The sky may belong to the stars, but so does Clark County. There are 972 miles between here and Tinseltown, but our beautiful area of the country has attracted producers and stars. Here are some local movies, television shows, and stars that have connections to Clark County.
Movies
Extraordinary Measures (2010)
Starring: Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser
Filming location #1: Vancouver City Hall in Vancouver
Facts: This building was vacant at the time it was filmed which made for a lot of open office space. It was a newer building originally owned by The Columbian but is currently City Hall. According to a 2010 article by The Columbian, scenes shot in this building were interior shots of the pharmaceutical company’s headquarters.
location #2: Big Al’s, Inc. in Vancouver
This popular bowling alley opened in 2006 and was the filming location of the birthday party scenes according to The Columbian. Big Al’s hosts birthday parties, offers public bowling, an arcade, a restaurant and a sports bar.
Wild (2014)
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern.
Filming Location: Paul’s Restaurant in Vancouver
Facts: Wild, starring Reese Witherspoon, is a movie that is about the life of author Cheryl Strayed and her journey on the Pacific Crest Trail. Paul’s Restaurant was the only location in Washington that was filmed in the entire movie. Most of it was filmed in Oregon, and the scene was actually set in Reno, Nevada.
Twilight (2008)
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner
Facts: In the original Twilight film, “Forks High School” was actually filmed at Kalama High School, according to Google sites.
Filming location #1: Kalama High School in Kalama
Location #2: Kadow’s Marina in Vancouver
Location #3: Cape Horn Overlook in Washougal
Find more information about local locations where Twilight was filmed by clicking here.
TV Shows
Portlandia
Starring: Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein.
Portlandia is filmed primarily in Portland, OR but every so often they come over to Vancouver to film. They have filmed in locations such as the Clark County Courthouse, PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, and Henrietta Lacks High School.
Leverage
Starring: Timothy Hutton, Beth Riesgraf and Christian Kane.
This action thriller appeared on TNT from 2008 through 2012. Much like Portlandia, its main filming locations were in Portland but it was not uncommon for producers to come across the river and film in Vancouver. According to a 2011 article in The Columbian, some of those locations were: Joe Brown’s Cafe, Esther Short Park, Parkhill Cemetery and The Fairgate Inn in Camas.
People
SethAaron is a local fashion designer. He was the winner of Season 7 of Project Runway and, in 2014, he also won on Project Runway: Allstars. He was the first person to successfully win both shows. Currently, he still resides in Vancouver. As an active part of Portland’s fashion scene, he recently teamed up with Feetz to design and create a line of 3D printed shoes that were featured at fashionNXT in October.
Randy Myers was a major league baseball player from 1985 through 1998. In his 13 year career, he has pitched for six different teams including the Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles, San Diego Padres, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays, and the Chicago Cubs. In 1990 when he played for the Reds, he swept the Oakland Athletics and won the World Series that year. He was a graduate of both Clark College and Evergreen High School. In fact, Myers did his part in local fundraising by helping Clark College restart their baseball team in 2011.
Sam Elliott attended Clark College and graduated there in 1965. His family moved to Northeast Portland and he graduated from David Douglas High School. During his time at Clark College, he acted in varying plays. A few years after his graduation, he was in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. His acting career only bloomed from there as he starred in The Big Lebowski (1998), Road House (1989), Mask (1985), Gettysburg (1993), Tombstone (1993), We Were Soldiers (2002), Ghost Rider (2007), Hulk (2003), and many more.
He currently owns a house in the Willamette Valley.
This well known country music singer who sang songs such as “On the Road Again,” “Pancho and Lefty,” “Always on my Mind,” and “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,” was also a DJ in Vancouver in the 1950s. He worked at KVAN and had a show on the “Western Express” according to a 2014 article in The Columbian. He also used their equipment to record his first single titled “No Place for Me.” In current years, he funded $40,000 toward the building of the Sunlight Supply Amphitheater.
