Fred Thompson's last roles were Georgia-filmed "90 Minutes in Heaven" and "A Larger Life"

"He filmed with us for three days but the relationship we formed in a brief time, I just loved him," said screenwriter and director Bill Lundy, a Cedartown lawyer who created the project based on an actual malpractice case. "He was delightful and funny. He really was a larger-than-life guy. He loved Cedartown."

After Lundy picked Thompson up from the airport, the actor had a request: lunch at Mary Mac’s Tea Room in Midtown.

“He said, ‘I have one request. I want some good, Southern food,’” Lundy recalled. “The first day of filming, here I am a little bit in awe. After they were readjusting the lights after a scene he leaned over and said, ‘were you OK with that?’ I felt like saying, ‘Are you OK with being in Skeeterville, Ga.’?”

Thompson, 73, died in Nashville following a recurrence of lymphoma, his family said in a statement.

In "90 Minutes in Heaven," released on Sept. 11, he appeared in a minor but key supporting role as the Rev. Jay B. Perkins, a minister who helps encourage Don Piper, played by  Hayden Christensen, through his long and arduous recovery.

Credit: Jennifer Brett

Credit: Jennifer Brett

The movie starred Kate Bosworth as Piper's wife and featured Dwight Yoakam in a comic-relief role as an opportunistic lawyer. Christensen, Bosworth and others associated with the project came to Atlanta for a red-carpet premiere at the Fox Theatre and a subsequent day of interviews at the Georgian Terrace, but Thompson was unable to come.

Credit: Jennifer Brett

Credit: Jennifer Brett

Lundy’s film premiered at the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema and he’s now working on broader distribution.

“He brought a great weight to the film,” he said. “He had that booming, authoritative voice. I felt so privileged to be able to get him to film here.”