‘Shrill’ stars love working in Portland, ‘hippest of places’
As “Shrill” draws to a close, its stars and creators are reflecting on how important Portland, Oregon, became to the Hulu comedy series, and how much of the city’s originality and beauty they were able to showcase.
“Probably my favorite part of making the show is going to Portland and using that to build the story around,” said Aidy Bryant, who stars in the show as Annie, a woman navigating career and relationships and finding her voice.
Locals may recognize shots of the Willamette River, the Fifty Licks ice cream shop and Portland’s White House bed and breakfast.
Portland and its people have been key to the vibe of “Shrill,” which is streaming its third and final season.
The series is based on Seattle native Lindy West’s memoir, “Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman.”
“I feel very rooted in the Pacific Northwest, and it was a dream of mine to shoot this show in the
Pacific Northwest. I’m so elated we got to. And Portland was such an incredible home for us,” said West, who is also an executive producer on the show.
“Shrill” has highlighted not only some of Portland’s neighborhoods but also the area’s beaches, like an episode filmed at an oceanside home in Manzanita. The ranch where Annie goes to interview a separatist family is the Coleman Guest Ranch in Molalla, south of Portland.
“It kind of … holds all these little worlds within it, and I love that,” said Bryant, a two-time Emmy nominee for her work on “Saturday Night Live,” who is also a writer and executive producer on “Shrill.”
Portland became the show’s backdrop thanks to, as Bryant describes, a “weird fluke.” The show’s producers include Elizabeth Banks and “SNL” boss Lorne Michaels, who produced “Portlandia.”
“It was this natural,
‘Oh, well, we could take over this crew and this setup that’s been working together for so long,’ ” Bryant said.
Having a locally based crew meant finding hidden gems of the city to shoot scenes. In season two, the production designer suggested shooting at an old amusement park at Oaks Park, so the writers wrote a birthday party scene around it.
Actor John Cameron Mitchell, who plays Annie’s boss, says he has loved Portland since he started going there in the 1990s and discovered it was the “hippest of places.”
“It was just like so cool, and everyone was acting like they weren’t cool, but they were, which made them cooler and scarier. Because they were so casual,” Mitchell said with a laugh.
While Bryant is sad to leave Oregon behind, she says it’s not goodbye.
“I love filming in
Oregon. I would go back there in a heartbeat. I’m planning to go back there this summer just because I love it,” Bryant said. “They have really made this amazing film community there, and it was such a joy to be there in this beautiful, beautiful setting.”