Naman Shrestha
Inspired by the play titled ‘Is This A Room’ by Tina Satter, which in itself is based on the FBI interrogation transcript of American intelligence leaker Reality Winner, HBO’s ‘Reality’ is a biographical drama movie co-written and directed by Satter herself. The narrative chronicles the life of Reality Winner on June 3, 2017, when the 25-year-old woman gets interrogated by FBI agents in one of the rooms in her own house. This is the result of her leaking some classified information about Russian interference in the 2016 election campaign.
Starring Sydney Sweeney as Reality Winner, the film depicts the events that lead her to this point as well as the stressful situation that she faces during the interrogation. The drama movie unfolds in Augusta, Georgia, where the real-life Reality actually resided at the time of the interrogation. Moreover, since a single room serves as the canvas for most of the drama that unfolds in ‘Reality,’ many of you might be interested in knowing where it was actually filmed. In that case, allow us to fill you in on all the necessary details regarding the same!
Reality Filming Locations
‘Reality’ was filmed in New York State, particularly in and around New York City. According to reports, the principal photography for the Tina Satter directorial commenced in May 2022 and wrapped up in about 16 days or so, in June of the same year. Although the story is set in Georgia, the filming unit decided to use an interior set to replicate Reality’s room where the interrogation took place. Now, without further ado, let’s take a look at all the specific locations that appear in the HBO movie!
New York City, New York
All the pivotal sequences for ‘Reality’ were lensed in and around New York City, with the production team setting up camp in a few sites across the city. In particular, the borough of Staten Island served as the primary production location for the drama film, which is where they shot many exterior scenes and all the interior interrogation portions. The cast and crew members redecorated some streets of the borough and neighboring areas to make it stand in for Augusta, Georgia. Furthermore, it seems that some recordings were done in the city of Yonkers, which is a suburb of New York City.
In a February 2023 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Sydney Sweeney was asked if the film was shot in sequence or not. To this, she replied, “We shot the entire movie in about 16 days. We filmed all the exterior stuff first, and then we moved into the room for basically the last 9-10 days. We were all in that room and we filmed that in order. I’d never had that experience before, because usually everything is done out of order. I really enjoyed it, because I felt I was able to feel those real-time calculations going on inside of Reality’s mind in those moments.”
Owing to its stunning landscape, unique and vibrant neighborhoods, favorable climate, and skilled technicians, New York City has hosted the production of a number of different movies and TV shows over the years. As a matter of fact, apart from ‘Reality,’ the locales of the Big Apple have been featured in ‘The Departed,’ ‘Requiem for a Dream,’ ‘New Amsterdam,’ ‘Mad Men,’ and ‘White House Plumbers.’
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