As Owen Wilson chatted at Disneyland about reprising his role as the voice of Lighting McQueen in “Cars 3” (opening Friday), he admitted Chicago is one town he needs to get to know better.
“I don’t know Chicago that well,” said the actor, noting that his only memory of visiting Our Town was when he was promoting one of his first feature films, “Bottle Rocket,” released in 1996.
“I have so many friends, or folks I’ve worked with, who are from Chicago and love it so much — like Billy Zane and Vince Vaughn. I don’t know your city, but I’ve got to get there, because everyone says what a great city it is, especially in the summer.”
Wilson particularly is interested in great architecture and loves Frank Lloyd Wright’s work. When he learned that this is the 150th anniversary of the iconic architect’s birth — and that there are a number of special events happening to celebrate that — Wilson said, “Well then. This is definitely the year I need to come discover Chicago. I’d love to go out and see his houses and buildings in the Chicago area. … I just was in South Carolina visiting Joel Silver, the movie producer. He has a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed plantation that he has restored. That was kind of cool to see, but now I need to come to Chicago to see more.”
