Carey Mulligan Exacts Sweet Revenge Across Los Angeles in ‘Promising Young Woman’

“Promising Young Woman’s” iconic opening scene, which finds Cassie pretending to be passed out on a large button-tufted red banquette that stretches to the top and side edges of the screen, was lensed at Silver Lake’s Los Globos discothèque. Established in 2011 by nightclub impresario Steve Edelson, the popular two-story dance venue at 3040 W. Sunset Blvd. boasts two stages, four full bars, multiple VIP sections, a smoking patio and, according to Time Out, an “unrestricted dance license,” meaning it’s open all night long on weekends (in non-Covid times, at least).

The apartment where supposed good samaritan Jerry (Adam Brody) takes the seemingly drunk Cassie and offers her a stiff helping of kumquat liqueur, said to be at 242 Raleigh Dr., can actually be found at the former Lanterman Developmental Center in Pomona. The longtime residential rehabilitation facility was recently transformed into Campus South or RSI Locations, a sprawling production space situated on 302 acres. The massive site, located at 3530 Pomona Blvd., boasts a myriad of standing sets including a hospital, a warehouse, office space, a school, and thirteen residential properties. Jerry’s apartment is located inside a building known as R1.

Walking home the following morning with a ketchup-drenched hot dog in hand, Cassie  confronts a group of cat-calling men in front of SA Recycling at 2104 E. 15th St. in downtown Los Angeles.

Cassie’s pleasant Anywhere, U.S.A.-style home, where she lives with her long-suffering parents Susan (Jennifer Coolidge) and Stanley Thomas (Clancy Brown), is a mash-up of two different places. For exterior scenes, the production made use of another Campus South residence known as Pacific House.

But for interiors, cast and crew ventured about 25 miles west to a one-story home located at 2086 Mendocino Ln. in Altadena. Easily one of the most unique spots featured in “Promising Young Woman,” the property boasts a perfectly preserved retro interior. Of the dwelling, Perry told Awards Daily, “That house, honestly, I don’t think anything has been touched since the early 1960s—it’s pristine. And as soon as we saw it, we were like, ‘This is the place.’” 

The ranch-style pad, actually built in 1973, is indeed a time capsule, as these photos attest. The interior looks like the set of “The Goldbergs” come to life! Many of the home’s actual furnishings were even incorporated into the design of the film, serving as the perfect canvas for Michael and Rae to work their magic, which included outfitting the walls with dog paintings. The one area the production team did vastly change for the shoot? Cassie’s bedroom, which Perry told Awards Daily was “a complete redo.” The set pieces brought in meshed with the rest of the residence’s décor seamlessly, though. So much so that it looks like the homeowners opted to leave the room intact after filming wrapped, as evidenced in this image which shows Cassie’s floral curtains and angel wing bed still on proud display.

The property’s linear layout also contributed to “Promising Young Woman’s” storyline. As Perry explained to Variety, “It [enabled] great long shots where you could go from the kitchen and all the way back into the living room.”

The Thomas residence may be a real spot, but Make Me Coffee, the “shitty coffee shop” where Cassie and her friend Gail (Laverne Cox) work, doesn’t exist. The space was created by Perry and Deslich at a vacant storefront at 2026 E. 1st St. in Boyle Heights that formerly served as the Boyle Heights History Studios & Tour offices. The production team spent a full day dressing the 6,000-square-foot site for the shoot, with the inspiration for its “bubblegum color” palette derived from Cyndi Lauper’s 1983 “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” music video.

The apartment of wanna-be novelist Neil (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), another supposed “good guy” who tries to take advantage of Cassie, is located at 620 S. Ardmore Ave. in Koreatown. The Spanish Colonial Revival building was designed by the famed Walker & Eisen architecture firm in 1924 and features a dramatic central atrium capped by a skylight that towers 50 feet above the ground below. The oft-filmed structure has also appeared in “Ray Donovan” and “City of Industry” and while its façade is quite picturesque, “Promising Young Woman” only made use of its interior.

For their first date, Ryan (Bo Burnham) and Cassie grab lunch at Everest, an Altadena staple located at 2314 Lake Ave. that was originally established in 2001. While the burger joint’s tables typically boast a green hue, they were given a millennial pink coloring for the shoot to tie in with Cassie’s pastel world.

Ryan attempts to take Cassie back to his apartment at Koreatown’s upscale The View complex, located at 3460 West 7th St., just a little over a block away from the building used as Neil’s. The 13-story property “offers the ultimate in luxury apartment living,” according to its website, with resort-style amenities like a 24-hour fitness center, a pool, a clubhouse and a community patio with BBQs and a fire pit. It is the structure’s east side, which runs along Ardmore Ave., that is featured in the scene.

The interior of an actual unit at The View is also utilized as the inside of Ryan’s apartment in later scenes.

It’s back to Campus South yet again for segments involving the office where Ryan works as a pediatric surgeon. “Promising Young Woman” made use of the facility’s hospital set, which was also featured regularly throughout the second season of “Big Little Lies.”

Beverly Grove’s famed Jar restaurant stands in for Hotel St. Joan, where Cassie meets with her former fellow med student Madison (Alison Brie). The modern chophouse, originally established by chefs Suzanne Tracht and Mark Peel in 2001 at 8225 Beverly Blvd., has long been a favorite of locals and location managers alike. The sophisticated space, with its wood-paneled walls and umbrella-like lighting, has popped up in everything from “Entourage” to “Modern Family” to “La La Land.”

The production team looked to an unlikely spot to portray Saint Lucia High School, where Cassie picks up Wet Dreams superfan Ruby (Alli Hart). Filming of the scene took place at Mountain View Mausoleum, located at 2300 N. Marengo Ave. in Altadena. Designed by Clarence L. Jay and Cecil E. Bryan, the Neo-Mediterranean structure is easily one of Los Angeles’ most beautiful spots, with a striking 180-foot-long Great Gallery featuring a vaulted ceiling hand-painted by artist Martin Syvertsen. As such, it has proved an extremely popular filming location. Just a few of the productions to take advantage of the stunning space include “Lucifer,” “Hollywood,” “American Horror Story: Hotel” and “Perry Mason.”

Mountain View pulls double duty in the film. The office of Dean Walker (Connie Britton) at Cassie’s alma mater, Forrest University – “Where all your beginnings begin.” – is located inside the mausoleum.

Yet another location that can be found at Campus South is the railway underpass where Cassie confronts an angry driver. The exact spot where she takes a crowbar to the backend of his truck is on State St. just north of Power St.

Cassie has an awkward encounter with Ryan after getting picked up by a mark named Paul (Sam Richardson) at Blue Star Restaurant and Beer Garden, located at 2200 E. 15th St. in downtown L.A. The retro diner is just a block east of SA Recycling, where she faced off with cat-callers earlier in the film.

Beleaguered lawyer Jordan Green’s (Alfred Molino) home, said to be at 1281 W. Ivory Blvd. in Vernington, Ohio, is actually Campus South’s R1 building, the very same spot used as Jerry’s apartment at the beginning of the movie! But wait, this location gets even more confusing. Though Cassie knocks on the front door and sits in the living room of R1 while confronting Jordan, when she leaves his home and walks to her car, she is actually a good 25 miles away in Altadena! That portion of the scene was shot in front of a Spanish-style residence at 1281 E. Mendocino St., less than a mile away from the pad used for the Thomas home interiors.

The residence where Mrs. Fisher (Molly Shannon), the mom of Cassie’s best friend, lives is yet another Campus South location! For those counting, this marks the facility’s sixth “Promising Young Woman” appearance. This time, the film made use of the picturesque R5 building, which was dressed quite a bit for the shoot, with fuchsia flowers and a white picket border added to the front yard.

St. Louis Drug Company at 2100 E. 1st St. in Boyle Heights, located right next door to the storefront where Make Me Coffee was created, is the site of what is arguably the movie’s most memorable scene. It is in the aisles of the tiny pharmacy that Ryan beguiles Cassie by serenading her with the 2006 Paris Hilton song “Stars Are Blind.” Fennell had included the ballad in the script’s original draft and wound up writing a letter to Hilton to secure the rights. Of the tune and its importance to the story, she told Billboard, “I just love that song. I think it’s so brilliant, so part of it for me was having a scene where it had to be kind of a classic rom-com moment, where two people sort of fall in love, and I had to think of what song, if a man knew every word to it, would make me fall in love with him — and it definitely wasn’t, like, the Rolling Stones deep cuts or like some very esoteric French 1920s LP. It was Paris Hilton’s ‘Stars Are Blind.’ Because that guy is the guy that I want to get to know.”

St. Louis Drug Company is no stranger to the screen. Christopher Walken and Al Pacino also rob the place in the 2012 thriller “Stand Up Guys.”

The supposed Vernington Woods cabin where Al Monroe’s (Chris Lowell) bachelor party is held at the end of the film is actually in Thousand Oaks. The bucolic cottage is a part of Canyon Ranch Studio, a 100-acre filming facility located at 368 E. Carlisle Rd. The massive lot offers countless differing landscapes including natural vistas, rural facades and three log cabins. Located within the Thirty Mile Zone, the site has become extremely popular with film companies. Just a few of the productions to shoot on the premises include “This Is Us,” “Scorpion” and “The Office.”

“Promising Young Woman” made use of two of the property’s cabins in the bachelor party sequence. Exteriors were shot at Canyon Ranch’s Rustic Cabin. The interior of the space, which is just a large single room, was also utilized to portray the bedroom featured in the movie’s climax. But the living room scenes were shot on the ground floor of the ranch’s Main Cabin.

The burn site can also be found on the Canyon Ranch grounds.

And finally, the wedding sequence, brilliantly backed by Juice Newton’s haunting 1981 “Angel of the Morning” cover, took place in one of Canyon Ranch’s picturesque meadows. Though the wedding scene is beautiful, don’t go looking to book your own nuptials on the premises. Canyon Ranch is strictly a production facility.

Disclaimer: Please remember that many of these locations are private homes. Do not trespass or bother the residents or the properties in any way.