Naman Shrestha
With Joseph McGinty Nichol AKA McG at the helm, ‘Family Switch’ is a comedy movie that revolves around the members of the Walker family and the misadventures that transpire during one Christmas vacation that brings them together but not before tearing them apart. Fed up with their incessant interpersonal conflicts, Jess and Bill decide to take their kids — Wyatt, OC, and Miles — for a vacation in the hopes of resolving their issues and making blissful memories as a unit. However, things begin to go awry right from the get-go, with each one of the mother-daughter and father-son duos uttering a version of “I wish you could be me” to the other, right when an enigmatic astrologer takes a picture of them.
The saying “Be careful what you wish for” comes true for the Walkers when they are exposed to a cosmic event that results in them waking up with their bodies swapped — Jess is now OC, Bill is Wyatt, while the youngest Walker, Miles, is now the family dog, Pickles! Unaware of how to undo the damage, the Walkers try to go about their days in the body of their body-swap counterpart. Chaos ensues. The body-switch Netflix production takes place in several interesting locations, including the Walker residence and the observatory, making the viewers wonder where ‘Family Switch’ was filmed.
Family Switch Filming Locations
‘Family Switch’ was filmed in the Western US state of California, across the Hollywood-linked Los Angeles County. As per reports, principal photography for the Ed Helms starrer got underway in early December 2022 under the working title ‘Family Leave,’ with the project getting a tax grant from the California Film Commission. The shooting continued for the following three months or so, before getting wrapped up in early March 2023. So, let us take you through all the specific sites where the fantastical journey of the characters unfolds!
Los Angeles County, California
All the pivotal sequences for ‘Family Switch’ were reportedly lensed across Los Angeles County, which is located in Southern California. First and foremost, the exterior of the property at 2177 West Live Oak Drive in the city of Los Angeles possibly stood in for the residence of the Walker family. The family travels to a space observatory where they get their photo clicked, which initiates the body swapping in the first place. The scenes involving the space observatory were mostly taped in and around an actual observatory — Griffith Observatory at 2800 East Observatory Road in LA.
The cast and crew members made the most of the outdoor premises of the observatory to record several pivotal sequences, with the three domes appearing in the backdrop. A few key portions involving Emma Myers’ character on the soccer field were reportedly taped inside the BMO Stadium, which was formerly known as Banc of California Stadium, at 3939 South Figueroa Street in Los Angeles. Home stadium of Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles FC and the National Women’s Soccer League’s Angel City FC, BMO Stadium was opened in April 2018, becoming the first open-air stadium in the City of Angels since the Dodger Stadium.
The city of El Segundo also welcomed the director and his team to lens multiple important sequences for ‘Family Switch.’ In particular, the high school scenes, mainly involving the character of Brady Noon, were recorded in and around El Segundo High School at 640 Main Street in El Segundo. The corridors, classrooms, and a few other areas of the high school are likely to feature in the comedy movie.
Talking to ET Online, Ed Helms, who portrays Bill, recollected that the slap he gets from Jennifer Garner’s character was not in the script. However, he admitted that they talked about it beforehand and there was one take where there was real contact, and he said in good humor, “You know what? I don’t like being slapped.” Having gotten a real and authentic reaction in the first take, fortunately, Helms did not have to take another one.
It is also possible that some of the scenes were recorded in one of the many film studios situated in Los Angeles County, such as Universal Studios, Warner Bros. Studios, Sony Pictures Studios, and Paramount Studios, to name a few. Apart from ‘Family Switch,’ LA County has hosted the production of numerous other film and TV projects. Some of the notable ones include ‘Dumb Money,’ ‘Quiz Lady,’ ‘National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,’ ‘The Big Lebowski,’ and ‘Modern Family.’
Read More: Family Switch Ending, Explained
