Where Was Under The Bridge Filmed? Hulu Show's Canadian Filming Locations Explained

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Hulu's Under the Bridge

Summary Hulu's Under the Bridge, based on a true crime book, is set in Saanich, British Columbia, Canada.

The culture of Saanich teens and Canada's history of racism play important roles in the plot of the Under the Bridge.

Vancouver doubled as Saanich in the series, offering advantages like similar architecture and a large film production industry.

Hulu’s Under the Bridge used a number of filming locations in British Columbia to recreate Saanich, Canada – the central location of the series. Based on the eponymous true crime book by Rebecca Godfrey, Under the Bridge tells the story of the murder of a 14-year-old, Indian-Canadian girl named Reena Virk after she’s attacked by a mob of her peers. This story is centered through the perspective of a police officer named Cam Bentland and a fictionalized version of writer Rebecca Godfrey, who work together on the investigation.

The culture of Saanich teens and Canada’s history of racism both play an important role in the plot and characters in Under the Bridge. As such, it was important that any filming locations properly represent the Canadian providence of British Columbia. Luckily, Canada has a booming film industry centered on two main locations – Toronto, Ontario, and Vancouver, British Columbia. According to IMDb, this series creates authenticity thanks to the various filming sites within the latter city to tell the 1997 tragedy of Reena Virk’s attack and murder.

Related Under The Bridge Soundtrack Guide: Every Song & When They Play Under the Bridge's soundtrack includes a number of hip-hop and rap songs that help define the characters and shape the plot of the Hulu miniseries.

Allied Shipyard, North Vancouver, British Columbia

The Gorge And Under The Bridge In Hulu’s Under The Bridge

One of the most important locations in Hulu’s Under the Bridge is the titular landmark and the gorge next to it. Before Reena’s body is found at the end of Under the Bridge episode 2, Josephine spends the whole episode bragging that she pushed Reena into the gorge. While this was proven impossible by Cam’s time test, the gorge was clearly still a massive part of the story.

All the Under the Bridge scenes involving water – including the water search for Reena’s body and the drowning of Reena under the bridge – were filmed at Allied Shipyard in North Vancouver, British Columbia. Other TV shows and films that filmed at this location, according to IMDb, include:

The Flash

Psych: The Movie

Backstrom

An episode of the Charmed reboot.

While this location on the Seymour River is primarily used for shipbuilding and repairs, the water and native foliage make this filming location ideal. After all, Vancouver and Saanich are right across the Georgia Strait from one another, and they exist in the same climate. As such, the environment in both locations would resemble each other.

William F. White Studios Fraserwood, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada

Interior Shots Of Hulu's Under the Bridge

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Rather than filming everything in the main city, the production team for Under the Bridge used William F. White Studios at the Fraserwood location in Richmond, British Columbia – a part of Metro Vancouver. The interior shots in this miniseries were likely filmed on the movie studio’s vast sound stages. The Under the Bridge team likely didn’t film any interiors here since they don’t have a backlot. According to William F. White Studio’s website, the international company has 12 studio facilities. Other shows and movies that were filmed at William F. White Studios’ various studios include:

Designated Survivor

Deadpool

Arrow

The Handmaid’s Tale

The choice to use a studio sound stage has multiple advantages. From a practical standpoint, sound stages offer soundproofing and controlled environments. They aren’t beholden to bad weather, bad lighting, or building structures. Instead, there’s a flexibility that Under the Bridge’s production team can use to create different settings in Saanich, Canada.

Related Under The Bridge Review: Hulu's Haunting True-Crime Miniseries Fills The True Detective Void Bolstered by Lily Gladstone, Under the Bridge chronicles a real-life crime by showing viewers just how close to the surface haunting brutality lurks.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Exterior Shots Of Hulu's Under The Bridge

Both Allied Shipyard and William F. White Studios Fraserwood are located in Vancouver, but these aren’t the only locations in Vancouver that appear in Under the Bridge. The entire city doubled for Saanich, British Columbia, adding a layer of authenticity since the city has similar architecture and culture. The filming location also provides other advantages.

Vancouver is known as Hollywood North because the city is the third-biggest film production location in North America (via Trebas). There’s a large population in the film industry ready to work on a project in the city. Moreover, it’s in the same time zone as Los Angeles, California. This makes it easy to coordinate between production companies based out of L.A. and teams filming in Vancouver. Because of these things, many big-name TV shows have been filmed in Vancouver, including:

Shōgun

Criminal Minds

Supernatural

Avatar: The Last Airbender

On top of these general benefits, Vancouver offers one benefit that was crucial to the success of Under the Bridge. This city goes through all the seasons. Since the true story of Reena Virk’s murder took place on November 14, 1997, in Saanich, the exterior shots needed to have cold, overcast weather. This wouldn’t have been possible if Under the Bridge had been filmed in Los Angeles, California, where the weather is hot and dry most of the time.

Sources: IMDb, William F. White Studio’s website, and Trebas