A scene from the film, “Barn Burning”, starring Tommy Lee Jones. The film is based upon a story by William Faulkner.
Filmed on Lafayette County land owned by Kaye Hooker Bryant, her barn was actually burned for the film adaptation of the William Faulkner short story.
Kaye remembers, “Way back in 1979, my daughter Julie was finishing up her theater degree at Ole Miss when she was cast in the PBS movie Barn Burning starring Tommy Lee Jones. The movie was to be made in Oxford, and the advance crew was scouting locations. It just happened that I owned a 62-acre tract of land that had an old barn standing on it. The filmmakers approached me about burning it. It was public television, and they weren’t offering any money, but it wasn’t about money. The chance to watch dear friend Jimmy Faulkner act and ride, and to promote our beloved Oxford, while hanging out with Tommy Lee Jones, was worth any price of admission, and much more than the old barn. I agreed, and the movie people moved in!”
“The night of the actual burning was bitter cold. A rather large crowd had found their way back to the film site. All was set, and all were aware of the ‘one barn, one take’ reality of the situation. The director called ‘Rolling’ and the old barn went up in flames right on cue! Then, in the midst of the flames, up rides Jimmy Faulkner on his gorgeous Tennessee walking horse, looking exactly how his Uncle William must have imagined Major de Spain!”
