This North Carolina Main Street Feels Like A Movie Set
From the Victorian homes to the salubrious breezes of this place, the overall cuteness and charm of Southport feels almost vaguely familiar if this is your first time travelling through North Carolina's southeastern coast. And it should. For decades, this historic fishing village resting on the Cape Fear River has been an iconic spot for filmmakers over the years. To this day, Southport's Main Street feels like a movie set for the sheer fact that it has been used time and time again for blockbuster movies and recent TV series. Here's why.
How Southport Became Hollywood's Coastal Playground
To the untrained eye, Southport definitely has the vibe of picture-perfect postcard scenery. The aforementioned Victorian homes have an old-time classic charm to them, and this extends beyond the homes too. The historic churches, as well as Fort Johnston, which overlooks the mouth of the Cape Fear River meeting the Atlantic Ocean, create some timeless settings. Mix in friendly local faces and a downtown district that is entirely walkable, and you have yourself a set that Hollywood loves to come back to time and time again.
The diversity of films that took place in Southport is diverse as well, as Southport has been the perfect backdrop for everything from romantic dramas to thrillers and miniseries of similar themes. Most recently Amazon's The Summer I Turned Pretty was all shot in Southport.
If you're a fan of Dawson's Creek and Under the Dome, you'll notice Bay Street, City Pier, and the Old Yacht Basin. Even the 2011 drama Hart of Dixie had its pilot episode in Southport, capturing the magic of Franklin Square and Moore Street.
The resume of films shot in Southport is long and impressive, to the point that any watcher of romance and drama films can feel a wave of nostalgia from visiting Southport even if they never step foot there until now. And it's all thanks to films like Matlock, Revenge, The Secret Life of Bees, Nights in Rodanthe, and many more.
Walking Through The Set
With Southport's own extensive resume of films, it's fair to say that there is no place in Southport that hasn't had a movie star step into or a scene take place in. As a result, townspeople and visitors alike can walk in the star's footprints all over town.
The Beaufort church scene in A Walk to Remember took place at the Trinity United Methodist Church. Established in 1798, that church continues to remain iconic with its clapboard siding and shingle-style detail. The marina that was featured in Safe Haven can also be viewed from the same location where stars Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel went to.
Overall, there are 36 locations where iconic scenes, characters' homes, or set pieces were placed across Southport. It's enough for people to spend an entire day going through a self-guided walking tour of filming spots, taking in the sights, and maybe reenacting some of those scenes. The Fort Johnston/Southport Museum has an entire room dedicated to the Southport filming industry where you can dive into more details. In addition, the Visitors' Center also has some exhibits about the filming industry too, making those two spots a must-visit for movie fans.
Another must-visit is the Southport Fun Tours, where you travel in style on an oversized electric tram that stops at multiple spots, like The Brunswick Inn, which was featured in Oprah Winfrey's production of "The Wedding."
But even if you've never seen those flicks before, the Southern life and modern-day comforts of this town have a way of gripping you and giving you a sense for why this place is so beloved. Cape Fear Restaurant is just on the waterfront and offers both seafood and steak and chicken dishes that pair wonderfully with the atmosphere of boats bobbing in the water just outdoors.
On the flip side, places like the iconic Old Brunswick County Jail can deliver that hauntingly beautiful atmosphere that was captured by the horror film I Know What You Did Last Summer. Merely looking at it, you can get those vibes alongside the laughter, drama, and suspense that were captured inside that brick building.
Indie Filmmakers' Paradise
While Wilmington, Southport's neighbor, tends to capture the spotlight for events and film festivals, Southport still has its own unique experiences in events that celebrate the town's love of films. For starters, it continues to draw a lot of attention from indie filmmakers too. From those who love the coastal vibes to those hoping to make it to the big screen, you might be able to end up being part of a movie scene without realizing it.
That aside, North Carolina has film festivals scattered throughout the state, and Southport has many cropping up during the late summer and early fall. All of them showcase various venues of Southport and serve as both a celebration of those locations and a way to pull the community tighter together over the shared love of films and appreciation of popcorn and shared experiences.
Filmmaking made Southport into the iconic picturesque place that it is today, and its legacy lives on in the multiple flicks, miniseries, thrillers, romances, and drama films. Every frame of those cult classics and blockbuster films all share a collective story about Southport. And so it's easy to see why Southport's Main Street feels so familiar to people, because it's been used as a backdrop for decades by indie filmmakers and big TV producers alike.
