Toronto has a habit of sneaking onto screens even when it’s pretending to be somewhere else. One set turns the city into a slick corporate superhero tower, while another transforms into a brooding campus or a post-awards-party setting. Here are a few popular spots you’ll recognize from iconic film and TV productions.
Aga Khan Museum: The Man from Toronto
The Aga Khan Museum (77 Wynford Dr.) is the setting for a Washington, D.C., art-museum meet-up in The Man from Toronto (just remember, it’s pronounced “Torono,” not “Toronto”). The late Professor Fumihiko Maki, winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, used light as his inspiration when designing the building, so, depending on the time of day or season, light animates the building in many ways, throwing patterns on the exterior walls of Brazilian granite and illuminating the open-roofed courtyard (making the museum especially striking on screen).
Joni Restaurant (Park Hyatt Toronto) and Lavelle: Heated Rivalry
One of the fun newer additions to Toronto’s filming-location circuit is Heated Rivalry, which uses two very different nightlife spots in the city. In the series, Joni’s dramatic staircase and polished interiors are transformed into a glam post-awards-party setting, while Lavelle’s rooftop pool deck and skyline views stand in for Tampa during All-Star weekend. In real life, Joni in Yorkville (4 Avenue Rd.) is open daily from morning through dinner, with brunch and afternoon tea in the mix, while Lavelle (627 King. St. W.) rises 16 storeys above King West with a lounge bar, dining room, pools, cabanas and amazing city views.
The Lakeview Diner: The Shape of Water
In The Shape of Water, which won the Oscar for Best Picture in 2018, this historic diner with 24-hour brunch (1132 Dundas St. W.) was retrofitted into a Dixie-themed pie shop in Baltimore. One memorable scene features Giles sitting down for key lime pie and ‘conversation’ with a mute janitor (she takes a bite of the pie and sticks out her green-stained tongue). In real life, it remains an iconic Toronto diner, dating back to 1932 (and the owners have since added key lime pie to the menu!) Other notable films shot here include Cocktail (1988), Hairspray (2007) and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004).
Lee’s Palace: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
This cult-fave is filled with recognizable Toronto filming spots you can check out in real life. According to Movie Locations, the library where Scott first sees Ramona is the Wychwood branch (1431 Bathurst St. at St. Clair Ave. W.), and the area where Scott and Ramona go for a romantic stroll at night is by Baldwin Steps, leading through Spadina Park from Davenport Rd. at Spadina Rd.
Scott meets his high-school girlfriend, Knives Chau, outside her school (filmed at St Michael’s College School, 1515 Bathurst St); you’ll recognize the setting, but the stone archway is hidden under a covering of ivy. Lee’s Palace (529 Bloor St W) is also one of the 2010 movie’s key music-scene locations. The rock concert hall in the Annex is where Sex Bob-omb opens for Envy Adams’s band and where Scott faces another ex. And Lee’s is no stranger to movie sets. Decades ago, its interior was filmed as a Jamaican reggae club in 1988’s Cocktail, starring Tom Cruise.
Roy Thomson Hall: The Boys
Parts of the world’s most popular superhero show were filmed at Roy Thomson Hall (60 Simcoe St.). The Boys digitally tweaked the building’s curved-glass exterior into Vought’s Seven Tower, but it’s unmistakably Toronto. In real life, the hall is still very much itself: the home of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra!
Allan Gardens Conservatory and Elgin & Winter Garden Theatres: The Umbrella Academy
Toronto shows up in The Umbrella Academy through two of the city’s most atmospheric spots! In the first season, the Elgin Theatre (part of the Elgin & Winter Garden Theatres, 189 Yonge St.) serves as the backdrop for Vanya’s violin-rehearsal scenes, providing a dim, almost haunted interior. The historic Yonge Street venue is a National Historic Site and the last operating stacked theatre complex in the world. Allan Gardens Conservatory (19 Horticultural Ave.) appears later in the season during a dreamy scene where Luther, trying to charm Allison, turns the conservatory into a glowing, romantic fantasy.
Sankofa Square: The Handmaid’s Tale
In The Handmaid’s Tale, Sankofa Square (formerly Dundas Square) appears in flashbacks to pre-Gilead life, using one of downtown Toronto’s most instantly recognizable intersections to capture the busyness of the city before everything “turns”. The square sits at Yonge and Dundas and draws millions of visitors each year, with festivals, concerts, public art, buskers and other large-scale activations.
