Beyond Hollywood: These beloved movies and TV shows were filmed in North Carolina
“Hollywood magic” isn’t limited to just Hollywood.
From blockbuster movie franchises to beloved teen dramas, a number of big-name films and television shows were filmed not in North Carolina. Some of their stories are set in the Tar Heel State, while others reimagine local spots into a different world.
And the trend continues, with more productions setting up shop in Charlotte and other parts of the state this year.
“Productions continue to be drawn to the state’s highly skilled film workforce, its well-established infrastructure, quality, and variety of locations and the 25% rebate offered through the bipartisan approved North Carolina Film and Entertainment Grant,” the North Carolina Film Office previously told The Charlotte Observer.
Here’s a sampling of some of the highest-profile movies and television shows filmed in North Carolina, and where to watch them yourself:
Movies filmed in North Carolina
Bull Durham
This beloved sports movie, which features Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, was both set in and filmed in and around Durham.
Super fans can tour the real-life sites seen in the movie using a guide from the state tourism department.
How to watch: Bull Durham is available to stream on Amazon Prime. A subscription is required to watch.
Dirty Dancing
Dirty Dancing may have been set in the Catskills, but parts of the movie were actually filmed in the mountains of North Carolina, especially the Lake Lure area.
Lake Lure even hosts a “Dirty Dancing Festival” each year to commemorate the community’s role in the iconic film and raise awareness about pancreatic cancer.
How to watch: Dirty Dancing is available to rent on multiple streaming platforms, including Amazon Prime and Apple TV.
Talladega Nights
Significant portions of “The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” were filmed in and around Charlotte, including locations around Lake Norman and the Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The mansion where the famous dinner scene was filmed actually sold for millions in 2018.
How to watch: Talladega Nights is available to stream for free on Amazon Prime.
The Color Purple
Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated adaptation of the Pulitzer-winning novel was filmed in Marshville and Anson County.
The Anson community has held events over the years to commemorate the movie.
How to watch: The Color Purple is available for streaming on HBO Max. A subscription is required to watch.
The Hunger Games
The first installment of the movie adaptation of the hit young adult book series transformed locations in Charlotte and other parts of North Carolina into the post-apocalyptic world of Panem.
Fans looking to retrace Katniss’s steps can use the state tourism department’s guide to sites seen in the films to get around.
How to watch: The Hunger Games is available for streaming on EPIX. A subscription is required to watch.
TV shows filmed in North Carolina
Banshee
The fictional town of Banshee, Pennsylvania, was home to a recently paroled master thief who assumes the identity of the town sheriff. The love of his life and former partner in crime lives there, as does an Amish cast-out who is the town’s crime boss. The thief/sheriff’s butt-kicking hacker buddy reluctantly joins him in Banshee. The show’s first three seasons were filmed in the Charlotte area before production relocated to Pennsylvania for its fourth and final season. Banshee boasted some of the best fight scenes anywhere on TV.
How to watch: Every season of Banshee is available for streaming on HBO Max. A subscription is required to watch.
Dawson’s Creek
The fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, where the teens of Dawson’s Creek lived, was actually Wilmington. All six seasons of the show — which helped launch the careers of Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson and Michelle Williams — were filmed in Wilmington. And sites on and around Duke University were used as fictional college campuses as the characters reached their college years.
Creator Kevin Williamson, a native North Carolinian actually pitched the show as set in North Carolina, but the location of the fictional town was moved north after notes from the network, Williamson has told reporters over the years.
You can take a walking tour of real-life sites seen in the show
How to watch: Every season of Dawson’s Creek is available for streaming on HBO Max and Hulu. A subscription is required to watch.
Eastbound & Down
HBO’s Eastbound & Down, a comedy that follows the antics of a former professional baseball player who returns to the North Carolina town where he grew up, filmed in various locations around the Carolinas, including Wilmington.
Filming brought stars such as Lindsay Lohan to the area.
How to watch: Eastbound & Down is available for streaming on HBO Max. A subscription is required to watch.
Homeland
Charlotte was the original homeland of Showtime’s espionage thriller.
Various locations around Charlotte — such as Queen’s University of Charlotte and the Cambridge Corporate Center — can be seen during the early seasons of the Claire Danes-helmed Emmy darling. Shooting moved to South Africa in later seasons to accommodate developments in the show’s plot.
How to watch: Homeland is available for streaming on Hulu and Showtime. A subscription is required to watch.
Matlock
The Andy Griffith Show, though set in North Carolina, didn’t actually film in Griffith’s home state. But the later seasons of another of his iconic shows, Matlock, did film in the Wilmington area.
Griffith, who pushed for the show to move filming to North Carolina from California after it changed networks in the early 1990s, is credited with helping establish Wilmington as a popular destination for movies and television shows with the move.
How to watch: Matlock is available for streaming for free on Pluto TV.
One Tree Hill
Tree Hill, North Carolina, isn’t a real town, but the nine-season teen favorite was shot in North Carolina. Filming, which featured popular 2000s actors such as Chad Micheal Murray, Sophia Bush and more, primarily took place in Wilmington.
The state has remained special to the cast, with some cast members reuniting in the Tar Heel State in 2021 for a charity fundraiser.
You can take a walking tour of real-life sites used in the show.
How to watch: One Tree Hill is available for streaming on HBO Max and Hulu. A subscription is required to watch.
This story was originally published July 21, 2022 at 6:30 AM.
