Canada has thrown open its doors to vampires, cowboys, homicidal dancers and superheroes over the years – or at least to the actors who portray them.
The beautiful landscapes and cities that have tourists snapping away have also tempted film-makers to set the cameras rolling so visitors to Canada can drop in on the locations of their favourite movies. Here’s a short guide for film-fan clients.
British Columbia
Vancouver is known as the Hollywood of the North. It has been used as a film location since 1910, and is north America’s third-largest film centre, after Los Angeles and New York city.
And the area is in the spotlight again as New Moon mania sweeps the western world. Much of the Twilight sequel, although set in Washington State, was filmed in British Columbia, mostly around Vancouver and near Tofino on Vancouver Island.
The crew filmed Bella’s nightmare scenes in the Capilano Forest, her high-school cafeteria at the David Thomson Secondary School, and found a perfect version of Jacob’s house in the middle of Gifford Pinchot National Forest – although it had to be repainted. The film-makers knew Twilight fans would protest if the house – red in the book – was left green.
So if clients need a trump card to turn their teenagers on to Canada, telling them that British Columbia was home to the world’s sexiest vampire may do the trick. Two local entrepreneurs have even started Twilight Tours Vancouver, showing off the locations and thrilling fans with gossip from the set.
The third movie in the series has recently been filmed in the area and is slated for UK release on July 9. Die-hard fans can steal a march on their rivals by taking a trip to the location and seeing the film early, as it is scheduled to be released in North America on June 30.
Vancouver and the surrounding area offer a diverse holiday, with the cosmopolitan city, the old-fashioned heritage of Victoria, and the natural scenery of Vancouver Island. You wouldn’t think there was time for any neck-nibbling on the side.
Sample product: Thomson Tailormade has four nights’ room only at the four-star Delta Vancouver Suites, from £749 per person, saving £284 per booking. The price includes return flights from London and is based on an April 16 departure. thomsonworldwide.com, 0871 664 0273
Alberta
Send customers to Alberta to earn their spurs – this is cowboy country. Clint Eastwood filmed the lion’s share of his Academy award-winning Unforgiven in the Calgary area. Just outside Drumheller is Horseshoe Canyon, the location where Eastwood finds Morgan Freeman living in a shack. The town of Big Whiskey, where much of the action takes place, was purpose-built near Longview.
And when Jake Gyllenhaal and the late Heath Ledger fell in love in Brokeback Mountain, Alberta stood in again, this time for Wyoming. Various town scenes were filmed in Calgary and to the south around Fort Macleod. But the majority of those scenic shots of snow-capped mountains, rippling lakes and verdant forests were taken in Kananaskis Country, on the borders of the Banff National Park.
Even Brad Pitt has been to Alberta, for the filming of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford in the prairies surrounding Calgary. The historic buildings of the city’s Heritage Park were used for town scenes, and the vintage train shots for the Blue Cut Robbery sequence were filmed at Fort Edmonton Park.
While filming, Pitt took Angelina Jolie and their children to see the dinosaurs at the Royal Tyrell Museum. Advise visitors to check out the Rockies and sample life as a cowboy with a ranch stay near Calgary.
Sample product: Equine Adventures has a seven-day Rockies Wilderness Ride through Kananaskis Country from £950 per person, excluding flights, or £1,750 with flights. equineadventures.co.uk, 0845 1306981
Toronto
The west coast doesn’t have the monopoly on filming locations. Chicago, despite its title, was mainly shot in Toronto.
The Distillery, the Elgin Theatre, Old City Hall, Casa Loma and the Danforth Music Hall set the stage as 1920s Chicago for jailed murderers Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones to kick up their heels and try to dance their way off the gallows and into the limelight.
Toronto also stood in for Chicago in My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
The X-Men series was filmed in Alberta and Toronto, where the Gooderham and Worts Distillery, near the waterfront, was used in the opening concentration camp scene.
In nearby Oshawa, the Parkwood Estate became the exterior of Professor Xavier’s Mutant High, with Toronto’s Casa Loma providing the school’s interior shots.
Various sites in Ontario and Nova Scotia pop up throughout biopic Amelia, starring Hilary Swank as pioneering female pilot Amelia Earhart. And Harvey Keitel was recently in Ontario’s Niagara Falls filming black comedy A Beginner’s Guide to Endings, which will be released later this year.
Toronto is ideal for a city break, offering some of Canada’s most vibrant nightlife. If customers are Chicago fans, Toronto is home to the National Ballet of Canada; if they’d rather move their own feet, suggest the Roosevelt Room. This 1920s art deco-style supper club offers haute cuisine and cocktails before morphing into a dance venue from 10.30pm.
Sample product: Thomas Cook Signature offers a five-night, twin-centre, trip to Toronto and Niagara from £729 per person twin-share. This includes Air Canada flights from Heathrow, three nights’ bed and breakfast at the Bond Place in Toronto and two nights at the Michaels Inn in Niagara Falls, room only. The price is based on selected dates from May 1-June 7. tcsignature.com, 0844 879 8015
