Hugh Grant filming in Binghamton (PRESS CONNECTS)

Binghamton resident Brian Nayor ran into British actor Hugh Grant downtown and had this photo taken. / Photo provided

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Staff report

BINGHAMTON — Brian Nayor was about to leave the Gas Lamp Gym Sunday when Hugh Grant walked by.

So the Binghamton resident, who co-owns and operates the Court Street gym, did what any curious person would do: he slung his bag over his shoulder and walked briskly down the street, catching up with the British actor near the intersection of Court and State streets.

“I looked at him and said, ‘Hi,’ and he said, ‘Hi,’” Nayor recounted Monday. “Then I said, ‘Pardon me for asking, but are you Hugh Grant?’ Then he said, in a very unmistakeable British accent, ‘Yes, yes I am.’”

Grant himself wasn’t the only indication that Binghamton made it into the big-time, cinematically speaking. The film crew was a big tip-off too, said Nayor, an actor with Binghamton’s KNOW Theatre who got Grant to pose with him for a picture.

“He was warm and cordial,” Nayor said of Grant. “He seemed like a mellowed-out guy.”

The star was spotted in other parts of the city, too: specifically the Number 5 restaurant for Sunday dinner, said owner Jim McCoy.

“It’s the only place I would go,” McCoy quipped.

Grant is filming a comedy, currently untitled, under the direction of Binghamton University graduate Marc Lawrence, according to the movie database site IMDb. Marisa Tomei, whose credits include “My Cousin Vinny” and “The Wrestler,” is the co-star of the unnamed project.


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