voted “Sleeping With the Enemy” their favorite made-in-Wilmington feature film

Based on the 1987 novel by Nancy Price and adapted by screenwriter Ron Bass (“Rain Man,” “My Best Friend’s Wedding”), the film followed an abused wife (Roberts) who fakes her drowning so she can escape her controlling husband.

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She flees to a small campus town in Kansas, where she begins a relationship with a gentle theater professor (Kevin Anderson). Her sociopathic husband tracks her down, however, and arrives in town to fetch her back.

Joseph Rubin, best known for “The Stepfather” and :”The Money Train,” directed.

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Filming began in Wilmington on April 2, 1990, and continued through May 12. The cast and crew then moved on to Spartanburg and Abbeville, S.C., before returning to the Port City in June for additional shooting.

Principal locations included the EUE/Screen Gems studios (then known as the “N.C. Film Studios”), Hugh MacRae Park, a vacant warehouse on North Fourth Street, Thalian Hall, Bald Head Island and “the Cove” at Fort Fisher State Recreation Area (site of the wife’s “burial”).

By far the most spectacular set, however, was a 3,000-square-foot, two-story, contemporary Cape Cod cottage – supposedly the unhappy couple’s residence – built north of the Shell Island Resort near Mason Inlet.

The house was spectacular: Modernistic, minimalist and a little sterile. (The atmosphere reflected Roberts’ emotional state, contrasted with the cluttered, comfy Victorian mansion where she moved in Kansas.)

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It was built in an environmentally sensitive zone of beach grass. Twentieth Century Fox executives gained permission to build there only by promising to tear the whole thing down and restore the property as soon as shooting was done.

They kept their word; the house was demolished, and leftover lumber and materials were donated to a “Habitat for Humanity” homebuilding project in Anderson County, S.C. George Lewis of Good Earth Nursery restored the beach grass to its former condition.

In all, the studio spent an estimated $25,000 to make it appear as if the house had never been there at all.

For writer Celia Rivenbark, the “Sleeping With the Enemy” shoot was an exercise in frustration. At the time, Rivenbark handled the StarNews’ film beat and prided herself on scoring interviews with stars who came to town.

Bergin – who was then known for “Mountains of the Moon” and would go on to co-star in “Patriot Games” – was a model subject. The Irish-born actor gave a lengthy interview, in which he even professed to have “fallen in love” with Wrightsville Beach.

But one target eluded her: Julia Roberts. The 22-year-old actress had just become a sensation for “Steel Magnolias” and “Pretty Woman,” which was still playing in local theaters while the “Sleeping” crew was in town.

Roberts was often spotted around town with her fiance at the time, Kiefer Sutherland. The two were spotted slam-dancing at a Ramones Concert at The Mad Monk on Market Street, then having an intimate dinner at Caffe Phoenix on Front Street.

(Fans also saw Roberts having drinks at The Pilot House with her brother, Eric Roberts, who was in town filming a TV-movie titled “The Lost Capone.”)

Roberts, however, refused to talk to reporters. “There she was, filming in my backyard,” said Rivenbark, who lived at Wrightsville Beach at the time. “To this day, when I see her commercials, I feel bitter.”

Rivenbark finally cornered Roberts on the old Jaycee Fairgrounds, then at 4101 Carolina Beach Road.

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The plot called for Bergin to stalk Roberts through a county fair. To set it up, veteran film publicist Francine DeCoursey set up a “Family Fun Fair.”

More than 200 volunteer extras showed up on April 24 and April 25, 1990, to wander the fairgrounds and hop on rides provided by Amusements of America. They weren’t paid for working from 7 p.m. to midnight, but studio caterers served up dinners of chicken, meatloaf and spaghetti.

DeCoursey persuaded producers to keep running the fair for three days after the scenes were completed, collecting a modest sum at the box office. Proceeds from the fair were donated to area charities.

Rivenbark finally cornered Roberts sitting on a stool, writing what appeared to be “Julia Roberts Sutherland” and “Julia R. Sutherland” on the back of her script.

Later, in July, the crew returned to Wrightsville to shoot scenes on Oceanic Pier and Crystal Pier. Filmmakers approached the Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen for permission to use the latter pier, but Alderman Roy Sandlin dissented, citing concerns over traffic and noise.

Aldermen approved the shooting, though, after a producer assured those present that Julia Roberts would appear “in a wet T-shirt.” (She didn’t).

In all, Wilmington survived “Sleeping With the Enemy” unscathed.

Not so lucky was Abbeville. In an interview for Rolling Stone and other publications, Roberts described the South Carolina town as a “living hell” and “boring and racist.” She also complained about its lack of good restaurants.

Uproar in South Carolina was so great that a group of Palmetto State patriots took out a rebuttal ad in Variety.

Apparently, Wilmington’s restaurants were judged adequate. As Rivenbark noted, Roberts left without saying anything, good or bad, about the Port City.

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