august 2019
BECAUSE of Wilmington’s growth
as a city, new actors are beginning
to call Wilmington home as well.
Brian Durkin is an American TV and film
actor. He and his family arrived in 2018
because his good friend raved about living
in Wilmington and Durkin felt his family’s
quality of life would be better in Wilmington
than in Atlanta or Los Angeles.
He says he believes the film industry is
returning to Wilmington and that it will
continue to do so. “I’ve actually already
started seeing it,” he says. “In the past three
months I’ve probably read for four projects
being shot in and around Wilmington.”
He’s banking on film returning and he’s
willing to do everything he can to play a part
in it. Since moving here late last year, he has
started a Wilmington-based production com-pany
with Anthony Reynolds who is also a
Wilmington actor.
Durkin has participated in more than 40 projects in the last eight years, includ-ing
working with five Oscar winners. Most recently he played a cop in John Lee
Hancock’s Netflix film The Highwaymen. He also appeared as a police officer in
the remake of the 2018 movie Superfly.
The curtain has yet to rise on what the next decade will bring to the local film
industry, but one thing seems sure: The talent pool’s love and commitment to
Wilmington runs deep.
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WBM
ALLISON POTTER
COURTESY OF BRIAN DURKIN
WBM FILE PHOTOS
Above, left to right: Film crews load up equipment after shooting a scene for One Tree Hill at Johnnie Mercer’s Pier in 2010. A sign
indicates filming for the television series Sleepy Hollow in downtown Wilmington in 2015. Below right: Brian Durkin, recently
transplanted from Atlanta, is seeing the benefits of the small town coastal lifestyle. Below left: Durkin’s recent projects include the
2019 film, The Highwaymen.