Without a doubt, the biggest name attending Wednesday night’s premiere of “In the Electric Mist” was veteran film actor John Goodman.

And if you asked the star of more than 100 film and television roles what was the reason he attended New Iberia’s version of Hollywood, the answer was simple.

“They invited me,” Goodman said shortly before 7 p.m. while waiting in the concession line at the Grand Theatre. “I’ve been a fan of Mr. Burke for a long time, and I would actually like to play more of his characters.”

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Goodman watched the movie with more than 100 others Wednesday before attending an after-party at The Gouguenheim. He posed for countless pictures and may have been the only person who fielded more attention than author James Lee Burke, author of “In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead” on which the film was based.

Goodman, who arrived Wednesday night in New Iberia and left today for New Orleans, said he relished the chance to bring authenticity to “In the Electric Mist.”

Goodman played Julie “Baby Feet” Balboni in the movie.

“I like to be part of anything about Louisiana that can be done in Louisiana,” he said. “It was a great experience to work with so many people from the area on such a good project.”

Burke was nearly as popular as Goodman. The two men sat in the same theater row as the author’s words were brought to life by a combination of Hollywood veterans and fresh-faced Cajun extras.

“It’s a great cast,” Burke said. “I thought they were very good. Tommy Lee Jones is an extraordinary actor. The local people were great, also. There is no weak link in the chain. For years, I have brought film people here to look around. I’ve always maintained, not since the film ‘The Louisiana Story’ has anybody done the real Louisiana. Normally, films go to New Orleans and shoot the same scenes, they shoot the same story. The accents are very predictable.”

Burke had nothing but praise for the film, specifically complimenting Jones’ portrayal of his novel’s famous character Dave Robicheaux.

Of special note to the author was Jones’ talent for understatement.

“(Jones) shows a kind of repressed sadness that is both indicative of the character in the book and also dramatically in the film comes to mirror the larger tragedy,” Burke said.

Although populated by many recognizable faces, “Mist” also featured Acadiana actors in their first roles.

One was Chima Chekwa, who played Dewitt Prejean in a memorable scene involving a swamp chase featured throughout the film.

“They put me in the swamp,” he said. “They cleared it out to check and see if there was anything that was harmful. They put me in there in the shackles with the gear, and it was a go from there. It was authentic. I had to take a very long shower (when filming was over). I have no problem getting in there doing what they asked me to do, but when I got out, I felt nasty. That water was pretty nasty.”

In the end, Chekwa summed up what was the resounding feeling for all the area actors.

“It seemed like a pretty good movie, pretty Southern,” he said. “Usually when you see Southern movies, people come out there with fake accents and you watch and think, ‘this is not how it is in the South.’ I think it was pretty accurate.”