Jennifer Garner and Édgar Ramírez Adventure Across L.A. in the New Netflix Film ‘Yes Day’

“Yes Day” opens with a shot of young Allison (Lola Sultan) jumping off a dock into a sparkling lake, while Garner narrates, “Some people gravitate towards no. Some people naturally lean towards yes. I said ‘yes’ to everything!” The picturesque segment was lensed on the west boat ramp at Castaic Lake Recreation Area. Situated about 40 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles (but within the Thirty Mile Zone), the site is the largest State Water Project reservoir in Southern California. With 11,200 acres and 29 miles of shoreline, the sprawling park plays host to countless outdoor activities such as fishing, hiking, horseback riding, jet-skiing, camping and, as purported in “Yes Day,” swimming.

The movie then breaks into a montage of Allison engaging in various adventures throughout her early adulthood, including learning how to line dance. The short bit, in which she stumbles and immediately gets back up, was shot at Calamigos Ranch, a bucolic special events venue located at 327 Latigo Canyon Rd. in Malibu. Initially founded by Grant and Helen Walter Gerson in 1937, the 120-acre site boasts myriad outdoor vistas, a paddleboat lake, cabin accommodations and popular eatery The Malibu Cafe. As such, it has become one of L.A.’s most sought-after wedding locales, not to mention filming spots. Just a few of the productions lensed on the premises include “Beverly Hills, 90210,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Wayne’s World 2.” The line-dancing segment from “Yes Day” took place in the ranch’s Oaks Room area.

The montage next sees Allison traveling in an unnamed foreign locale. Though seemingly remote and exotic, cast and crew did not have to venture far to shoot the segment. Malibu Hindu Temple, the extraordinary sanctuary where filming took place, is located at 1600 Las Virgenes Canyon Rd. in Calabasas. Nestled on 4.5 acres in the Santa Monica Mountains, the ornate South Indian-style shrine feels worlds away from L.A.! The structure, dedicated to the gods Vishnu and Shiva, is the West Coast’s largest Hindu temple and famously appeared in the 1997 comedy “Beverly Hills Ninja.”

Allison and Carlos first meet by mistakenly picking up each other’s drink orders at Jones Coffee Roasters, the onsite café at Vroman’s Bookstore, a Pasadena landmark located at 695 E. Colorado Blvd. The beloved shop was originally established by Adam Clark Vroman in 1894 and has become an onscreen stalwart over the years, appearing in such productions as “Parks and Recreation,” “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and “Modern Family.” Shooting there must have felt like coming home for Garner and Arteta. The two also filmed portions of the 2014 comedy “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” at the bookstore.

Allison asks Carlos if he wants to meet her parents while walking their bikes along the 1700 block of Ellincourt Dr. in South Pasadena. The hilly enclave is chock full of mid-century apartment buildings, one of which was used for interior scenes of the couple’s apartment in the opening montage.

It’s back to Calamigos Ranch for Carlos and Allison’s wedding. The two become Mr. and Mrs. in the ceremony area of The Redwood Room.

The idyllic two-story home where the Torreses live with their children can be found at 651 S. Oakland Ave. in Pasadena. The 1910 residence, which sits on a leafy 0.35-acre lot, consists of six bedrooms and two baths in 3,199 square feet. It last sold for $275,000 in 1983, but Redfin estimates its current worth at nearly $2.4 million! Only the exterior of the pad appeared in “Yes Day.” (Disclaimer: Please remember this is a private home. Do not trespass or bother the residents or the property in any way.)

The chic, warm interior of the Torres residence was a set built inside of a soundstage at LA North Studios in Santa Clarita. Said set did not take many visual clues from the Pasadena home’s real-life interior, which is much darker and decidedly Craftsman in style.

The uber-modern brick and glass office building that stands in for Icarus Technologies, where Carlos works, is the Agoura Hills campus of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. According to its website, the organization, established by the famed hotelier in 1944, “provides funds to nonprofit organizations working to improve the lives of individuals living in poverty and experiencing disadvantage throughout the world.” Situated on a sprawling 44 acres at 30440 Agoura Rd., the site was designed by the ZGF architecture firm. Both the interior and exterior of the building appear in “Yes Day.”

John Muir Middle School at 1111 N. Kenneth Rd. in Burbank masks as Kennedy Middle School (“Go Cougars!”), where Allison and Carlos attend parent/teacher night and first get the idea for a Yes Day courtesy of guidance counselor/P.E. teacher/football coach Mr. Deacon (Nat Faxon). Both the exterior and interior of John Muir appear in the segment, though the cafeteria scenes were shot at Sherman Oaks’ famed Sunkist Headquarters located at 14130 Riverside Dr. Bonus – the skydiving segment from the opening montage was also captured on the grounds of John Muir Middle School.

It’s a definite “nope on a rope” for anyone hoping to emulate “Yes Day” by feasting on their very own Gut Buster dessert because the ice cream parlor where the family dines on the sugary breakfast doesn’t exist. The eatery was faked at Platform 35 Market Hall at 3500 Wilshire Blvd in Koreatown. The whimsically-decorated food court does offer a plethora of fare, including burgers, tacos, Chinese food, and wine and beer, but large-scale ice cream sundaes, unfortunately, cannot be found on the menu.

Premier Auto Spa, where the Torres’ Ford Explorer – as well as everything inside it – gets a major bath is located at 17432 Ventura Blvd. in Encino. The marquee sign out front was just a prop brought in for the filming, though the site does have a mid-century vibe in real life.

The fictional Ravenswood Adventure Park, where the epic Kablowey competition/fake “Insatiable Island” casting session takes place, is actually Hahamonga Watershed Park located at the corner of Oak Grove Dr. and Foothill Blvd. in Pasadena. In real life, the 1,300-acre facility boasts a 24-hole Frisbee golf course, an athletic field, picnic areas and hiking trails. Don’t go looking for any sort of Kablowey structures on the premises, though. The entire course was a set built specifically for the extensive shoot that was then removed once filming wrapped.

Carlos recovers from a bird attack at Adventist Health Glendale located at 1509 Wilson Terrace. “Yes Day” made use of the medical facility’s East Tower, at the southern end of Hospital Dr., which was dressed to look like an emergency room for the shoot.

Thanks to an assist from fiery paramedic Jean (Fortune Feimster), the Torreses next venture to Six Flags Magic Mountain located at 6101 Magic Mountain Pkwy. in Valencia. While there, the family rides Viper, Magic Flyer and the Grand American Carousel. Though most of the cast relished spending several days at the theme park, Jennifer Garner found the endeavor terrifying due to her fear of roller coasters. During the shoot, she was made to ride Twisted Colossus with co-star Jenna Ortega, which did not go entirely as planned. As she explained to talk show host Graham Norton, “She [Ortega] said that her fingers were almost wrenched off, I was holding her, squeezing her hand so hard. Most of the take was not usable because I was screaming ‘Jenna! Jenna!’ Her character’s name was Katie. And I was cursing. I was praying. It was a very big day for me. I had to have my big girl panties on.”

After getting into a physical altercation with a fellow Banana Toss player at Magic Mountain, both Allison and Carlos are arrested and taken to the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station. Filming actually took place, though, at the old Santa Clarita Signal Newspaper headquarters located at 24000 Creekside Rd. in Valencia. The one-story 37,400-square-foot site, constructed in 1986, housed the newspaper’s offices for 30 years before being sold to Auto Nation in 2016. Incredibly, the rock climbing segment from “Yes Day’s” opening montage was also shot on the premises! The production team faked the brief scene by installing a large prop rock formation and a green screen in the property’s vast parking lot. The Signal building boasts several additional onscreen credits to its name, including “NCIS,” “Freaks and Geeks” and “Love and Mercy,” among others.

“Yes Day’s” vibrant Fleek Fest music festival, featuring a performance by H.E.R., was lensed at Burbank’s Starlight Bowl concert venue located at 1249 Lockheed View Dr., just a little over a mile north of John Muir Middle School. Built in 1950, the outdoor amphitheater is a regular spot for summer concerts and can pack in a crowd of 5,000 – during non-Covid times, at least.

Being that “Yes Day” has held the Number 1 spot on Netflix since its debut, it goes without saying that talks of a sequel are already in the works. As Arteta told AP News, “How can you say no to a movie called ‘Yes Day’?”