Directed by Ridley Scott, ‘G. I. Jane’ is a war drama film that reovles around Jordan O’Neil, who becomes the first woman to undergo special operations training akin to that of the elite Navy SEALs. However, she soon realizes she is going to face a lot of challenges for being a woman in a predominantly male-dominated sector. O’Neil is subjected to weeks of emotional and physical torture at the hands of Master Chief John Urgayle, which she is not expected to survive. In fact, some high-ranking authorities anticipate her to flunk the training.
Though it received mixed reviews upon its release, the 1997 film is revered as being ahead of its time in terms of advancing the position of women in the defense sector across the world. The film’s dramatic portrayals necessitate accurate characterization and locales. As a result, a strong visual approach and multiple locations were used to produce the action sequences and visuals of the Navy SEAL training camps in the film. Let’s take a look at all the places ‘G.I. Jane’ was shot!
G.I. Jane Filming Locations
‘G.I. Jane’ was primarily filmed in Washington and Florida, with a portion of the shooting conducted in South Carolina, Virginia, California as well as the United Kingdom. Filming began on April 8, 1996, and carried on for about five months, wrapping up in August of the same year. Curious to know the specific locations? We’ve got you covered.
Florida
A major portion of the filming of ‘G.I. Jane’ took place in Florida. Several sequences were shot at Camp Blanding Joint Training Center, which is a 30,000-acre National Guard training center. Located at 5629 FL-16 West in Clay County, it served as the main training facility for the team. The cast and crew also shot a few scenes at Middleburg in the same county.
Huguenot Memorial Park at 10980 Heckscher Drive in Jacksonville in Duval County served as one of the locations where the highly demanding training scenes were filmed. In the film, the Catalano Naval Base is located in Florida. However, since the production team couldn’t shoot on the actual Naval Intelligence Center, production designer Arthur Max developed a set in Florida itself called the Hexagon, where the scenes set in the center were actually filmed. The Hexagon was also their largest set, and it was inspired by the Pentagon.
Washington D.C.
In an interview, Ridley Scott recalled that filming in Washington was challenging for the production crew due to several agencies that had to be navigated in order to obtain various filming permissions. However, the filmmaker also emphasized the significant assistance they received from the Washington Film Commission. Over the years, Washington has served as a filming location for several movies and shows, such as ‘Forrest Gump,’ ‘Mission: Impossible,’ ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ and ‘The Exorcist.’
California
To capture the scenes set in the Libyan Desert, the cast and crew moved to Lone Pine in Inyo County, California. A few scenes were also taped at S.S. Lane Victory on Pier 94 in the neighborhood of San Pedro in the sprawling city of Los Angeles in the southern part of the state.
Other Filming Locations
Apart from Washington, Florida, and California, the production team also taped a few scenes at the State Capitol Building in Richmond, Virginia. They reportedly substituted that framework for the Senate in Washington. In addition, the scenes when O’Neil is caught and interrogated during her SEAL training were filmed in Harbor Island and Hunting Island State Park, located close to Beaufort in South Carolina.
England, the United Kingdom
The cast and crew of ‘G.I. Jane’ also left the country to shoot a few sequences in the United Kingdom, particularly in Surrey, in South East England. A few interior scenes were shot at Shepperton Studios, located at Studios Road in the village of Shepperton in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey. Over the years, many films and shows were shot in the studio complex; some of the prominent productions are ‘Downton Abbey,’ ‘1917’ and ‘Batman Begins.’
Read More: Is GI Jane Based on a True Story?
