Grosse Pointe's Got Acting Talent

The cast and crew of a little movie about a memorable event in Macomb County history are working to bring the story to life on the silver screen, and several Grosse Pointers are helping it along.

The film is Mary's Buttons, centered around the accidental death of the county sheriff in 1910. When the sheriff pounded on the door of a family of Belgian immigrants demanding to be let in, the woman of the house thought he was impersonating a robber, so she ordered her son to shoot at the floor. The shot ricocheted, striking and eventually killing the sheriff. The death and trial that followed are at the heart of the story, penned by two descendants.

Sharron Nelson plays the titular Mary, the one who mistook the sheriff for a fraud. Nelson says Mary's back story involves a tragedy that befell her family in her native Belgium, where robbers claimed to be the law and ended up killing someone at home. The language barrier Mary faced in her new homeland and the sheriff pounding on the door triggered her flashback and set everything in motion.

Nelson is no novice to acting. She's been in close to 10 movies, guest-starred in TV's Wannabes, and has done old-school and dinner theater for 30 years.

Mary's Buttons is her first period drama in film, and she's relishing the experience, including riding in a Model T and filming in a variety of locations, including an old cabin in Clinton Township, Crossroads Village by Flint, the Lapeer County Courthouse and more. She’s also learned a bit of Flemish and worked with a coach to speak it properly and with accented English.

Nelson suspects the film is going to turn out to be a pretty great little movie. There are plans to show it at Tribeca, Sundance and Toronto film fests – all respected venues.

The inspiration for Mary's Buttons (and to know the secret of the buttons, you'll have to see it for yourself, say all parties involved) is found in the family history of writer-producer Ray Govaere and his daughter, co-writer Charlene Govaere.

It's a family story that was talked about over the table,” she says. Her father did a lot of research over the years and wanted it to be told.

“Now (Mary) will have her voice heard,” Charlene says.

Mary’s Buttons is a family project in more ways than one, since Jerry Nehr and his son Quinn are also in the movie.

Quinn, 9, has a pivotal role in the film, playing young Ben, who was the one who shot the gun and killed the sheriff.

It's Quinn's first movie, though he's no acting novice, having acted in productions for the Grosse Pointe Theatre, including the forthcoming and in a recent production of his St.Clair Montefalco School's “Willy Wonka.” He's enjoying the experience, and seeing the daily rushes, he says it's pretty good seeing my face in a movie.” He'd love to continue in acting and film.

Dad Jerry also has the acting bug, acting on stage (also in “Pimpernel” and “Wonka”) and now he's in his first film. He plays Verne Fisher, editor of the local paper, who wants the real story. The family is facing a guilty verdict in court and by reputation, and he wants to discover the truth.

As for being in his first film, Jerry shrugs it off. “Quinn is the star of the family,” he says. “He loves it.”

Mary's Buttons, he adds, is a great little story, with a “strong morality message.”