Have you ever watched TV or a movie and thought, ‘Wow, that place looks familiar?’
Because I hadn’t—until I came to Squamish.
It’s probably no secret to many of you that our beautiful little town is used as a backdrop for many on-screen projects, but I honestly never expected that so many of the movies and shows I love were actually filmed right here.
Most recently, I was watching the second episode of The Last of Us—spoiler alert, my heart has still not recovered from that particular scene—when I noticed a familiar setting.
One of the show’s main characters, Joel Miller (played by Pedro Pascal), alongside Dina (played by Isabela Merced) and Abby Anderson (played by Kaitlyn Dever), took shelter from infected zombies in what looked like a decrepit old copper mine structure.
Go figure that the structure was actually the Britannia Mine Museum.
Museum director of site and assets, Deron Johnston, told our sister outlet, Vancouver is Awesome, that the shots in the episode, which cover only a few minutes of time in the show’s reality, were filmed in one day.
I was staying in Britannia Beach while they were filming and even drove past the crew in the parking lot, but had no idea that what was being filmed would be used in one of my favourite shows.
Other scenes for the show are also filmed in Britannia Beach at a set that was built to replicate Jackson, Wyoming.
Also last year, while pet sitting in Valleycliffe, I took the dog we were looking after for a walk along the Stawamus River.
When I arrived at the Mamquam Forest Service Road, I noticed a massive film crew set up on either side of the dirt road and fencing blocking off a portion of the trail I usually walked.
A little bit of digging revealed that what was being filmed was actually scenes for Season 2 of Disney+’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
Another massive show being filmed right in our very backyard.
Before arriving in Canada, I watched a TV series with my mother about a woman who moved to a small town in search of a fresh start.
I bet you’re not surprised to hear that it was Virgin River—also quite famously filmed at locations around Squamish.
While watching the show, I remember thinking ‘Wow, what a beautiful place’ and now here I am, in that beautiful place, seeing those backdrops every day.
There are a number of other famous flicks and series that have been filmed across town, including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s film Walking Tall, Seth Rogan’s The Interview and the birding film The Big Year with Steve Martin and Jack Black.
And for my fellow Twilight fans, you might be as shocked as I was to learn that Breaking Dawn was also shot here in Squamish, too.
All this to say, it is a pretty cool thing to know that if you ever leave town and feel homesick, there are a number of movies and shows you can watch to be transported back.
