Naman Shrestha
With Carlson Young at the helm, ‘Upgraded’ is a romantic comedy that acquaints us with Ana, an aspiring and ambitious art intern who constantly attempts to get in the good books of her boss Claire. Soon, she gets the golden opportunity to visit London for work purposes. Right before boarding her flight, she gets upgraded to first class and meets a charming young man named Will, who mistakes her for her boss. But instead of clearing up the confusion, she runs along with it and starts weaving several white lies.
The white lie, supported by other lies Ana makes up in the process, leads to a romance between her and Will as she tries to juggle her personal as well as professional life together in a foreign city. Led by the impressive onscreen performances of Camila Mendes and Archie Renaux, the romantic movie is set in both London and New York City. As the viewers take in the contrasting visuals of the two major cities, they stay intrigued about the actual filming locations of ‘Upgraded.’
Upgraded Was Filmed Across England
‘Upgraded’ was primarily filmed in England, especially in Tees Valley. London, and Leeds. As per reports, principal photography for the Camila Mendes starrer got underway around August 2022 and wrapped up in early September of the same year. So, let us follow Ana on her work trip and get a detailed account of all the specific sites where she spends time with Will!
Tees Valley, England
Many pivotal sequences for ‘Upgraded’ were lensed in the Tees Valley, a Northern England area near the lower River Tees. Teesside International Airport, previously known as Durham Tees Valley Airport, situated between Darlington and Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, in the Tees Valley, served as one of the prominent production locations. The filming unit took over the premises of the minor international airport for a day and transformed it into the New York International Airport.
The production team made several changes to the different aspects of the airport. For instance, the airport terminal signs and luggage trolleys were replaced with the black and yellow “New York International Airport” signs and a number of yellow New York taxis were placed just outside the entrance. Moreover, they changed the check-in desks and digital displays to the fictional “Sovereign Air” airline the lead characters board. However, in order to make this possible, weeks of negotiations were involved between the production team and Teesside Airport staff to ensure that airport operations were not hindered in any way while filming for ‘Upgraded’ took place.
In a statement, the airport’s Managing Director said, “We were delighted to welcome the cast and crew of Upgraded to Teesside Airport and it’s fantastic to see our airport in the finished film. We know our airport is a great location for our passengers and the fact that we can stand in as New York in a major Hollywood film shows how far we have come in transforming our terminal building into a modern and vibrant place from which even the stars want to travel.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/ChkYLnLM-EQ/?img_index=1
Moreover, the mayor of Tees Valley also shared a few words on hosting the shooting of ‘Upgraded’ in the area. He said, “We know we have superb locations for filming across Teesside, Hartlepool, and Darlington and it’s great that Teesside Airport is now also firmly on that list. Our airport was once a crumbling, failing business but in just the past year we have enjoyed the best passenger numbers in more than a decade, been named UK and Ireland Airport of the Year, and are now starring in major movies.”
Other Locations in England
For the purpose of shooting, the director and her team also traveled to other locations across England. To be specific, they took over the capital of England and the United Kingdom — London — and taped many key portions on different streets and neighborhoods. Moreover, the city of Leeds hosted the production of ‘Upgraded’ as well. As Ana and Will stroll in the city, you are likely to notice some local attractions and monuments of Leeds in the backdrop, including Leeds Town Hall, Leeds Minster, Victoria Leeds, and Leeds Dock.
