BOSTON -- After much anticipation by Hopedale residents, Bruce Willis has arrived in town to shoot scenes for his upcoming sci-fi thriller, “The Surrogates.”

The actor pulled his black Cadillac Escalade up to the set at Draper Park around 3 p.m. on Wednesday, a woman who lives nearby told the Metrowest Daily News.

She said a crowd nearby was very excited when they realized the actor had arrived.

She had been watching the film crew’s activities on the set every day since June 23 and woke up at 5 a.m. on Wednesday because the crew told her their work would begin an hour later.

While Willis only watched filming that afternoon, his on-site publicist told the paper that the actor is scheduled to be back for filming on Thursday.

He will work on a set consisting of several stacked old storage trailers, old cars and buses and multiple piles of bricks and dirt.

Some action scenes already have been filmed, with stuntmen sliding down the piles of bricks made of rubber to prevent injury. A helicopter crash and a chase scene also were shot at the site.

The set is closed off from the public by a fence, but locals still have tried to catch a glimpse of the action, the paper reported.

A Mendon police officer told the paper that people were climbing on top of parked trucks and concrete blocks for a better view. There was a public viewing area nearby, but it was closed off because residents were being caught on camera.

The Hopedale fire chief, who spent several days on the set for fire safety, said the crew has asked people not to approach Willis for autographs or engage the actor in conversation unless he initiates the contact.

“The Surrogates” is set in a future when humans interact with each other only through surrogate robots. Willis plays an FBI agent who is investigating the murders of some of the robots.

The film’s release date is November 2009.