PORTLAND (AP) – Mainers who participated in the filming of HBO’s adaption of “Empire Falls” in the fall of 2003 finally got their chance to see themselves on television this weekend.

The 3 hour film was being shown in two parts Saturday and Sunday nights on HBO. It also was shown for free on several cable systems in Maine as a goodwill gesture of HBO to the people of Maine, where the filming took place.

“Empire Falls” brought stars including Helen Hunt, Ed Harris, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward to the state. Most of the filming took place in the Waterville and Skowhegan areas; other scenes were filmed from coastal York County to rural Norridgewock.

Richard Russo wrote the HBO screenplay in addition to the Pulitzer Prize-winning book, which focused on a mill town that had fallen upon hard times.

More than 2,600 local people were used as extras, including about 650 for a football-game scene at Skowhegan Area High School in late October. About 30 local people had speaking parts, mostly ranging from a word to a line or two.

Russo said Friday he’s excited for people to see how well-acted the film is and how beautiful Maine looks on a movie screen.

“I couldn’t be happier for the people of central Maine who will get to see their lives on screen,” he said. “That doesn’t happen very often to ordinary people.”

As an executive producer, Newman insisted that “Empire Falls” be shot in Maine.

“That’s where it was set in the mind of Russo, and that’s where we shot it,” he told The Associated Press previously. “We would have saved a little money by going to Canada, but I think the film would have suffered.”

State officials estimated the economic impact of the film crew’s spending could have been as much as $250,000 a day.