Where was Elle filmed, and where did production take place for series one? There are some obvious spots for frequent Stateside travellers, although it may surprise many residents of one western Canadian region to see their neighbourhood portrayed as Seattle on screen.
Before Elle shifts north, we’re thrown headfirst into the world of Californian glitz and glamour in all its blinding pink hues. These opening scenes stayed true to the storyline, with the grand house and the likes of Rodeo Drive playing major parts. On the home, production designer Laurin Kelsey said: “The team found this amazing house which had the perfect setting for her Sweet Sixteen birthday party. Being the opening of the show and it being the place she wants to be so badly, it had to be like this dream – a bubblegum, bright, shiny thing that feels like her.”
Beyond California, the Canadian seaport of Vancouver served as Seattle.
On setting the series in Seattle, Hello Sunshine executive producer Lauren Neustadter said, “Seattle was the perfect setting for this show for so many reasons and in so many ways. When we see Elle in Bel Air, she’s a fish IN water – and we needed to make her a fish OUT of water in the series. So we thought: it’s the ’90s, it’s Elle Woods, she’s all pink all the time. Where can we put her where she’s going to feel like she doesn’t belong, where can she really be an underdog? And of course, we thought about Seattle. We thought about flannel, grunge – about a world that felt inherently different in terms of its values and its ethos, and we thought this is the perfect place to take Elle Woods, to watch her struggle to figure out who she is, who she wants to be and where she belongs.”
While the British Columbia Institute of Technology in Burnaby, Canada, doubles as Bel Air High School, much more of the series revolved around the streets of Vancouver. Seattle Pike Place Market scenes were shot on Granville Island, the bookstore featured is Banyen Books, the Coffee Shop is Finch’s Tea House – a buzzy hideout sure to have regulars scratching their heads when they’re streaming.
For scenes set in Seattle Park, the cast and crew descended on Vancouver’s Central Park.
Elle is available to watch on Prime Video now.
