40+ Famous Movie Scene Locations in Real Life

These Locations Are a Must-Visit for All Movie Buffs

Movies are a window into another world. Whether the genre is period dramas or action, the hours spent immersed in the story are otherworldly. However, some movies not only make you feel events in real time but also leave lasting impressions. The important shots stay with you long after the credits roll out. Here are some real-life movie locations which became sets for iconic scenes.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

This is the seventh movie in the Star Wars franchise, which was highly anticipated by fans. Released in 2015, the epic addition to the space saga came 30 years after the last release.

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The movie was shot at multiple locations, and one of them was Puzzlewood, a forester area in Cardiff. The scenes starred Rey, played by Daisy Ridley, and the droid BB-8. The green forest helps add intrigue to this compelling movie.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

This 1981 action-adventure movie is the first with actor Harrison Ford donning the hat (literally) to play the iconic archaeologist Indiana Jones. This movie did great at the box office!

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One location where the movie was shot is the San Francisco City Hall, with the character of Jones and his love interest Marion standing on the steps, decked up in formal attire.

Good Will Hunting

A touching movie, Good Will Hunting is sure to move even the cold-hearted with its beautiful storyline. The film follows Will, played by Matt Damon, a mathematical genius who has trouble with his emotional life.

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A poignant scene was shot on the park bench between Damon’s Will and his therapist Sean, played by Robin Williams. Fans of the movie can sit in the same place as the duo at the Boston Common Park, where the scene was actually shot.

Die Hard With a Vengeance

If you’re a die-hard Die Hard fan (see what we did there?), this location is for you. The scene is from the third part of the series, released in 1995.

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The scene features protagonist lieutenant John Mclane, starring Bruce Willis, and Samuel. L. Jackson, as his reluctant partner Zeus Carver. Though we couldn’t find the exact location, it’s a subway station in New York!

Drive

The 2011 movie stars Ryan Gosling as a getaway driver whose star-crossed love changes his life. Full of intrigue and many cars, the movie was a hit amongst the actor’s fans.

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One scene in the film shows Gosling standing in front of a lake in a park. Shot in Los Angeles, the exact location is McArthur Park. The park is as scenic and calm as it appears in the movie.

Pride and Prejudice

One of Jane Eyre’s most popular classics, Pride and Prejudice‘s 1995 adaptation, was shot in England, and movie buffs have managed to spot the location where the scenes were shot.

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One of them was the Lacock village in Wiltshire. The scene shows the sisters walking down the village streets—a classic location for a classic piece.

Les Misérables

The 2012 adaptation of the French Classic, Les Miserables, is an Oscar-winning classic that won the audience’s hearts. The story of Jean Valjean is beautifully depicted through brilliant acting and gorgeous locations.

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One such location where the main character ends up is in front of the Old Royal Naval College in London. The shot perfectly lines up with the college in the background; if you want, you can also take a photo there!

Forrest Gump

The titular character’s running spree is probably the most bizarre yet impactful scene of Forrest Gump. In the movie, Forrest, played by Tom Hanks, runs for three straight years for no particular reason.

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Over his journey, he amassed a fan following of media houses, curious bystanders, and fellow runners. However, one scene that stands out is when Forrest suddenly stops in the middle of a deserted area after three years and decides that his run is over. This iconic scene took place in Monument Valley, Utah, and is a fan-favorite.

Batman Begins

Batman Begins is the first movie in the Dark Knight trilogy. The dark themes throughout the movie (after all, Batman is a dark and brooding hero) and Christian Bale’s first foray into playing the vigilante are bound to go down in cinematic history.

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One of the more iconic scenes of the movie is a framed shot of Batman, aka Bruce Wayne, all decked up in his suit, flying through a grand staircase. The shot was taken in the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London.

The Avengers

The Avengers was the turning point for the Marvel movies, turning them from individual hero movies into a buildup for something much bigger.

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Two of the biggest stars of the entire ensemble are Iron Man and Captain America, played by Robert Downey Jr. And Chris Evans. One of the scenes featuring the duo, and their contrasting personalities, is shot at the Bethesda Terrace in Central Park in New York. This place might be a good start if you want to go where the heroes go to pow-wow.

War Horse

War Horse tells the story of a powerful bond between a human and his pet. The 2011 movie stars Emily Watson and Tom Hiddleston in its cast.

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One of the scenes featuring Hiddleston takes place in Castle Combe in England. The scene is set in front of one of the many brick houses in the village.

Star Trek Into Darkness

The mega sci-fi franchise of Star Trek is a strong one, with many movies and TV shows being birthed from it. The 12th movie installment, Star Trek Into Darkness, was released in 2012 and saw Chris Pine taking the helm as Captain James T. Kirk.

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Actor Benedict Cumberbatch is also a part of this stellar cast and plays the role of Khan Noonein Singh, a genetically engineered human. One of the scenes featuring him was shot in Century City in Los Angeles.

Sleepless in Seattle

Sleepless in Seattle is a timeless classic and one of the many iconic movies to come out of the lead pairing of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.

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The romantic comedy is sure to bring a smile to everybody’s face! One scene featuring Hanks is shot in the Pike Palace fish Market in Seattle.

12 Years a Slave

12 Years a Slave is an Oscar-winning movie based on an 1853 memoir by the same name. The movie’s hard-hitting scenes and storyline, along with actor Chiwetel Ejiofor’s amazing acting as the protagonist, are bound to leave a lasting impression.

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Many scenes of the movie were shot in the city of New Orleans, where the character is actually sent in the film.

The Duchess

The historical drama The Duchess finds actress Kiera Knightley in the center of it, playing the role of the titular duchess. The movie follows the life of a young duchess and the struggles that she faces.

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Filming took place in the UK, as the location already provides the infrastructure for such shoots. One scene featuring Knightley was shot in front of the Somerset House in London.

Star Trek

All Star Trek fans have made the trip to Vasquez Rocks, at least once, to capture themselves standing amid the rocks featured in numerous movies and TV episodes of the franchise.

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The place where Captain Kirk fought off the Gorn has become iconic with fans and is often used by movies and TV shows to depict Star Wars. Most recently, the place was used in a Big Bang Theory episode, where the four friends and huge Star Wars fans get stuck in the desert in their cosplay uniform.

The Beatles

Technically this isn’t a movie, but this iconic album cover has a fan following. The most iconic band of its time, and even today, The Beatles’ Abbey Road cover was taken on the titular street, Abbey Road, in London.

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The picture of the four band members walking one behind the other is a favorite amongst Beatles fans and has now donned almost all the Beatles memorabilia.

Hot Fuzz

The 2007 action-comedy stars actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as two police officers. The movie was a massive hit with the audience, and the antics of the duo are sure to leave you laughing and crying simultaneously.

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Directed by Edgar Wright, the movie was shot in Wells, Somerset, which is also the director’s hometown. The shooting took a little over 11 weeks to finish.

Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel, allegedly the most powerful superhero (depending on who you ask), may not always be present on this planet. Thankfully, her 2019 movie, wherein actress Brie Larson donned the iconic suit, was shot almost entirely in places fans can visit.

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One location featured extensively in the movie is the Grand Park Station in LA, where Captain Marvel walks around in her green suit. The station is shown from different angles, with Larson’s character also heading to the stairs nearby.

Lost River

The first feature film directed by famous actor Ryan Gosling was shot in Detroit, Michigan. Lost River follows the story of a young boy who decides to take drastic measures to save his family from bankruptcy.

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However, since the movie was shot, many buildings featured in the film have been razed down. So the locations were identified by fans using markers, like things that were nearby.

Third Star

One of Benedict Cumberbatch’s most touching performances was in the 2010 movie Third Star. In it, the actor plays the role of a man whose last wish is to see Barafundle Bay, his favorite place on Earth.

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So, of course, he and his three friends set course for the place in Pembrokeshire in Wales and made it to the picturesque Barafundle Bay, where Benedict Cumberbatch acts out one of the most heartbreaking climaxes of all time.

Hidden Figures

Hidden Figures should be on your watch list. Released in 2016, the movie sheds light on discrimination in the workplace in the 1960s. The film was a hit among audiences and one of the year’s best movies.

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Most parts of the movie were shot in Atlanta, along with this scene wherein the three lead ladies are out in a garden.

Back to the Future

Many of us have gone on the adventure with Marty and Doc in the Back to the Future franchise. For the first one, the duo travels to the past using a time machine (a pretty famous one now) to help Marty’s parents fall in love.

Twitter // @80sOnTheBrain

If anybody wants to retrace the steps of the eccentric duo, heading to South LaSalle Street in Chicago is a good start, where some scenes were shot.

The Danish Girl

The Danish Girl is a biographical drama that is a moving and poignant movie. The movie talks about a groundbreaking time in our history, narrated by the book’s author that inspired it.

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Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander play the main leads, with Vikander winning an Oscar for her role. The principal shooting of this movie happened in Copenhagen, Denmark, and the city’s beautiful architecture is visible in the film.

Joker

The 2019 movie Joker, wherein actor Joaquin Phoenix painted his face white for the iconic role of the supervillain, is considered a masterpiece by many. The movie follows Joker’s character before becoming Batman’s biggest nemesis.

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The famous poster of this movie shows Phoenix standing on a stairwell in his Joker getup. As usual, the internet quickly figured out where the location was, and it turns out it wasn’t very far off, but just West 167th Street. This street has become a significant tourist spot, with fans coming to pose in the place Phoenix did.

Up

There probably isn’t a single person who can watch the lovely animated movie Up and not feel their heartstrings tug. The film follows an old widower who is learning to live again and, in the process, meets a young boy.

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The house featured in the movie is integral to it, as it becomes the vessel of change for the older man. Fans in Utah spotted the house that inspired its animated counterpart, and fans love to take photos in front of it.

Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman was DC’s hit that made everyone stand up and take notice not only of the franchise but of actress Gal Gadot. Overnight, Gadot became the face of Wonder Woman and one of DC’s most formidable superheroes.

Instagram // @steppingthroughfilm

A scene from the movie was shot in front of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London. The scene stars actresses Gadot, aka Wonder Woman, and Lucy Davis, who plays Etta Candy, are featured.

Last Christmas

This holiday movie will bring a smile to your face, joy to your heart, and an overall feeling of love into your life. Featuring the charismatic Emilia Clarke and the charming Henry Goulding, the movie was mostly shot in London, England.

Instagram // @steppingthroughfilm

The scene where Goulding teaches Clarke skating was shot in the Alexandra Palace Ice Rink in London. It’s just one of the city’s many fabulous spots featured in the holiday rom-com.

Spotlight

Another biographical drama filmed in the gritty streets of Boston, the 2015 movie Spotlight follows an investigative unit of The Boston Globe newspaper. The team works at uncovering some dangerous secrets lurking under the streets of Boston, and what the audience gets is a movie that will blow their minds out of the water.

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One of the scenes from the Oscar-winning movie saw actress Rachel McAdams, a part of the team in the film, conduct an interview at cafe South End Buttery on 314 Shawmut Ave in Boston.

Ted

Ted is a comedy movie, through and through, about a man and his best friend – a talking teddy bear named Ted. Yes, this movie is entirely fictional, but it does have many real-life locations where you can go where Ted went.

Facebook // Boston Landmarks Commission

One scene in the movie takes place in Boston’s Public Garden, where Ted poses for a photo with a group of women.

The Departed

The Departed is another movie wherein Boston is not just a place but a living, breathing city that plays a part as much as the characters. The epic thriller, released in 2006, was critically acclaimed, bagging numerous awards that year.

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One of the scenes of the movie, wherein the characters played by Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, and Martin Sheen (yes, we know, this is a powerhouse cast) have a heated argument. This scene was actually filmed under a modest highway bridge in Quincy.

Black Mass

We all know that when it comes to preparing for a role, actor Johnny Depp leaves no stone unturned. Whether for his stint as Willy Wonka or Jack Sparrow, the man gives it his all. One such preparation he underwent was for the movie Black Mass, wherein he played Whitey Bulger.

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The movie was another cinematic piece shot under Quincy’s bridge. Let’s just say that the bridge’s shade is a hot spot for directors looking to shoot dark scenes.

Iron Will

Iron Will is a slightly different movie in the sense that it’s based on a true story of a 1917 dog-sled race. You might not hear about this sport every day but, like all sports movies, this one also works on the underlying themes of hope and determination.

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One of the movie’s scenes with actors Kevin Spacey and Mackenzie Astin was shot at the Greysolon Ballroom in Duluth, a port city in Minnesota.

Only Lovers Left Alive

The fantasy-comedy drama Only Lovers Left Alive is not the one you pick if you’re looking for a brain-numbing distraction after work. The 2013 movie focuses on the romance between two vampires who sometimes get enthusiastic while eating.

Flickr // Tony Reeves

Regardless, the critically acclaimed movie starring Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton was a hit with viewers. If you ever want to take a trip to where the filming took place, you only need to go down to the place which was once the Michigan Theater and is now a parking lot.

Deadpool

Deadpool, the most popular anti-hero of today’s date and age, burst into the limelight in 2016 when Ryan Reynolds donned the red suit and became the sarcastic and mouthy Wade Wilson, aka Deadpool.

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Reynolds’ Deadpool existed in the Marvel universe without really interacting with the regulars. However, his acting had a fan base that rivaled all the others. One of the places where the movie came to life was in Vancouver, British Columbia.

X-Men: The Last Stand

If you’ve ever seen an X-Men movie, you’re probably enamored with the school professor Charles Xavier ran for the gifted youngsters’ group.

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Even though you might never get to enroll in the school in real life, you can go there and pretend to be a student. The place used to shoot the school scene is Hatley Castle in Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The castle appears in many X-Men movies and Deadpool, as well.

Captain America: Civil War

Not all locations shown in movies are what they appear to be. A museum is not always a museum; a home is sometimes just three walls on a set.

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Similarly, in a scene in Captain America: Civil War, the team is supposedly at a Berlin Airport facility for a pow-wow. However, in reality, the scene wasn’t shot at any airport but at a parking garage in Midtown Atlanta. Yes, it’s slightly disappointing, but a director’s got to do what a director’s got to do.

Captain America: The First Avenger

The first movie in the Captain America series brought Chris Evans to international acclaim, overnight. The film follows Steve Rogers’ transformation from a regular person to a mighty superhero.

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One of the locations for the shoot of this movie is in Liverpool, UK. The city has many docks, one of which was used in the film. Sadly, the port has since been reconstructed, so you might not get to see the exact location anymore.

Inception

The mind-bending movie Inception brought a new life to the sci-fi genre, cementing Leonardo DiCaprio’s status as a man whose Oscar remained long overdue.

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In one of the scenes, DiCaprio’s character Cobb shows graduate student Ariadne, played by Ellen Page (now known as Elliot Page), his dream architecture. The powerful scene was shot at a bridge next to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It seems that only iconic locations are allowed for iconic movies.

The Dark Knight

For many movie critics and superhero fans, The Dark Knight is a movie that cannot be compared or surpassed by any other. The film introduced Heath Ledger as Joker, a portrayal so iconic that it’s gone down in cinematic history as one of the finest.

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The shooting of this movie took place in Chicago, and this particular scene was shot on a public street in downtown Chicago. It might not be much, but any movie fan is sure to have goosebumps standing at this exact place.

When Harry Met Sally

The iconic scene in the movie of two friends finding love is something we can never replicate in cinematic history. Meg Ryan’s performance is the stuff of legends, and even the restaurant where it was shot knows this!

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Meg Ryan’s epic fake-out occurred in Katz’s Delicatessen on the Lower East Side in New York. Even today, the restaurant has a sign dangling from the ceiling that says, ‘I hope you have what she had.’ That’s what we call capitalizing on a great opportunity!

30 Secrets From Behind the Scenes of “The Brady Bunch”

The Birth of a Sitcom

Have you ever wondered how The Brady Bunch came to be? Apparently, it was all thanks to a news article that Sherwood Schwartz happened to see.

Twitter // @NatEnquirer

While the creator of the show was perusing the Los Angeles Times one morning, he saw a news article about partners remarrying with children from previous relationships, a trend becoming more common. It was a lightbulb moment that led to the sitcom that would go down in TV history.

A Real Father Figure

The Brady Bunch was a show that centered around family. So, it’s no surprise that the roles made the cast closer. Since the show’s airing, both Mike Lookinland and Susan Olsen have shared some of their feelings.

Showbiz Cheat Sheet // Melissa Mitas

On the show, Lookinland played Bobby and Olsen played Cindy. They’ve shared that Robert Reed became more of a father figure to them than their own fathers had been. He once even took the cast on vacation!

Missing the Finale

If you saw The Brady Bunch finale, you probably noticed something odd. Mike was completely absent from the show’s final episode!

IMDb // A Room at the Top (1973)

This was because Robert Reed gave the producers a choice — or, more aptly, an ultimatum — that the last episode was changed or he wouldn’t participate in the finale. Sherwood Charles Schwartz simply accepted that choice and continued on. As for Reed, he kept to his promise and stayed away, giving us a finale free of one of the main characters.

Something Missing

If you saw any scene in The Brady Bunch that took place in the bathroom, you might have noticed something missing. Where is the family’s toilet?

IMDb // And Now, a Word from Our Sponsor (1971)

Well, when the show aired, you couldn’t show a toilet bowl on screen. So, how do you have scenes of characters getting ready in the bathroom without catching the toilet in a single shot? As the makers of The Brady Bunch found out, you can simply do away with the toilet altogether.

Catching Up

When you rewatch The Brady Bunch, it’s easy to spot Florence Henderson in the first six episodes. Why would you expect not to?

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What you probably don’t expect is that she filmed her scenes separately from the rest of the cast. This was because she was unavailable when the scenes were originally filmed, as she was filming a movie in Europe at the time. So, her scenes were recorded when she returned.

What They Didn’t Know

On-screen, Henderson played the perfect mother. She was sweet, kind, and exactly what you’d expect from a maternal sitcom character.

IMDb // The Brady Bunch (1969)

When fans met her in real life, they saw the sense of humor even in person. Schwartz’s son once said, “Whenever anybody came up to [Henderson] to say anything about the show, she was as warm as could be. I saw it a million times.” The truth was, to the people around her, Henderson was known for her more adult sense of humor.

Fashion Choices

Even if you watched The Brady Bunch as it aired, the way the Brady kids dressed wasn’t exactly the height of fashion. This was something the actors knew all too well.

Twitter // @MrBarryWilliams

They even regularly pleaded with Schwartz for more modern clothes for their wardrobe. However, what’s wrong with letting the kids wear the latest trends? Swartz was worried that if he made this change, the series would start to look outdated when it came to syndication.

Something More

We’ve all been in a position where we’ve wanted something more. Even the rich and famous have career ambitions they may not have met yet.

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According to Schwartz, Reed clearly thought that he could do more than TV. However, he agreed that Reed was probably right — he had Shakespearean training and natural talent. Schwartz once told ABC that Reed “wound up on a show that he didn’t want to do in the first place, and it became more and more difficult for him.”

A Familiar Set

The house that the family lived together in during the run of The Brady Bunch is no one-hit-wonder. It might look familiar for a few other reasons!

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The house — ot at least the interior — has been used as a set more than once. You might have seen it in an episode of Hawaii Five-O or during the runtime of Mission Impossible. It’s also been in the horror movie Bug and in Mannix.

Just Too Good

The role of the father figure didn’t always belong to Reed. There was a time that it was up for grabs and plenty of people wanted it.

POPSUGAR // ABC

One actor who really wanted this role was Jeffrey Hunter. You might recognize him from his roles in The Searchers or King of Kings. However, he was turned down for the role because the executives thought he was too attractive. Admittedly, though, Robert Reed was also a hunk.

We All Make Mistakes

The Brady Bunch wouldn’t be what it is without the mistakes and bloopers made on set. After all, the editors often left some of these mistakes in.

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This has made for a few fan-favorite scenes with large errors. For instance, in one scene, the family leaves the house and then returns with a different car. Even worse, Jan’s haircut changes in a scene at one point. They add some character to the show!

The Subject Was Noses

In an episode of The Brady Bunch titled “The Subject Was Noses,” Marcia Brady is hurt in the show, and the episode follows her along as she navigates through her injury.

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The episode actually came about after Maureen McCormick, who played Marcia Brady, was injured in real life. In 1973, the actress was in a car accident that left her with an injured nose. As a result, the writers incorporated what she went through into the show.

Too Much Realism

Speaking of “The Subject Was Noses,” there’s a darker fact behind the episode. During the episode, Marcia is hit in the face with a football that Peter throws her way.

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Usually, when you see something like this on TV, it’s a bit of “movie magic” at work. After all, who wants the actors to actually get hurt? That wasn’t quite the case for The Brady Bunch. Schwartz had a real football actually thrown directly at McCormick’s face for the shot.

Offscreen Romance

Of course, what the actors and the characters experience aren’t always the same. For example, the actors had totally different relationships with one another in real life than their television character counterparts.

IMDb // Maureen McCormick News

Behind the scenes, romance blossomed too. Maureen McCormick and Barry Williams may have played siblings Marcia and Greg on-screen but they were romantically linked at one point in real life. At least they were for a little while and McCormick even discusses it in her memoir.

In the Spotlight

Throughout the run of The Brady Bunch, you see a lot of the same actors and actresses on screen time and time again. After all, it’s a show with a regular cast.

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Despite this, though, there are only three actors that appear in every episode of the show. This includes Florence Henderson (Carol), Barry Williams (Greg), and Ann B. Davis (Alice). This gives them a total number of 117 episode appearances in The Brady Bunch.

Kelly’s Kids

The Brady Bunch almost got a spinoff of its own but the series ended up falling apart before it even made it to air.

Facebook // Brady Bunch History

The series was going to be called Kelly’s Kids. Instead of the Brady family, this series would have focused on their neighbors, Ken and Kathy Kelly — who fans met in the fifth season of the show. The show would have also featured the Kelly children that Kathy and Ken adopted.

Back on Screen

If you’ve seen the entirety of The Brady Bunch, you’ll definitely recognize Christopher Beaumont. He took on four roles over the span of two years.

(Top) IMDb // Quarterback Sneak (1973) | (Bottom) Facebook // Brady Bunch History

The interesting thing about this is that he came back as a different character every time. In “Our Son, the Man,” he showed up as ‘The Boy’ while he played Hank in “A Room at the Top.” He’d show up once more as Jerry in “Quarterback Sneak.”

Not Quite as it Seems

We all know that the sets we see on screen probably aren’t exactly like a regular house. We already noted that something’s missing from the Brady bathroom.

The Brady Bunch Blog // verybradyblog.blogspot.com

Another missing thing is something you might not have noticed. The sliding glass door in the home is actually completely free of any glass. They did this to help reduce any glare or reflection off of the glass that the camera might pick up while filming.

Replacing Mike Brady

The role of Mike Brady was like any other role — there were a lot of actors up for the job! Before they decided on Reed, there were a few options in the running.

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This included the famous Gene Hackman. He wasn’t quite the mammoth in his field as he’s considered today and that’s ultimately what did him in. He was turned down for not seeming familiar enough to audiences. Don’t worry, though, because he found success with an Oscar for The French Connection only a year later.

That’s One Solution

There’s a distinct visual cue in The Brady Bunch. The daughters in the family are blonde and Mike’s sons have dark hair.

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Susan Olsen, who played Cindy, wasn’t actually a natural blonde, though. Instead of opting for a wig, the production team decided to bleach her hair regularly. They started doing so when the actress was only eight years old. The treatment was so harsh on her hair that it eventually started falling out.

Another Carol

Mike Brady wasn’t the only role that almost went to someone else. The role of Carol was up for grabs at one point as well.

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Interestingly, Shirley Jones was also in the running for the role but turned down the offer when she was asked. This is interesting for a couple of reasons. Not only were Jones and Florence Henderson already friends at the time but Jones would later go on to take up a role in another famous sitcom — The Partridge Family.

A Different Cindy Brady

It’s interesting to think about how different the show could have been with different actors. Another person to compete for their character was Susan Olsen.

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In 2019, on Watch What Happens Live, Olsen shared that someone else almost took her spot. As it turns out, before she launched to fame with titles like The Silence of the Lambs, Jodie Foster almost made a mark on sitcom history, too.

Calling Back

You don’t necessarily have to watch The Brady Bunch in order to see the cast members together. Many worked together more than once in other popular shows.

Facebook // We Love The Brady Bunch Spinoffs

An ode to classic sitcoms, That ’70s Show called on actors from The Brady Bunch more than once. Barry Williams and Christopher Knight play the Foreman family’s neighbors — and Eve Plumb played Jackie’s for a moment, too!

Not as Popular as You Think

Considering how well-known The Brady Bunch is now, you’d probably expect that it was astonishingly popular when it aired. That isn’t quite the case.

Instagram // @thebradybunchfam

During the time it aired, the show didn’t receive anywhere near the recognition it got later after it was syndicated. At the time, there was a metric of Nielsen’s Top 30 to spotlight popular and well-done shows. The Brady Bunch never made it on the list while it originally ran.

Moving Into Music

It’s not rare for a show to expand beyond simply existing on your screen for an episode each week. The Brady Bunch was no different.

Flickr // Bradley Loos

While the TV show was on, the kids in the family launched into their own spin-off career in pop music together. The move was a familiar one since it’s one that The Partridge Family also took. They released a number of albums through the early ’70s and even briefly worked with the Jackson 5.

Singing a Song

While the Brady kids were known as a fairly musical bunch, not all of the actors had the same talents off-screen. After all, they weren’t hired as musicians.

IMDb // The Great Earring Caper (1973)

This really negatively impacted Christopher Knight, who played Peter Brady. He didn’t have a knack for singing so the solution the show came up with was to have the young actor lip sync. In an interview with The Improper Bostonian, he later admitted the musical scenes were particularly traumatizing.

Family Ties

People land roles in shows for all sorts of reasons. Schwartz made sure that he added his daughter into the show a few times, even if it wasn’t for a main role.

IMDb // The Hair-Brained Scheme (1974)

Throughout the run of the show, she shows up four separate times. The first time you see her is in “The Slumber Caper” as Jenny. Then, she shows up for two episodes to play Rachel, Greg’s brief romantic fling. Finally, she shows up in “The Hair-Brained Scheme” as Gretchen.

By Any Other Name

By today’s standards, The Brady Bunch is nothing short of iconic. The title automatically brings to mind an idea of classic sitcoms.

IMDb // Brace Yourself (1970)

So, it’s hard to think of the show under any other title. Yet, we almost saw a completely different title from the end result. Some of the ideas that floated around included “Yours and Mine,” much like an earlier comedy. Then, it shifted closer with “The Bradley Brood” before finally settling on The Brady Bunch.

A Show at Risk

Schwartz almost lost The Brady Bunch when he ended up in court over it. The executives of Yours, Mine, and Ours were the other party.

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The makers of the 1968 comedy alleged that Schwartz had plagiarized their work. Namely, they tried to claim the concept of a blended family as the focus of the work. Schwartz got out of it by proving that he had written ideas for the show from before it aired.

Life-Saving Intervention

In “The Cincinnati Kids” episode, The Brady Bunch was meant to jump on a real-life roller coaster. Reed got a hunch that something was off, though.

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So, before they got on, he demanded that the roller coaster was subjected to a test run. During that test run, the camera on the front of the cart flew off. Had the actors been in their places, it would have hit them directly too! He managed to save the day.