in Detroit in 1950s

DETROIT – In a year filled with several unknowns, it is comforting to know that some normalcy still remains as art and films are still being created to offer people an escape into a different world, or perhaps a different perspective.

Unless said movies are being filmed in your backyard -- which is then a different situation entirely.

Enter: No Sudden Move, a feature film set in Detroit in the 1950s that has brought a star-studded cast to Metro Detroit for filming this fall. Beginning in September, stars like Jon Hamm, Don Cheadle and Benicio del Toro began production in Downtown Detroit and surrounding neighborhoods.

Production may have wrapped up in November, but Hamm still seems to hold a spot in his heart for the Motor City...and its coney dogs.

In a recent interview on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Hamm not only showed loved for Detroit, but also encouraged others to see it for themselves.

“We all stayed in a hotel in Downtown Detroit...and, by the way, Detroit: If you get the chance, go visit. It’s a very cool city. I’ve never been -- it was my first time, and it was super awesome,” Hamm said.

The actor, most well-known for his role in the TV series Mad Men, also raved about Detroit’s-own coney hot dogs, saying he and Cheadle stopped in at Lafayette Coney Island while filming.

Fallon also reminisced about the food, saying Detroit has “great hotdogs.” The pair joked about the Lafayette vs. American coney corner Downtown, with Hamm saying, “If you don’t like a hotdog here, the exact same thing is right next door.”

Though filmmaking is still underway amid the coronavirus pandemic, Hamm said the process was different and unfamiliar -- especially during such a political year in the U.S.

“It was strange to be in a battleground state during an election, I will say that,” Hamm said of filming in Michigan just ahead of the presidential election. “But also strange making a movie where everybody has to be in masks until three seconds before they start rolling the cameras. We did it, we were safe. Nobody got infected or ‘superspread’ anything.”

You can watch the full interview in the video below.

No Sudden Move is directed by Steven Soderbergh, who’s well-known for directing other films like the Ocean’s trilogy, Traffic, Contagion, Erin Brockovich and Magic Mike. Soderbergh also directed Out of Sight, which was filmed in Detroit in 1998.

The upcoming No Sudden Move is the first major motion picture shot in Detroit in years. The movie is slated to release on HBO Max, but no official release date has been set at this time.

Related story: On the search for stars while they film a movie in the D


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About the Author:

Cassidy Johncox is a senior digital news editor covering stories across the spectrum, with a special focus on politics and community issues.