Ben Stiller holiday movie filmed in Ohio features Flatwoods boy

A movie starring Ben Stiller—filmed in Wilmington—debuts this week; it features a local boy.

Twelve-year-old Noah Fisher, a student at Russell Middle School, has a role in “Nutcrackers,” a comedy-drama released Friday on Hulu. The movie was shot last December in the Cincinnati-area.

“Filming it was a blast,” Noah said.

The “funniest thing,” according to Noah, is when you hear people mention acting. 

“They make everybody look like this really serious, cold group of cast members,” he said. “It’s the exact opposite. Everybody there is so lively.”

Noah said “even” film director David Gordon Green is “genuinely one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet.” 

For one scene in the movie Noah said the cast and crew went through it at least 500 times. After those takes, Stiller walked over to Noah and whispered that it had been a while since something fun had happened. Noah said Stiller told him to “give them the bird.”

“I said, hmmm? Okay,” Noah said. “Then it goes back to set. Action.” 

The scene is going on as it is supposed to when it hits Fisher. 

“What if I were to just (musically) conduct and keep doing the same conducting motions but I flipped the bird on both of my hands?” 

They had to stop production because everyone was laughing. When Noah was finished, he turned around and said, “Ben told me to do it!”

Now Noah is known throughout the cast and crew for that. Writer Leland Douglas, during the red-carpet screening at the Murphy Theatre in Wilmington, came over to Fisher calling him “The Bird Boy.”

Noah said to screen the film with cast, crew and family members “was one of the most exciting and nerve-racking things I’ve ever attended.”

He also “loved this movie.” 

“I thought there’s a chance this could actually be a mediocre movie and I’m just overselling it,” he said. “I think this is one of the best—not just Ben Stiller movies—but one of the best movies I’ve seen as a whole. I think the public will love this.”

Elizabeth Fisher, Noah’s grandmother, had the chance to talk with the director. She said Green told her he’s proud of Noah and that Noah was a joy to work with, is a strong actor and he’s going to go far. 

Noah finally made it onto the IMDb — Internet Movie Database. 

“The fact that my name is even in the same frame as Ben Stiller’s — I don’t think it’s real,” Noah said with a laugh.

There is one factor Noah has learned from acting.

“If you believe you can do it, you can,” he said. “The only thing you need—you really have to put your heart into it.”