Naman Shrestha
In Amazon Prime’s ‘Deep Cover,’ we get acquainted with a trio of improv actors coming from different walks of life but united with their knack for improvising. Kat is an improv comedy teacher who has never found real success despite her knowledge and talent. One of her students is Marlon, a passionate actor whose greatest achievement yet has been featuring in a pizza commercial. As for Hugh, when his timidness makes it difficult for him to make friends at work, he decides to join Kat’s improv classes. An undercover cop named Billings offers Kat the role of her life by giving her a chance to test her improvisation skills in real life by infiltrating the belly of one of London’s most dangerous gangs, led by Fly, by going undercover as a dangerous gangster.
Accepting the life-changing offer, she recruits Marlon and Hugh as her partners to embark on an adventurous mission to shake up the criminal underworld. Directed by Tom Kingsley, the British action comedy movie features an ensemble cast, comprising big names like Bryce Dallas Howard, Orlando Bloom, Nick Mohammed, Paddy Considine, Sonoya Mizuno, and Sean Bean. Set in London, the film’s high-octane fighting sequences and car chases are toned down by the humor of the trio, but complemented by the involvement of different kinds of backdrops.
Deep Cover Filming Locations
In order to maintain a sense of visual authenticity, the makers decided to shoot ‘Deep Cover’ on location in London, England. Principal photography reportedly got underway in early February 2024 and went on for nearly two months before getting wrapped up in late March of the same year. One of the producers of the film, Colin Trevorrow, was thankful to the local film community for granting permission for the production. “I’ve been very fortunate to work with British film crews for many years now,” he told Variety. In the same interview, Bryce Dallas Howard, who portrays Kat, talked about the collaborative process, stating, “We were never treated like puppets…It was a very collaborative, organic process. And so improv was used as a way for us to sort of get into the scene.”
Greater London, England
For the purpose of filming, the production team of ‘Deep Cover’ set up camp in several neighborhoods in Greater London, including the United Kingdom’s largest metropolis and capital city, London, as well as its historic center, the City of London. The cast and crew taped several sequences in the area around the 5-story Lloyd’s Bank at 113-116 Leadenhall Street, which spans 0.54 km and connects Cornhill to Aldgate. Filming also took place in a few spots in the heart of London city. From what we can tell, the thriving global financial district of Canary Wharf in the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets seemingly served as one of the places where the Amazon Prime movie was shot.
Lying just along the border of Tower Hamlets in the London Borough of Hackney, Shoreditch also doubled up as a shooting site for ‘Deep Cover.’ Renowned for its rich art scene, it is the creative abode of gifted artists with streets embellished with breathtaking contemporary murals and a rotating exhibition of art pieces. The area is also famous for its vibrant nightlife with many speakeasy-esque bars, pubs, restaurants, and eateries that offer rooftop seating, etc. The team also visited East London, specifically the riverside town of Barking in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, to capture a few sequences for the fast-paced movie.
In an interview with Variety, director Tom Kingsley explained the reason they chose to film in actual locations in and around London instead of utilizing the services and facilities of a studio complex. In order to complement the gritty setting of London’s crime underworld, opting to showcase the chaos on location proved to be a perfect choice for this action comedy. “We wanted the movie to feel real. I think like the comedy is funnier when you really believe in the stakes,” he stated. “We need London to look like a little dangerous, not too picture postcard.” While the filming of the scenes set in daylight was done smoothly, the production team had to undertake additional caution and tighten up the security for the cast and crew members while taping a few night sequences in the dimly lit industrial zones.
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