Naman Shrestha
Created by Lena Dunham and Luis Felber, Netflix’s ‘Too Much’ is a British romantic comedy series that follows a New York-based woman named Jessica, who is left devastated after breaking up with someone with whom she planned to be together for life. In order to move on from the heartbreak, she takes up a job and relocates to the capital of the United Kingdom, where she plans to lead an isolated life and be away from human connection. However, everything changes when she crosses paths with an indie musician named Felix, who makes her believe in love once again.
As the two form an unusual yet romantic connection with each other, Jessica realizes that their relationship has a tendency to create more trouble for her. Led by the stellar performances of Megan Stalter, Will Sharpe, Michael Zegen, Janicza Bravo, Richard E. Grant, and Leo Reich, the light-hearted show also includes cameos from several other popular names like Jessica Alba, Andrew Scott, Jennifer Saunders, Rita Ora, and Kit Harington. The romance-filled story unfolds in the Big Apple and London, providing a backdrop of the bustling streets of both modern cities.
Too Much Filming Locations
‘Too Much’ is shot primarily in England, especially across Buckinghamshire and London. A minor portion is also reportedly filmed on location in New York City, New York. From what we can tell, the principal photography for the debut season of the rom-com series commenced in early February 2024 and went on for more than four months, as it concluded in late June or early July of the same year. When asked about working with Will Sharpe, actress and comedian Megan Stalter, who essays the character of Jessica, told Vogue, “He’s just so fun and easy to work with and so funny. He has more of a weird sense of humor than I thought, because I just didn’t know him, and I have such a weird sense of humor.”
Elaborating on the same, she added, “It was really fun, and we’re very silly together, and I just felt like he made me really comfortable. When you’re working with an actor (for the first time), you don’t know if they’re going to be loving this loud comedian who’s joking around in between scenes or not, and he definitely did. We did a lot of pranks; I would tell everyone, ‘Will just said something really mean to me’ when he absolutely didn’t, which I thought was very funny.”
Buckinghamshire, England
In the initial phase of the production, the filming team of ‘Too Much’ traveled to the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, situated in South East England. As per reports, in early February 2024, the cast and crew members were spotted taping pivotal interior and exterior sequences involving the character of Andrew Scott in and around The Royal Standard of England on Forty Green in the market town of Beaconsfield. It is a centuries-old pub that has also hosted the production of other shows like ‘Midsomer Murders’ and ‘Endeavour.’
London, England
For about four and a half months, the production team of ‘Too Much’ set up camp in London, the capital of the United Kingdom and England. They turned multiple streets and neighborhoods across the city into film sets, with several iconic landmarks in the backdrop, such as the Buckingham Palace and Wellington Arch on Apsley Way in Hyde Park Corner in the City of Westminster. Numerous key portions were also shot on the Tower Bridge and in and around The Ivy House at 40 Stuart Road. Sheppard House on Warner Place also seemingly served as a production location for the rom-com series.
Megan Stalter also shared some fascinating insights on filming in London. Despite feeling homesick and missing her girlfriend, Maddie Allen, and their furry babies, the LGBTQ+ icon revealed that Lena made the shooting process surprisingly easy and manageable. “I was intimidated when I got there, but Lena made me feel so confident and supported, so that was kind of a surprise, in that it didn’t feel as scary as I thought it would because of how amazing she is,” Megan stated. Interestingly, it was her second time ever in the city. She had previously been to London in relation to her show at the Soho Theatre. The actress revealed that during her downtime from shooting, she spent most of her time exploring Shoreditch in the Borough of Hackney, adding that the scene set in the animal farm was shot in the area.
You can also spot the world-famous London Eye, located at the Riverside Building in County Hall on Westminster Bridge Road in the Borough of Lambeth, in the background. What Megan also found surprising was the unpredictable behavior of rain in the Metropolis, and how the team was sometimes left with no alternative but to capture the scenes amid the downpour. The city is no stranger to film and television production and has doubled up as a filming spot for many popular titles over the years. ‘Bridgerton,’ ‘About Time,’ ‘It Ends with Us,’ ‘Love Actually,’ ‘Notting Hill,’ ‘One Day,’ and ‘Heartstopper’ are some of the many movies and shows that utilized the locales of the city to paint its visual canvas.
New York City, New York
Just for a few days in June 2024, the shooting for the romantic comedy series took place in New York City on the southern edge of the eponymous state. Filming was conducted in a few areas in the Big Apple, especially in the boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan. In the background of a sequence, you can easily spot the iconic Manhattan Bridge, a double-decker suspension bridge that connects the aforementioned boroughs. The cast and crew reportedly also visited the part of the bustling Canal Street thoroughfare that borders the neighborhood of SoHo in Lower Manhattan.
In an interview with SMagazine, Megan stated that at some point during filming in New York, they encountered a bunch of paparazzi. Since she was fairly new to the experience, she mistook them to be part of the team and began “smiling and waving.” She also added how she is always mesmerized by the enchanting beauty of the city. “But there’s also something so magical about filming in New York, because it looks like the movies,” Megan concluded. A global filming spot, New York has also hosted the production of wide-ranging movies and shows, such as ‘Materialists,’ ‘And Just Like That…,’ ‘Anora,’ ‘The Four Seasons,’ ‘Past Lives,’ ‘Younger,’ ‘New York, I Love You,’ and ‘Gossip Girl.’
