George Clooney due to film scenes of 'The Tender Bar' in downtown Worcester

WORCESTER — George Clooney, best known as Dr. Doug Ross on TV’s “ER” and twice named People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive, is expected to be in Worcester this week to film scenes of “The Tender Bar.” Clooney is the director of the flick.

Clooney has a distant movie tie to Worcester. He once played Lt. Frank Stokes - loosely based on George L. Stout, the man who directed the Worcester Art Museum from 1947-1954 - in 2014’s “The Monuments Men.”

Filming will be at the old Commerce High School building, which also served as the state Department of Children & Families office in Worcester. It appears that all filming is going to be done inside the building, which is a block from Main Street in downtown Worcester. 

On Monday and Tuesday, there were signs on a side door that said “The Tender Bar cast and crew only,” “Testing” and “Check-In.”

More:11 movies filmed in Central Mass.

The eagerly anticipated movie is based on the memoir by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer J.R. Moehringer, who got his start as a news assistant at the New York Times in the mid-‘80s.

“The Tender Bar” tells the story of J.R. (played by Tye Sheridan), a fatherless boy growing up in the glow of a Long Island bar where the bartender, his Uncle Charlie (Ben Affleck), is the sharpest and most colorful of an assortment of quirky and demonstrative father figures.  

The talk in the streets is The New York Times newsroom is going to be reconstructed inside the walls of the old Commerce High building on Sudbury Avenue.

Westerman Prop Warehouse of Worcester has provided several truckloads of props for the production, including typewriters, phones, desks and office supplies. Crews were dressing the set Tuesday, in anticipation of Clooney and the cast's arrival on Wednesday.

Despite taking place in New York, production started in Boston on “The Tender Bar” in late February and has continued in the Bay State. Scenes have been shot in Beverly and Watertown, among other places.

Fitchburg is also in line for a few scenes. On Monday night, Sarita Laflamme and Mark Petersen posted on Facebook that there will be some excitement in their Fitchburg neighborhood over the next couple days. They wrote that George Clooney is filming a scene from “The Tender Bar” at their house on Maverick Street house.

On Tuesday on Maverick Street, a few vintage cars, including a Triumph Spitfire and Volkswagen van, were parked near the house.  

In fact, filming in Fitchburg might push the Wednesday’s scheduled filming in Worcester back a few days. 

While 'The Tender Bar” has Oscar buzz written all over it for its director and lead stars, this is not the first film in recent months filmed, in part, in Worcester that might be bringing home the gold next year.

“Don’t Look Up,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence filmed a scene inside the DCU Center in December with Meryl Streep and Jonah Hill.

Although he didn’t confirm or deny filming, Edgar Luna, the city business development manager, said the city discourages onlookers and fans showing up at the site due to COVID-19.

On Monday, Clooney took a short break from filming at the Wakefield Bowladrome in Wakefield to greet fans and pose for a few really quick selfies, practicing social distancing and wearing a face mask.