Hollywood comes to Loddon Valley

Chicago Fire star Charlie Barnett was accompanied by co-stars at the centre.

We rolled out the red carpet at our Loddon Valley Leisure Centre last month for celebrity attendees of local Reading Rockets’ basketball game.

Charlie Barnett, was working alongside Jennifer Bryan and fiancée, Drew Bender at the new Reading-based Shinfield Studios. A volunteer from Reading Rockets visited the film and tv studio and offered complimentary tickets to the game.

American-born Charlie Barnett is known for his role as Peter Mills, a firefighter/paramedic on the NBC drama Chicago Fire from 2012 to 2015. Among his many starring roles include Alan Zaveri on Netflix comedy series Russian Doll, Ben Marshall on the Netflix series Tales of the City, and Gabe Miranda in the Netflix thriller series You.

Barnett was accompanied by Costume Designer, Jennifer Bryan, known for her work on the award-winning Breaking Bad series as well as his fiancée – Set Designer, Drew Bender.

The trio were offered VIP balcony seating but opted to sit courtside with fans. They had a great time and loved the atmosphere.

Hollywood Comes To Loddon Valley

Matt Johnson, Director of Performance Sport at John Madejski Academy expressed his excitement on social media after the event, ‘Did anyone else have Hollywood visitors to their event this weekend?’.

Having visitors like this brings excitement to everyone in the building. Their presence was appreciated, and they even purchased products from both the Rockets merchandise stand and our coffee shop!