Holden’s House from “The Good Girl”

Holden's House The Good Girl-1000826

Another Simi Valley location that Mike, from MovieShotsLA, suggested I stalk this past Saturday after my and the Grim Cheaper’s American Jewish University Brandeis-Barden Campus snafu (which you can read about here) was the supposed Texas-area home where Holden Worther (Jake Gyllenhaal) lived in my favorite movie of all-time, The Good Girl.  Ha, just kidding!  As I mentioned in yesterday’s post about the Retail Rodeo, I actually hated the 2002 Jennifer Aniston flick.  But because the GC and I were pretty much right around the corner from Holden’s house when Mike texted me its address, I figured we might as well stalk the place.

[ad]

In real life, the charming one-story, Anywhere, U.S.A.-style residence was constructed in 1964 and measures two bedrooms, two baths and 1,267 square feet.  Mike, who lives in Simi Valley, actually tracked this location down way back in 2002 thanks to some local buzz that he heard while The Good Girl was being filmed.

Holden's House The Good Girl-1000825

In The Good Girl, Holden lives at the house – after getting kicked out of college – with his spiritless, emotionless parents, Mr. Worther (John Doe – and yes, that is his actual stage name!) and Mrs. Worther (Roxanne Hart), neither of whom utter more than a single word during the entire movie.  As you can see below, the property looks very much the same in person as it did onscreen.  Even the number plaque next to the garage door is still exactly the same!  Yay!

ScreenShot5419

Holden's House The Good Girl-1000827

ScreenShot5418

Holden's House The Good Girl-1000828

I find it pretty ironic that producers ended up choosing a home with a large mountain range visible behind it to stand in for Holden’s in the flick.  As I mentioned above, The Good Girl is supposed to take place in a small Texas town and the Lone Star State isn’t exactly known as being mountainous.

ScreenShot5409

Holden's House The Good Girl-1000823

I am fairly certain that the real life interior of the house was also used in the flick, but I, unfortunately, could not find any photographs online with which to verify that hunch.

ScreenShot5410

ScreenShot5411

On an interesting The Good Girl side note – according to IMDB, director Miguel Arteta had Jennifer Aniston wear wrist weights prior to and during the filming in order to give her character, Justine Last, a worn-down look.  The trick worked as Justine was light years away from Rachel Green.  Her wardrobe only added to the effect, especially the drab shoes.  And while I realize that I have posted this quote before (back in October 2011 in my column about the What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? house), I absolutely love it, so I figured it bore repeating.  In the September 2009 issue of Elle Magazine, Jennifer Aniston said of her process of creating a character, “I‘ll never forget my high school acting teacher, Anthony Abeson, who said, ‘It starts with the shoes.’  When I think about a character, it does start with the shoes: What kind would she wear?  How would she walk in them?  If I’m going to put on a dress for a role – I don’t care if it’s the hardest dress to put on – I have to put the shoes on first.  The physicality leads me to the character . . . Like Justine in The Good Girl: She was so disconnected from how she looked, that’s what led to the discomfort of who she was.”  She’s right – Justine’s shoes – and her flood pants – definitely made that character.

ScreenShot5422

And on a Simi Valley side-note – the GC and I stumbled into Aubergine Emporium – the coolest, most unique antique store that I have ever been to in my life – while stalking in the area on Saturday.  The place is worth a visit just to check out its decor alone!  My favorite adornment was the antique ladder above the cash register, which the owners placed a sheet of glass on top of and now use as a shelf.  SO INCREDIBLY COOL AND UNIQUE!  Love, love, love it!  Aubergine was chock full of creative, whimsical touches like that and I honestly could have spent all day there, walking around gathering interior design ideas.  I cannot more highly recommend stalking the place!

Holden's House The Good Girl-

Be sure to “Like” IAMNOTASTALKER on Facebook here and “Friend” me on my personal page here.  You can also check out the IAMNOTASTALKER About Me page here and you can follow me on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER.  And you can take a look at my latest post – about road trip eats – on my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for finding this location!  Smile

Holden's House The Good Girl-1000824

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

Stalk It: Holden’s house from The Good Girl is located at 5368 Leland Circle in Simi Valley.  While in the area, be sure to stop by Aubergine Emporium at 4385 Valley Fair Street for a little antique shopping.

Retail Rodeo from “The Good Girl”

Retail Rodeo - The Good Girl-1000815

This past Saturday morning, the Grim Cheaper and I headed out to Simi Valley to stalk a location that he was actually excited about for once – the House of the Book building at the Brandeis-Barden Campus of the American Jewish University, which stands in for the Visualize cult’s headquarters on fave show The Mentalist.  And even though the American Jewish University website makes it sound as if the place is open to the public (it states that the campus is “an enchanting destination for residents and visitors to the region”), when we showed up we discovered that it most definitely is not.  Fail!  After a 45-minute drive out there, I was not about to turn right around and head back to Pasadena, though, so I texted Mike, from MovieShotsLA, who lives in the area, and asked him what other locations, if any, were nearby.  When he mentioned that Retail Rodeo from the 2002 movie The Good Girl was just a hop, skip and a jump away, I just about flipped my lid as it is a place that I had always wanted to stalk.  Yay!  So I dragged the GC right on over there.

[ad]

I really should admit here that I absolutely hated The Good Girl. In this stalker’s never-to-be humble opinion, the flick was easily one of the most depressing and boring ever produced.  I watched it when it was first released, of course, because of Miss Jen Aniston, but by about thirty minutes in I was ready to leave the theatre.  Yes, it’s that bad.  I even found it painful to scan through the thing today while making screen captures for this post. Ugh!  But because Retail Rodeo was such a prominent location in the flick, it stuck with me and I had always wanted to see it in person.

Retail Rodeo - The Good Girl-1000801

In The Good Girl, Retail Rodeo is the Texas-area drug store where Justine Last (Jennifer Aniston), Jack Field (John Carroll Lynch), Cheryl (Zooey Deschanel – who was fab in her role and pretty much the only good thing about the movie) and Holden Worther (Jake Gyllenhaal) work.

ScreenShot5390

Retail Rodeo - The Good Girl-1000803

ScreenShot5401

Retail Rodeo - The Good Girl-1000805

In real life, the place is currently a Flooring 101 carpet and tile center and, as you can see below, the exterior, thankfully, still looks much the same today as it did back in 2002 when The Good Girl was filmed.

ScreenShot5403

Retail Rodeo - The Good Girl-1000802

I was especially excited to see the front sidewalk area where Justine and Holden ate lunch together everyday.

ScreenShot5398

Retail Rodeo - The Good Girl-1000818

ScreenShot5400

Retail Rodeo - The Good Girl-1000817

And the tree that Holden hid behind after stealing $15,000 from the Retail Rodeo safe.

ScreenShot5406

Retail Rodeo - The Good Girl-1000811

Had to do it!  Winking smile

ScreenShot5405

Retail Rodeo - The Good Girl-1000820

The real life interior of the store was also used extensively in The Good Girl.  At the time of the filming, the property was vacant and, because it had previously housed a Thrifty drugstore, producers did not have to do much to turn the space into the fictional Retail Rodeo.

ScreenShot5396

ScreenShot5391

Sadly though, when Flooring 101 took over the space shortly after filming of The Good Girl had wrapped, the interior was completely gutted (like down to the studs!) and it no longer resembles its onscreen counterpart in any way, shape or form.  And while we did venture inside for a peek, the place was so vastly different that I did not even bother to snap any photographs, nor did I think the non-friendly owner would have allowed it.  Sad smile

ScreenShot5404

ScreenShot5395

Be sure to “Like” IAMNOTASTALKER on Facebook here and “Friend” me on my personal page here.  You can also check out the IAMNOTASTALKER About Me page here and you can follow me on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER.  And you can take a look at my latest post about road trip eats on my other blog, The Well-Heeled Diabetic, here.

Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for finding this location!  Smile

Retail Rodeo - The Good Girl-1000804

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

ScreenShot5388

Stalk It: Flooring 101, aka Retail Rodeo from The Good Girl, is located at 2790 East Los Angeles Avenue in Simi Valley.  The tree that Holden hid behind in the movie is the second tree in from the entrance to Flooring 101’s parking lot and is denoted with a pink arrow above.