Inside the real-life filming locations of ‘Crew Girl’
Crew Girl on Netflix brings a total YA package, in the form of a fresh start, an elite private school, an old-school girl, and, of course, an inevitable love triangle.
Set in the fictional hamlet of Eagle’s Cove, the coming-of-age drama follows 16-year-old Teagan, who moves to her mom’s small East Coast hometown after a major family scandal upends her life and promising athletic career as a rower. Forced to change schools and fit into a world she hardly knows, Teagan feels like a fish out of water at Easton Prep.
To make things worse, the accomplished rower realises her New England school lacks a girls’ crew team, prompting her to step up as coxswain for the boys’ boat. But in leading eight unruly boys to the championship podium, she has to navigate internal politics, rivalries, and a love triangle that adds to the teen-drama intrigue.
While Crew Girl seamlessly transports fans into a world of lush Easton Prep, the question is, does it actually exist? Also, what about Eagle’s Cove? Let’s find out!
Where was Crew Girl filmed?
Eagle’s Cove
Although Crew Girl is set in a fictional New England town called Eagle’s Cove, the series was shot in real-life locations, largely in Victoria on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The idea of the place was inspired by quintessential small coastal towns, most notably the fictional Stars Hollow in Gilmore Girls. That said, big money and access also draw Crew Girl parallels to Gossip Girl.
In a conversation with Tudum, Miku Martineau describes, “Eagle’s Cove is very much a coming-of-age, small-town vibe, but there is also so much wealth and power; Easton Prep is such an elite school”. As Sam Braun puts it, “You get the small-town setting with big city money: the boathouse and dock parties”.
Easton Prep
After being plucked from her routine life and surroundings, Teagan unsurprisingly finds herself to be a misfit in the elite circle of her New England private school, Easton Prep, in Crew Girl, which, again, is not a real school. The sequences were filmed at Hatley Castle, a 40-room mansion from 1908, surrounded by lush gardens and forests. The premises were previously used for the X-Men films, and the estate also appeared in The Descendants.
Rowing scenes
Rowing takes centre stage in the sports romance drama series, and the production paid special attention to spotlighting it. The sequences were mostly shot at Elk and Beaver Lake Regional Park and the Gorge Waterway. The crew filmed on real water without turning to handheld cameras, also offering actors authentic training and everyone a real-life backdrop that doesn’t solely depend on visual effects.