By Brittney McLaws
It was only two weeks, but for the cast and crew of 'The Best Two Years,' the time spent filming in Holland paralleled a full-time mission in many ways.
K.C. Clyde, Kirby Heyborne, Cameron Hopkin and David Nibley, the four stars of the film, are all LDS and have served full-time missions.
Many of the actors, including Clyde and Heyborne, had never been to Europe. Similar to their missions, they were tossed into a situation where they had to quickly form relationships as friends, roommates and co-workers.
'We didn''t really know each other very well,' Heyborne said. 'You''re thrown into that situation and you react differently if you had known everybody for a long time, which makes it perfect for missionary work.'
Film director and writer Scott S. Anderson served his mission in Holland in the 1970s. The film originated from a play he wrote in 1981. The play was successful and generated a seminary and institute film called, 'The Best Years Of My Life'.
Anderson had 20 years to perfect the script and really knew what he wanted to portray with the film.
In order to create a feeling of camaraderie between the cast, Anderson roomed the stars in their respective companionships during their stay in Holland.
Clyde said that rooming with Heyborne forced him to quickly develop a working friendship much like his mission experience.
Additionally, the cast struggled with quickly learning a foreign language-another experience that brought back memories from their missions.
Heyborne said that towards the end of the film, the few lines he had in Dutch began to make sense the same way Spanish did on his mission.
The entire film was shot in four weeks. All exterior shots were filmed in Haarlem, a suburb of Amsterdam, while the interior shots were filmed in Alpine, Utah.
Anderson used the Dutch LDS members as the extras in the film. These members welcomed the cast and crew into their homes with the same hospitality they extend to missionaries.
'We were there in the middle of all these blooming tulips and ... It was so fun to get to know a lot of the members of the church there that came and helped out with production just out of the goodness of their hearts,' said actor David Nibley.
Members of the cast said they believe this movie stands out among the growing LDS film genre because of its visual beauty and touching message. They hope that people will respect it for the work of art it is.
'A lot of people have that stigma that it''s just another Mormon film,' Heyborne said. 'It may be an uphill battle ... but once they go to see it and they get past that, the word of mouth is going to make it successful.'
However, prior to filming, some cast members did have hesitations about working in the LDS film industry.
'I was extremely nervous to do this,' Clyde said. 'Every LDS film I had seen before ... wasn''t something I felt that I could commit to for a certain amount months ... but when I read this script, it was the first one that I read that I was truly excited about. I think it is a step up because of everybody involved.'
The cast and crew of this film are confident that audiences everywhere will enjoy this production.
'Even if you weren''t one of these four missionaries, you knew someone like them,' Clyde said. 'There''s these beautiful, real moments in it that I think everyone can relate to who has either been on a mission, who knows someone who has been on a mission, or knows about a mission.'