Hollywood Filming locations – Page 4

June 29, 2009June 29, 2009

The Nightmare on Elm Street Houses

While all of my friends and family are, for the most part, very supportive of my stalking endeavors, I still quite often get asked the question, “Do people really care about this stuff?” and “Can you explain your website to me, because I just don’t get it.” LOL One of the people who “just doesn’t get it” the most is my good friend, and fellow actor, Blaze. So, the other day, while the two of us were out and about in Hollywood, I decided to show him what my website is all about. 🙂 Blaze has long been a huge fan of the horror movie genre, and when I say a huge fan, I mean a HUGE fan. So, since we were in the area, I asked him if he wanted to see the two main houses from his very favorite horror movie, A Nightmare on Elm Street. Blaze was absolutely shocked – and appeared somewhat skeptical – that a) the Nightmare on Elm Street houses were located in the L.A. area, and that b) I actually knew where to find them. Oh ye of little faith!

As I drove up to the home which stood in for Nancy’s in the movie – with a very smug smile on my face, I might add! – Blaze started SCREAMING his head off saying “OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! IT’S THE NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET HOUSE!!” LOL He hopped out of my car before I had even come to a complete stop and ran right up to the home’s front door to take a picture. He truly could not have been more excited!!! It’s stalking moments like this that I absolutely love – showing someone a location from a favorite movie and having it resonate with them just as much as it does with me. It’s the whole reason I started my blog. 🙂 And I’m pretty sure that Blaze now “gets it”.

I am very happy to report that Nancy (aka Heather Langenkamp’s) house looks pretty much exactly the same today as it did when A Nightmare on Elm Street was filmed there back in 1984. Blaze kept saying “Even the colors of the house are still the same!” 🙂 Nancy’s house also showed up in A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’s Revenge, as the residence of Jesse Walsh.

Located directly across the street from Nancy’s house is the house that was used as Glen (aka Johnny Depp’s) in the movie. And I am happy to report that Glen’s house also looks pretty much EXACTLY the same as it did in A Nightmare on Elm Street. I find it amazing – and refreshing – that both Nightmare On Elm Street houses look the same today as they did in a movie which filmed over twenty-five years ago!

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On a sidenote, it turns out that A Nightmare on Elm Street was Johnny Depp’s very first acting role. According to IMDB, Johnny was accompaning his good friend, actor Jackie Earle Haley, on an audition for the movie. While there, he was spotted by director Wes Craven, who took one look at him, liked what he saw, and asked him to audition for the part of Glen. Johnny won the role and the rest, as they say, is cinematic history! 🙂 Check out Johnny’s crop top in the above pic. LOL LOL LOL

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Nancy’s house from A Nightmare on Elm Street is located at 1428 North Genesee Avenue in Hollywood. Glen’s house is located right across the street at 1419 North Genesee.

June 17, 2009August 17, 2009

The “Joey” Apartment Building

For quite a while now I have been begging Mike, from MovieShotsLA, to locate the apartment building where Joey Tribbiani lived with his nephew, Michael, on the Friends spin-off Joey. So, imagine my surprise when I came across the address randomly in The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book. In the book, the address is listed as an almost after-thought, which is why it took me so long to notice it. LOL Apparently, most stalkers aren’t as interested in finding Joey filming locations as I am. 🙂 LOL Being that the show was canceled after only 14 episodes, I can’t say I’m all that surprised. But, because Joey was always my favorite Friends character (besides Rachel, of course!), I absolutely loved that show! “How you doin’?” 😉

On the show, Joey lived in a large apartment building named Monroe Manor, located directly beneath the Hollywood sign. Apparently, production designer John Schaffner chose the 50s style building because of its mid-century appeal. He said, “I didn’t want to do another Los Angeles show in a Spanish house or Craftsman cottage. I was more inspired by architects like Frank Lloyd Wright and Rudolph Schindler, who worked in natural materials that create a more casual feeling.” Monroe Manor definitely has a unique appearance to it and evokes a feeling of old time Hollywood.

The Monroe Manor complex was constructed in 1949 and is made up of ten terraced, duplex-type units built right into a Hollywood hillside. Each of the twenty apartments in the complex is entirely different in size and style. A side view of the building, which shows its tiered design, is pictured above. As you can see in the above photograph, the building is actually much larger than it’s front exterior would lead you to believe and much larger than it appeared onscreen in Joey. I read online that Monroe Manor was supposedly modeled after my girl Marilyn Monroe, but – call me crazy – I just don’t see the resemblance. 😉 LOL I think it is safer to say that the building was most likely just named after her. 🙂

In an interesting side note, after Joey was cancelled in 2004, a paramedics company in Charlotte, North Carolina purchased the entire set from the show (pictured above) to be used for their training simulations! Apparently, simulations are acted out on the former Joey set and recorded for later review and evaluation. How incredibly cool is that?? I so think I need to go work for that company!!!! North Carolina, here I come! 😉

In an even more interesting side note, when Matt LeBlanc first came to Hollywood, long before hitting it big with Friends, he actually lived at Monroe Manor!!!!! It was a complete coincidence years later when production designer John Schaffner chose the building to be used as the residence of struggling actor Joey Tribbiani. This was definitely a case of art imitating life! 🙂 Ironically, my good friend Maura has been asking me to find Matt LeBlanc’s house for some time now – so, Maura, this one’s for you. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Joey apartment building, aka Monroe Manor, is located at 2232 North Beachwood Canyon Drive in Hollywood. Joey lived in Apartment #7. In real life, Matt LeBlanc lived in #16.

May 8, 2009May 7, 2009

Hollywood Center Motel

A few weeks ago, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, called me up to ask me if I knew that my latest Hollywood crush, Simon Baker, had one of his earliest acting roles in the 1997 movie L.A. Confidential. And I almost fell out of my chair! Even though I’ve seen that movie about a hundred times, I never realized that SB had acted in it. The then-unknown Mentalist star had the small, but pivotal role of homosexual actor/prostitute Matt Reynolds in the film. That’s him in the above screen capture. I can’t believe how young he looks!!!!

Mike also told me the address of the location where SB’s character meets his untimely demise towards the middle of the movie – Room 203 of the Hollywood Center Motel. So, of course, since I was in the area yesterday, I just had to stalk it. 🙂

In the scene filmed at the Hollywood Center Motel, Hush-Hush magazine editor Sid Hudgeons (Danny DeVito) and Detective Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) set up a sting operation to catch the Los Angeles District Attorney in an illicit rendevous with homosexual prostitute SB.

But, at the last minute, Jack has a change of heart and shows up at the motel early to warn SB of the set-up.

Unfortunately, he is too late, and when he enters the seedy motel room he finds SB’s character dead on the floor. 🙁 Poor Simon!

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Hollywood Center Motel is an odd little place, with what appears to be a large central guesthouse surrounded by small motel rooms. I am guessing that most of the motels’ guests live there full time. Aside from a change in paint color, the Hollywood Center Motel looks pretty much exactly the same today as it did twelve years ago when it appeared onscreen in L.A. Confidential. Unfortunately, other than the fact that it was built in the 20’s, I couldn’t find out much information about the small motel online. And I can’t say that I’d really recommend stalking the place, as it is pretty seedy and run-down. But being that it definitely has that Old Hollywood vibe to it, it’s easy to see why producers chose to use it in their film about a 50’s era Los Angeles.

While I was stalking the motel, the manager happened to be outside sweeping the parking lot, so, of course, I had to ask him what other productions had been filmed on the premises. He looked at me like I was absolutely out of my mind, laughed, and then walked away without saying a word. LOL LOL LOL I am fairly certain, though, that, due to its historic and unique look, the motel has to have been used in other productions besides L.A. Confidential. I am going to have to keep my eyes open for it from now on. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Hollywood Center Motel is located at 6720 West Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.

April 20, 2009April 20, 2009

The Closer Duplex

As I have mentioned before, I am a huge fan of TNT’s crime series The Closer. As is my whole family, actually. So, a few weeks ago when my mom challenged me to locate Brenda and Fritz’s duplex apartment building from the series, I accepted the challenge! 🙂 And it didn’t take me long to find it at all.

Actually, I can’t really take credit for this one. I happened to show my boyfriend a screen capture I had made of Brenda’s building to see if he might have an idea of where it was located, and, sure enough, he did! He told me that there is a certain area of Hollywood that is chock full of duplexes just like Brenda’s and that I should start my search there. And that’s exactly what I did. That area is South of Beverly Boulevard, in between La Brea and Fairfax. And sure enough, that’s exactly where I found the building! It was actually on the second street I searched. 🙂

Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson and her fiance Fritz Howard move into this duplex on the Season 4 series opener, entitled “Controlled Burn”. Brenda spends most of the episode, which guest-starred Life On Mars cutie Jason Mara, fretting about what to do with her cat, Kitty, as her new landlord has a strict “no pets” policy. “Controlled Burn” actually featured some on location filming at the duplex, when Brenda brings home a reporter who is writing a story about the squad (pictured above). The duplex is shown throughout the rest of Season 4 in establishing shots of Brenda and Fritz’s home.

The Closer duplex looks EXACTLY the same in person as it does on TV, right down to the wind chimes hanging from the second story balcony and the decorative plaque located above the carport. Oddly enough, though, producers changed the address number of the duplex during filming. As you can see in the above screen capture, the address number on The Closer is 130/132. The real address, though, is 126/128. Which makes absolutely no sense to me! If you’re going to change the house number for whatever reason – most likely to ward off stalkers like myself 🙂 – shouldn’t you change it more significantly than that? LOL Because, to tell you the truth, when searching for the duplex, I was only looking at buildings with 130/132 address numbers, but quickly noticed The Closer duplex located right next door to a building that was numbered 130. LOL 🙂

The other inconsistency I noticed about the duplex is that in The Closer there is only one exterior door. You can see in the above screen capture that to enter her apartment, Brenda has to go through the main front door, which then leads into an anteroom.

But in real life, the duplex actually has a second front door located just to the right of the main entrance. Since Brenda’s unit is the one with the large plate glass window on the bottom floor, she should actually enter her home through that second exterior door, which is never shown on TV. Ah, the magic of Hollywood! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Closer duplex is located at 126/128 North Detroit Street in Hollywood.

April 10, 2009April 9, 2009

My Day on the Set of Weeds!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I absolutely LOVE living in L.A. You just never know what surprises lay around each corner here! Yesterday, as I drove up to the Hollywood & Highland Center to meet my good friend Blaze for some coffee, I noticed quite a few of those yellow filming signs that I love so much. Come to find out, the Showtime series Weeds was filming on location at the outdoor mall. I can’t say that I am a huge fan of the show, but my boyfriend absolutely loves it, so I have seen quite a few episodes. Needless to say, even though I don’t really watch the show, I was floored to be there. I’m pretty sure I could stumble upon an episode of Sesame Street being filmed, though, and still be pretty darn excited. 🙂 LOL

I pretty much couldn’t have picked a better time to arrive at H&H, since the filming of a large dance sequence was just about to begin right as I was walking up to the complex. The dance number was being filmed in the mall’s central courtyard area and there were cameras set up all over the top level of the complex. There was even a camera crew filming from the top of a ladder (pictured above).

The area where the scene was being filmed was not closed off to the public – much the same as when I watched the filming of The Mentalist a few weeks back – and normal people were walking in and out of the scene not realizing what was going on. In this case, though, I think that was exactly the producers’ intention. I believe they wanted to capture the real life reactions of tourists watching the dance sequence take place. The Weeds crew was extremely friendly and let people take all the photographs they wanted, so I was in heaven. 🙂

Being that I am a sucker for any sort of musical, I really couldn’t have picked a better film shoot to stumble upon. I can’t tell you how much fun the dance sequence was to watch! 🙂 The scene being filmed actually seemed to be an imitation of the awesome T-Mobile “Life’s For Sharing” commercial that was filmed at the Liverpool Street Train Station in London. Not only was the set-up of the Weeds scene pretty much identical to the T-Mobile ad, but the extras were all pretending to be taking photographs of the dancers with their cell phones, just like in the commercial. Basically the scene consisted of Mary-Louise Parker sitting in Hollywood & Highland’s central courtyard drinking a fruit smoothie, when all of a sudden loud music starts pouring out of the loudspeakers and one by one a large crowd breaks out into a spontaneous dance routine. It was really very cool to see in person! I so wanted to get out there and dance myself! LOL Amazingly enough, according to one of the extras I talked to, the dancers had only learned the dance a few hours earlier.

The only series regular acting in the scene was Mary-Louise Parker. I was hoping to see her cutie son on the show, actor Hunter Parish, but sadly he was not there. Ironically, before Mary-Louise came onto the set, her stand-in walked out and I started immediately snapping photos as I thought it was MLP! LOL She looks JUST like her! It was uncanny! You can see her stand-in wearing the purple shirt in the above photograph.

The above are photographs of the real MLP during the filming of the scene. 🙂 Mary-Louise is very pretty in person and a lot taller than I expected, but extremely thin. Disgustingly thin, really. Her arm looked like a bone with skin covering it. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen arms that skinny in my entire life.

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During the filming breaks, Mary-Louise actually had a “personal umbrella holder” who followed her around with an umbrella to shield her from the sun (pictured above). For those of you who don’t read US Magazine regularly, some celebrities actually employ what is known as a “personal umbrella holder” – or a P.U.H. – who basically holds an umbrella over their heads for them when it rains. I’m not kidding! I guess celebs are just far too important to be holding their own umbrellas. LOL I mean, how lazy can someone actually be??? I honestly don’t think I could ever in good conscience allow another person to hold an umbrella for me, no matter how big of a star I was. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, but something about that just doesn’t seem right. LOL

P.U.H. aside, I had an absolute blast being on the Weeds set today and cannot wait to watch the episode on TV!!! It should air on Showtime in about two months.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Weeds was filmed in the Hollywood & Highland Center’s central courtyard, which is located at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. Some filming also took place at Dlush Deluxe Beverage Joint in the Hollywood & Highland Center.

February 18, 2009June 16, 2011

The “‘Til There Was You” Apartment Building

Another day, another elusive location found thanks to Mike – God of Stalking – over at MovieShotsLA. 🙂 I have been challenged several times over the past few months to find the beautiful courtyard apartment building featured in the 1997 movie ‘Til There Was You. Unfortunately I had never seen the movie before and my local Blockbuster did not carry the title. And according to Amazon.com, the DVD had been discontinued by the manufacturer. So I thought I was really out of luck on this one, as without seeing the movie firsthand I had no idea what I was looking for. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I just happened to mention my quandry to Mike and he set out to find the location. Within about fifteen minutes Mike called me back with an address. Amazing! He had found the location by doing a simple Google search. And all this time I had been trying to find the DVD. But who needs a video or screen captures when you’ve got mad stalking skills like Mike? LOL 🙂

Once Mike had found the location – and once I found out that BOTH my girl Jen Aniston and SJP starred in the movie – I decided to make one last ditch effort to purchase the DVD. And sure enough, I found it on Ebay! The only problem? For sale was a Region 2 DVD, which meant it would only work on European DVD players. LOL Thank God my boyfriend is good with computers, because somehow he was able to rig my laptop so that I could watch the movie. So, finally – after about a six month long wait – I got to see ‘Til There Was You. I must say that the movie was pretty cute. I wouldn’t recommend going through what I did to watch it, but if you happen to see it in a video store, it’s worth a rental. 🙂

The entire premise of ‘Til There Was You centers around the proposed demolition of a Spanish style courtyard apartment building named La Fortuna. In the movie the building has a very romantic quality to it and everyone who sets foot inside of its picturesque courtyard immediately falls in love with it. In real life that apartment building is named El Cabrillo and it is no stranger to the film industry. El Cabrillo was constructed in 1928 by none other than Cecil B. DeMille who needed a place to house his out of town actors. The building was designed by noted architects Arthur and Nina Zwebell, who built numerous Los Angeles courtyard style apartment buildings in the 1920’s, many of which are now on the National Register of Historic Places. Notables who have lived in the building at one time or another include transvetite actress Divine, actress Ann Harding, director Lowell Sherman, makeup artist Perc Westmore, and playwright John Willard.

Besides being featured in ‘Til There Was You, legend has it that El Cabrillo was also used in a Rudolph Valentino movie many moons ago. It is also currently being used as the home of the main character on the television series Chuck. Interestingly enough, Chuck’s pilot episode was actually filmed on location at El Cabrillo. The courtyard area and three different apartments were used for that episode. But once the show got picked up by NBC a replica of the apartments and the courtyard were rebuilt on a soundstage at Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank.

Sadly, El Cabrillo’s gates were closed while I was stalking it, so I did not get to see the interior courtyard area. From the outside El Cabrillo is amazingly non-descript and completely covered in foliage. You could easily drive right past the building without realizing the beauty that lies just on the other side of its gates.

But for those of you who would like an up-close-and-personal look at the building, I have some good news! A few of the units are currently available as vacation rentals. And it appears from the rental website photographs that El Cabrillo’s interiors are absolutely beautiful!! They actually remind me a lot of the interior of Amanda Peet’s apartment in fave movie A Lot Like Love. In fact the interiors are so similar, that I can’t help but wonder if the A Lot Like Love set was modeled after the interior of a real El Cabrillo apartment (both are pictured above).

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The ‘Til There Was You apartment building, aka El Cabrillo, is located at 1832-1850 North Grace Avenue in Hollywood.

October 24, 2008September 29, 2017

More Halloween!

Last year, during our annual Haunted Halloween tour, I dragged my boyfriend to the two houses where Jamie Lee Curtis and her friend babysit in the movie Halloween. The final action sequence in the movie takes place at these two houses, which are located across the street from each other. Even though I had never seen the movie Halloween, being that it was the season, I just had to stalk it. 🙂 I seriously need to rent this movie!

The first house I dragged my boyfriend to was the Doyle Family home where Jamie Lee Curtis babysits Tommy and Lindsay Doyle at the end of the movie. The Doyle home is a very cute house and it actually looks like it should be located in the Pasadena area. Being that the majority of the filming of Halloween actually took place in Pasadena, I am very surprised that the producers didn’t just find a home there to use. These location decisions always fascinate me and I would love to find out the reasoning behind them! Someday I really need to sit down with a location scout to pick their brain!

Anyway, the next house we stalked is located directly across the street from the Doyle house. It is the house where Jamie Lee’s best friend Annie babysits and also where she meets her untimely end. From what I can tell from the screen captures, this house looks very different from how it appeared in Halloween. While the front porch area is still recognizable from the movie, it appears that the home was somewhat modernized in recent years and a side garage was added. I so hate it when movie homes are remodeled! Filming locations should really be designated historical landmarks so that the exteriors are protected and forced to remain the same for eternity. 🙂 I mean I think I would seriously cry if anyone ever remodeled the 90210 house! LOL

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The home where Jamie Lee Curtis babysits is located at 1530 North Orange Grove Avenue in Hollywood. The house where her friend Annie babysits is located directly across the street at 1537 North Orange Grove.

August 11, 2008December 6, 2013

The Oldest Restaurant in Hollywood!

Two weeks ago, while my mom and I were out stalking in Hollywood, we hit up Musso and Frank’s Grill, which has the distinction of being the oldest running restaurant in Hollywood. Opened in 1919, not only is Musso and Frank’s a top notch celeb hangout, but the restaurant has been featured in countless hit movies, including Ocean’s Eleven (pictured above).

Musso and Frank’s was started by John Musso and Frank Toulet. Ever since its opening almost 90 years ago, the restaurant has been hugely popular with Tinseltown’s elite. Back in the day Marilyn Monroe, Raymond Burr, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Gloria Swanson, Cecil B. DeMille, Raymond Chandler and Clark Gable were all Musso and Frank regulars. Since its opening the restaurant has only been remodeled once – in 1937 – and it is still extremely popular with the rich and famous. Today you might spot Robert Dinero, Al Pacino, Brad Pitt, James Woods, Johnny Depp, Keith Richards, Leonardo DiCaprio, Drew Barrymore, Sean Penn, Madonna, Harrison Ford, or Francis Ford Coppola sitting next to you in one of Musso and Frank’s plush red leather booths.

My mom and I had an absolute blast dining at Musso and Frank’s!! The restaurant definitely projects an Old Hollywood vibe, with its large oak-paneled, red leather booths, wood beamed ceilings, and vintage style bar. Musso’s also serves up some really great food including chicken pot pie, filet minon, lamb, and cheese raviolis, but be prepared as it’s a bit on the pricey side. The price is worth it, though, as you are paying for the vintage ambiance as much as anything else.

I literally could have sat there all day listening to the stories our waiter had to share about his 40 plus years working at Musso and Frank’s. It seemed every waiter and bartender had a story to tell about the countless famous names that have dined at the establishment over the years and I have to admit I was completely mesmerized.

Besides being a celeb hangout, Musso and Frank’s is a frequent filming location, as well. The restaurant’s kitchen was featured as the kitchen in Disney’s Enchanted where Nathanial speaks to Queen Narissa’s reflection in a pot of soup on the stove.

The Grill was featured not once, but TWICE in Ocean’s Eleven. Both scenes were with Brad Pitt and George Clooney. The restaurant first shows up in the scene when Danny Ocean first tells Rusty that he is thinking of robbing a Vegas casino. That scene was filmed in a booth in the Grill’s front dining room. A bit later on in the movie, Rusty and Danny have a drink at Musso and Frank’s bar and Danny says his famous monologue about needing one more person for the heist – “Ten oughta do it, don’t you think? You think we need one more? You think we need one more. All right, we’ll get one more.”

The restaurant was also used in the movie Swingers during the parking lot fight scene. In the scene, Vince Vaughn and gang get into a fight with their rivals “House of Pain” in the parking lot behind Hollywood club the Dresden, but in reality filming actually took place in Musso and Frank’s back lot. Producers simply changed the awning over the back door of Musso and Frank’s to read “The Dresden.” Musso and Frank’s also showed up in Ed Wood as the location where Ed Wood meets Orson Wells. The restaurant has also appeared in numerous episodes of the TV show Shark.

Stalk It: Musso and Frank’s Grill is located at 6667 Hollywood Boulevard in Downtown Hollywood. I highly recommend stalking it for the great food, amazing ambiance, and the waiters’ legendary Hollywood stories!

August 9, 2008February 13, 2009

The Beverly Beat

Thanks to my good friend Mike over at MovieShotsLA I was able to stalk Brandon and Steve’s newspaper office from the original Beverly Hills, 90210 series. On the final years of the original 90210, Brandon and Steve ran their own newspaper called “The Beverly Beat” and the location of the newspaper office had eluded me for some time.

I had long been convinced that the Beverly Beat office was located above Louise’s Trattoria restaurant on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena (pictured above), but since I do not have the final seasons of 90210 on tape, I was never able to confirm my hunch. Then I met Mike, 90210 stalking expert, who told me that Brandon’s office was actually located at the Baine Building right on Hollywood Boulevard. So, of course, I ran right out to stalk it.

The Baine Building was built in the Spanish Revival style by businessman Harry M. Baine and designed by architecture firm Gogerty & Weyl in 1926. Harry M. Baine, a prominent businessman and Los Angeles County Supervisor, was also the man responsible for the creation of the annual Hollywood Christmas Parade. During Christmastime in 1928, hoping to promote his business and drive sales, Baine renamed Hollywood Boulevard “Santa Claus Lane” and hired real reindeer to pull sleighs down the street. And thus a tradition was born.

The Baine Building is a beautiful building in Hollywood that I highly recommend stalking. I wonder if the builiding will make an appearance on the new 90210 series. The building was also replicated in Disneyland’s California Adventure Park, so you can also stalk it there. 🙂 lol You can read this interesting article about the Disney replication.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Baine Building is located at 6605 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, just a few blocks from the Hollywood & Highland Center. Just a half a block away at 6667 Hollywood Boulevard is Musso and Frank’s Grill, the oldest restaurant in Hollywood and a great place to grab a bite to eat! 🙂

July 1, 2008February 13, 2009

Hollywood Renaissance Hotel

Yesterday, while killing time before an acting class, I decided to stop into the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel which is attached to the famous Hollywood & Highland shopping center. When I stepped inside, I noticed a few excited teenage girls standing in the lobby with cameras and autograph books in hand. I just had to walk over to them to ask who they were waiting for. They told me that Will Smith had just walked through the lobby and was standing “RIGHT THERE!” I looked around and did not see him and they kept saying “He’s RIGHT THERE!” LOL Turns out Will was standing just a few yards away from me waiting to get into his SUV. I had just missed him walking through the lobby by mere seconds.

The teenage girls told me that Will was SUPER nice and had stopped to take pictures with each of them. Even though his bodyguard kept telling him that he didn’t have time to stop, Will took individual pictures with all of the girls. How sweet is that! Apparently Will was at the Renaissance for a pre-party before the premiere of his new movie Hancock. Will was much thinner in person than I thought he would be. I guess I expected him to be larger than life, due to the characters he portrays onscreen. In real life he is tall, about 6′, but pretty lanky and really thin. Everything happened so fast that I did not have time to snap a picture of him. 🙁

Besides being a favorite stomping ground of celebrities – last time I was there I saw Nikki Blonsky from Hairspray – the Renaissance is also a filming location! It was portrayed as the hotel where Rachel McAdams works in the movie Red Eye. The brightly colored lobby stood in for the lobby of the Miami Beach hotel where McAdams character was head of customer service. The Renaissance is a great place for celeb stalking as many stay there during premieres and press junkets due to its close proximity to downtown Hollywood.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Hollywood Renaissance Hotel is located at 1755 North Highland Avenue, right next to the Hollywood & Highland Shopping Center. You can visit their website here.