The Glen Capri Inn & Suites from “The Good Girl”

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A few weeks ago, I dragged the Grim Cheaper out to stalk the Glen Capri Inn & Suites – a historic and oft-filmed Glendale-area motel that has appeared in over twenty movie and television productions in the past six years alone.  I was most interested in stalking the property due to its appearance in the 2002 flick The Good Girl, which starred my girl Jen Aniston.  And even though I didn’t like The Good Girl AT ALL (it was just far too dark and depressing for my taste), because JA had filmed there, I was dying to see the motel which was featured in it in person.

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The Glen Capri is famous not only for its vast motion picture history, but for its distinct architectural style, as well.  The property was originally built in 1949 by Louis Armet and Eldon Davis, the architectural team who, according to an August 1999 Los Angeles Times article written by Ed Leibowitz, “defined ‘50s Googie architecture” – Googie being the unique mid-century modern-style of design which had its roots in the now-defunct, John Lautner-constructed Googies Coffee Shop.  At the time of its grand opening, the Glen Capri Inn & Suites was called simply the Glen Capri Motel.  In 2000, the interior of the property underwent an extensive remodel at which point it was given its more upscale-sounding moniker.  Fortunately, the exterior of the property was left intact during the recent remodel and looks almost exactly the same today as it did when it was first built over six decades ago.  It is thanks to the motel’s historic facade and authentic 60’s neon signage that location scouts have returned to film there time and time again.

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Before arriving at the Glen Capri Inn & Suites, I was a little nervous that the place would not be very stalker-friendly and that taking photographs of the premises would be a big no-no.  As it turns out, though, I needn’t have worried.  The man working at the front desk was very nice and said that we could take all of the pictures that we wanted.  AND there was even a “Wall of Fame” located in the main office, with signed headshots of all of the actors who had filmed at the motel on display.

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As you can imagine, I just about died when I saw my girl Jen’s autographed picture hanging on the wall.  SO INCREDIBLY COOL!

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In The Good Girl, the Glen Capri stood in for the Texas-area motel where Justine Last (aka Jennifer Aniston) and Holden Worther (aka Jake Gyllenhaal) conducted their on-going affair.

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Both the main office .  . .

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. . . and Room 8 were used in the flick.  I don’t want to give away the ending, but Room 8 also featured significantly in the movie’s climactic finale.  On a Good Girl side note – Mike, from MovieShotsLA, recently stalked Retail Rodeo, the discount store where Justine and Holden worked in the movie.  You can see pics of it on his site here.

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In 2004’s Raising Helen, the Glen Capri stood in for the New York-area motel where Helen Harris (aka Kate Hudson) and Jenny Portman (aka Joan Cusack) catch their underage niece Audrey Davis (aka Hayden Panettiere) on prom night.  Audrey’s room was number 205.

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In the 2004 teen comedy The Girl Next Door, Matthew Kidman (aka Emile Hirsch) took Danielle (aka Elisha Cuthbert) to the Glen Capri with the hopes of seducing her while there.

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Ironically enough, Emile Hirsch returned to the Glen Capri two years later to film a scene for the 2006 drama Alpha Dog. In the flick, the Glen Capri stood in for the Albuquerque motel where Johnny Truelove and his girlfriend Angela Holden (aka Olivia Wilde) hid out after police had discovered the body of Zack Mazursky (aka Anton Yelchin).

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In 2007’s Georgia Rule, the Glen Capri stood in for the Hull, Ohio-area motel where Arnold (aka Cary Elwes) stays while in town visiting his wife, Lily (aka Felicity Huffman), and his step-daughter, Rachel Wilcox (aka Lindsay Lohan).  In the movie, Arnold stays in Room 206.

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Other movies that have filmed at the Glen Capri include The Country Bears, Diamonds & Guns, and Janky Promoters. Episodes of Without a Trace, Parks and Recreation, Cold Case, Saving Grace, Night Stalker, Close to Home, Day Break, Windfall, Lovespring International, Mad Men, and Nip/Tuck have also been shot at the Glen Capri.  You can check out the hotel’s very thorough filming page, which chronicles all of the productions that have been filmed on the premises over the past ten years, on its website here.  Love it!  There are actually several different motels in the Glen Capri chain and the one located at 326 Colorado Street, also in Glendale, has been used for filming, as well.  It has appeared in episodes of Life and The Surreal Life and in a 2007 Smash Mouth music video.

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On a Jennifer Aniston side note – my good friend and fellow stalker Kerry recently gifted me with the new Jennifer Aniston Perfume and I have to say that it is absolutely DIVINE.  It is honestly the best scented perfume that I’ve ever smelled in my entire life!  All of the literature written about it says that it has a “beachy” scent, but to me it seems to have more of a floral feel to it and is a bit reminiscent of Michael Kors signature fragrance, which I also love.  Jennifer Aniston perfume smells so amazing that I literally cannot stop smelling my wrists when I wear it – I wouldn’t be surprised if I subconsciously gnaw my arm off in the coming weeks.  😉  Because the perfume is only available at Harrods in London (contrary to what Jen reported during her most recent Chelsea Lately appearance, it cannot be shipped outside of the UK), Kerry had to go through hell and high water to get it for me.  So, I’ve had to resort to rationing it out in very small portions each day as I simply do not know WHAT I am going to do when I run out.  🙁  I am hoping that by that time it will be available in the US.  (Are you listening, Jen?)  Anyway, if you live in London or have plans to travel there, I HIGHLY recommend stopping by Harrods to pick up some JA perfume.  Take my word for it, you will NOT be disappointed.  And a HUGE thank you to Kerry for getting it for me!  🙂

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: Glen Capri Inn & Suites is located at 6700 San Fernando Road in Glendale.  You can visit the hotel’s official website hereThe Good Girl was filmed in the main office and in Room 8; Raising Helen also used the main office and Room 205; and Georgia Rule was filmed in Room 206.

The “Confessions of a Shopaholic” House

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While doing some research for my Who’s The Boss? post quite a few months back, I came across this website which chronicles all of the movies that have ever been filmed in the city of Fairfield, Connecticut and just about died when I saw the 2009 flick Confessions of a Shopaholic on the list.  As I’ve mentioned before, I wasn’t all that big a fan of the movie (I actually just re-watched parts of it while making today’s screen captures and have to say that it’s even worse the second time around), but the book that the movie was based on is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE NOVEL OF ALL TIME.  For those of you who have yet to read Confessions of a Shopaholic, please don’t let its craptastic cinematic counterpart scare you off.  The novel is a literary masterpiece – well, for a “chick lit” book, anyway.  😉  But I digress.  Anyway, as luck would have it, fellow stalker Owen just happens to live in the Fairfield area so I had an inkling that he might know the exact location of the main house used in the movie.  And, sure enough, he did!  Owen had come across the home’s address back in 2008 while doing some research on the Leonardo DiCaprio/Kate Winslet film Revolutionary Road, which was also filmed in Fairfield.   And even though he had absolutely no interest in ever seeing Shopaholic, nor did he even know what the movie was about really, he wrote the address down in his stalking files anyway!  And that right there is why we’re friends!  🙂     So, because I have no immediate plans to visit the state of Connecticut, I asked Owen if he wouldn’t mind stalking the house for me, which he happily did.  Thank you, Owen!

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In Confessions of a Shopaholic, the residence pictured above belongs to Graham (aka John Goodman) and Jane (aka Joan Cusack), the parents of Becky Bloomwood (aka Isla Fisher), the movie’s heroine.  The house only actually appears in a few brief scenes in the flick and, oddly enough, only a partial view of the exterior is ever shown.

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The home’s front door is the area that got the most screen time in the flick, but even that was featured only very briefly.  I am surprised that the producers didn’t choose to show more of the house onscreen, as it is a SUPER cute abode and actually looks exactly like the type of place I pictured Becky growing up in while reading the book. 

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I am very happy to report that the Confessions of a Shopaholic home looks EXACTLY the same in person as it did onscreen.

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Even the residence’s real life address plaque and mailbox were used in the filming.  SO LOVE IT!  🙂

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Filming at the house took place on April 9 of 2008 and I am fairly certain that the interior was also used in the production.  You can see some photographs of the filming taken by a Fairfield, Connecticut resident here.

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Big THANK YOU to Owen for finding this location and stalking it for me!  🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: The Confessions of a Shopaholic house is located at 16 Essex Street in Fairfield, Connecticut.  The movie also filmed a scene at Greenwich Point Park, which is located on Tods Driftway, off of Shore Road, in Greenwich, which is about 20 miles west of Fairfield.