Where was Hulu's Interior Chinatown filmed? All filming location explored
Interior Chinatown season one, a Hulu action comedy series, premiered on November 19, 2024. Created by Charles Yu, based on his 2020 novel, the show stars Jimmy O. Yang as Willis Wu, a waiter at the Golden Palace restaurant in Chinatown.
The series focuses on Chinatown’s vibrant culture and has a narrative full of mystery, humor, and drama. Studios and real-life locations in Los Angeles, California, were used as shooting sites. The filming also reportedly took place in Toronto and New Zealand, giving the show more visual appeal by using a variety of settings.
The series depicts 1990s Chinatown through vivid imagery, with underground nightclubs, lively streets, and evocative alleyways. Every meticulously selected location adds to the story.
The show’s production, led by 20th Television, made use of real locations and elaborate studio spaces to depict the lively yet mysterious Chinatown setting. Here’s a detailed look at the filming locations.
Interior Chinatown filming locations
Los Angeles, California
Most of the show was shot in Los Angeles, with both on-location shoots and carefully built sets. To make the apartments and the Golden Palace restaurant, the crew used the Fox Studio Lot at 10201 West Pico Boulevard, Century City. One of the bigger soundstages on the lot, Stage 15, was used a lot for building recurring interior scenes.
The Universal Studios Lot was mostly used for outdoor scenes that mimicked Chinatown's streets. The crew set up the backlot on New York Street to look like Chinatown, complete with a custom-built Asian gate surrounded by lion statues.
Old cars and signs from that time added to the look of the 1990s, and famous places like the Wall Street backlot created the mood for important scenes like police cordons and dramatic confrontations.
The Chinatown neighborhood in Los Angeles also played a role in bringing authenticity to the series. Some scenes were shot directly in the bustling streets, capturing the area’s lively atmosphere. However, most exterior shots relied on studio backlots for logistical efficiency and design control.
Showrunner Charles Yu told the New York Times that production designer Kate Bunch and the director of photography Mike Berlucchi went to San Francisco’s Chinatown as part of their research. They noted details like "door handles, broken tiles, window displays, and ornate woodwork" in Chinatown's properties to replicate the same for the set for Golden Palace restaurant.
Other filming locations
Some parts of Interior Chinatown season 1 may have been filmed in Toronto, Ontario, and New Zealand, even though most of the movie was shot in Los Angeles.
Toronto, which is known for its flexible city planning, could have been used instead of other city scenes. New Zealand’s stunning natural vistas may have been used for atmospheric or scenic sequences.
Speculative locations like Toronto and New Zealand highlight the series' aim to blend diverse backdrops. These combined efforts ensure a visually captivating narrative, making Interior Chinatown season 1 a feast for the eyes and a compelling tale of identity, family, and culture.
Interior Chinatown season 1 is available to stream on Hulu.
