WestConn's Midtown campus serves as a backdrop for several of the film's scenes.

A little over a year ago, WestConn faculty, staff and students were bitten by the movie bug as the production rolled onto campus.

Vacant parking lots were overtaken by a sea of equipment, hair and makeup trailers, and campers for the stars.

Meeting rooms were transformed into holding areas for dozens of actors and wanna-be actors, hoping to land a role as an extra in the film.

For much of a week in mid-July, production assistants scurried across the quad, preventing people from accidentally wandering into the middle of a shot.

Camera operators stood patiently as planes en route to Danbury Airport flew overhead or fire trucks raced down White Street.

STP2 enthusiasts blogged excitedly as filming occurred in several parts of the state, suggesting the best places for star sightings.

WestConn student Emily Fromm, a senior from Monroe, appeared in several scenes shot outside WestConn's Student Center. Rebecca Hill, a senior at Bethel High School, did too.

WestConn President James W. Schmotter and Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton also captured cameos, walking across the quad in several scenes.

Mr. Schmotter was philosophical about his brush with fame. "While WCSU is identified as the Rhode Island School of Design, this is still exciting for us."

"The director's choosing of our Midtown campus as a 'typical academic setting' confirms our belief that our physical environment does indeed resemble the private institutions against which we benchmark.

"Mayor Mark Boughton and I may appear as extras in some scenes. We are meant to be teachers. Given our backgrounds, that's good typecasting."

Ms. Hill said when watching the recently released "Fool's Gold" DVD last month, she "screamed with excitement" when a trailer for STP2 came on and she saw herself.

"I couldn't believe that I was on the big screen, even if it was only for one second," she said. "Most people don't get this kind of opportunity and it was really enjoyable to meet the cast."

Ms. Fromm added that she had heard from a number of friends, who saw the trailer running in local theaters before "Sex and the City," that she's in the background in one of the scenes with Alexis Bledel.

"All of my family and friends are excited," she said. "Even the guys, who typically might not pay to see a film like this, are planning to do so," she laughed.