Hollywood North

By Lonny Pugh, Hollywood Life - July/August, 2003

Last year, over $800 million Hollywood dollars were spent on production in British Columbia, and most of that in Vancouver. Tax and currency advantages, plus extremely varied land-, sea- and cityscapes with a collectively malleable identity, made Vancouver a desirable location that was just a three-hour flight from LAX (in the same time zone, no less), and the city has since developed the full array of amenities for serving as Tinseltown's northern capital.

This summer's X2: X-Men United was filmed there - the largest production ever to take place not just in Vancouver, but in all of Canada (including Toronto, another major film and TV location). Just this past spring, Kamloops (just outside of Vancouver) played the part of Iowa for the film An Unfinished Life, which stars Jennifer Lopez and Robert Redford. Lopez was seen all over Vancouver in her signature velour track suits, sometimes with a friend in matching duds. And wouldn't you know it, Ben Affleck was in Vancouver too, filming the sci-fi thriller Paycheck with Aaron Eckhart and Uma Thurman. So were Will Smith (shooting the futuristic I, Robot), Kurt Russell (filming Miracle), and Naomi Watts, Peter Krause and Laura Dern (the indie Anymore). The production location of Will Farrell and James Caan's film Elf was a reminder of one of the major turning points in Vancouver's rise to prominence - it was the Riverview Hospital complex, which served as an often-used set for “The X-Files.” By the time David Duchovny married Téa Leoni and brought production of “The X-Files” to L.A. for the ‘98-99 season, the city was used to the intense presence of celebrities and offered a greater range of pleasures to amuse them.

The physical beauty and laid-back quality of Vancouver have always made it a pleasing city, but with Hollywood involved, it was only a matter of time until hipness entered the mix. The epitome of that factor is the new Opus Hotel (866-642-6787), which, in décor and guest roster, looks transplanted from New York or L.A. Located out the front door of the Opus is the recently anointed cool neighborhood Yaletown, which is surrounded by the more urban and trendy Robson Street, the very gay-friendly West End and scenic Stanley Park - also close is the ferry shuttle to Granville Island, which overflows with produce markets and shops. The Opus was designed with a tongue-in-cheek nod to its intended role as the entertainment gateway to Vancouver: the room styles are derived to suit a series of fictional personalities, like “Dede,” and actress/Malibu mama who prefers a breezy room with some leopard print, and “Bob and Carol,” jazz-loving San Franciscans who go for a more town house-y look. The Osbournes hurricane blew recently through the Opus, and Michael Stipe, in town to work on an album, was seen with the ultratrendy crowd in the Opus lobby, which by night is a martini maven's heaven, complete with velvet rope.

The neighborhoods in the vicinity of the Opus have everything its guests are famous for needing and/or enjoying. There are high-end spas, like the immaculate Skoah and Oasis, where Sarah Michelle Gellar took breaks from filming Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. There are lots of art galleries, particularly strong on photography, an art in which Vancouver has the reputation of being cutting edge. Vancouver's cuisine, traditionally an interesting ethnic mix, has also geared up celebrity expectations. Hilary Swank and hubby Chad Lowe canoodled at the Tuscan restaurant CinCin while she was in town filming The Core. Ex-“X-Files” star Gillian Anderson recently dined at the Blue Water Café with fellow actress, pal and native Vancouverite Deborah Kara Unger. And Anderson's former castmate David Duchovny, also back in town and given a night off from his work on the Nia Vardalos comedy Connie and Carla, dined at Circolo, keeping tabs on the Stanley Cup playoffs via updates from fellow patrons zipping back and forth between the restaurant and the sports bar across the street. Barring suicidal shifts in Canadian tax law or drastic change in the currency exchange, Vancouver is likely to continue profiting from Hollywood's runaway budget dilemma, while stars pressure execs for some time off to enjoy the city.

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