Naman Shrestha
In HBO’s ‘Rooster,’ Steve Carell stars as Greg Russo, a bestselling novelist looking to make his monotonous life active. His professional success as a writer is shadowed by his personal past, as his marriage ended due to his infidelity. When he gets the opportunity to work as a writer-in-residence at the prestigious Ludlow College, where his daughter, Katie, is an art history professor, he takes it and works to rebuild his bond with her, who is dealing with her own marital problems. The comedy drama series is created by Bill Lawrence and Matt Tarses and features Carell, Phil Dunster, Charly Clive, Danielle Deadwyler, and John C. McGinley. It is set against the backdrop of the fictional college campus, which serves as a bridge between the intricate bond between Greg and Katie.
Rooster Filming Locations
The shooting for ‘Rooster’ is conducted primarily in California, specifically in Los Angeles County and Stockton. Principal photography for the inaugural iteration of the Steve Carell starrer got underway around June 2025 and wrapped up after a couple of months in August of the same year. One of the crew members, Blake McClure, recounted his experience of working on the set of the comedy series. He stated, “Working on ROOSTER was a master class everyday on set. Steve Carell’s range as an actor (let alone a stellar human being) and the genius of @vdoozer and @graydavis6 with their minute details between humor and humanity. This was truly a dream come true.”
Los Angeles County, California
To create the visual aesthetic of ‘Rooster,’ the production team chose several spots in Los Angeles County. For the interior sequences, they utilized the amenities and services of Warner Bros. Burbank Studios at 4000 Warner Boulevard in the city of Burbank. Several pivotal sequences were also lensed at the University of Southern California, situated in Los Angeles. The cast and crew visited the educational institution to tape the scenes set in the fictional Ludlow College. In the establishing shots, you might be able to spot various buildings within the university. For the purpose of shooting, the filming unit also settled on Occidental College at 1600 Campus Road in Los Angeles. In particular, shooting was carried out at the McKinnon Center for Global Affairs, located within Johnson Hall at Occidental College.
Stockton, California
A significant chunk of ‘Rooster’ was reportedly also taped in Stockton, the county seat of San Joaquin County, located on the San Joaquin River. In June 2025, the cast and crew members set up camp at the University of the Pacific at 3601 Pacific Avenue, where they recorded several exterior scenes involving the fictional Ludlow Campus. The students, faculty members, and the locals in the Stockton area featured as background extras for numerous scenes shot on the university campus. The exterior of several parts of the university was transformed into “Ludlow College, Home of the Blues.” Besides ‘Rooster,’ Stockton has served as a prominent production location for multiple movies, such as ‘Just Like Heaven,’ ‘George of the Jungle,’ ‘Heart and Souls,’ ‘Dead Man on Campus,’ and ‘Big Stan.’
