Lights, Camera, Action!
The following is a list of productions filmed in part or entirely on location at Oak Alley Plantation:
Midnight Bayou
Filmed in October 2008 by Lifetime, an American cable television channel. Starring Faye Dunaway, Jerry O’Connell and Lauren Stamile. Based on the Nora Roberts best seller.
In “Nora Roberts’ Midnight Bayou” Harvard-educated lawyer Declan Fitzpatrick (O’Connell), impulsively gives up his settled life to buy Manet Hall (Oak Alley Plantation), a newly restored plantation manor near New Orleans, which he has always found himself drawn to.
Legend has it that the house is haunted and shortly after Declan moves in he starts hearing voices and seeing things. Declan is also distracted by an undeniable attraction to Cajun local Lena Simone (Stamile), who grew up on the bayou with her grandmother Odette (Dunaway), and has her own deep connection to the manor.
While living in the house he begins to have visions from a century past and details of events that took place in the mansion. With the help of Odette, Declan and Lena realize that they are inextricably linked with Manet Hall (Oak Alley Plantation) and uncover a shocking secret that has been hidden there for more than one hundred years.
Ghost Hunters
Filmed in August 2008 by Sci-Fi Channel, an American cable television channel. Paranormal investigation and interviews with Oak Alley Plantation tour guides.
Beyoncé’s “Déjà Vu” Music Video and “B’Day” CD insert photos
Filmed/shot in June 2006. Produced by Sony BMG Music Entertainment.
Hush Sweet Charlotte
Bette Davis. Exterior shots only. Subsequent production changes limited originally predicted film time at Oak Alley.
Nightrider
Filmed in October of 1978, starring David Selby and Kim Cattrall. “A refined New Orleans gentleman becomes a masked crimefighter by night, both to uphold law and order and to find the men who murdered his family in order to get their silver mine.”
Dixie: Changing Habits
September of 1982. For CBS television, starring Suzanne Pleshette and Cloris Leachman. Filmed entirely on location at Oak Alley Plantation and the French Quarter in New Orleans.
Days of our Lives
Segment of NBC Daytime Television Series (“Soap Opera”) filmed at Oak Alley in mid 1984 during the World’s Fair in New Orleans. One day, dawn to dark, film session starring Peter Reckell (Bo Brady) and Kristian Alfonso (Hope Welch). Aired on NBC in August of 1984 with numerous flashbacks over the years. Exterior shots and a balcony scene at mansion.
The Long Hot Summer
Produced for NBC and filmed on location at Oak Alley in April of 1985. A made-for-television version of the original 1958 motion picture which starred Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, this cast included such celebrities as Don Johnson, Cybill Shepherd, Jason Robards, Judith Ivey and Ava Gardner.
Interview with a Vampire
A Warner Brothers/Finewood Studios production, in conjunction with Geffen Pictures, starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. Based on the Anne Rice best seller by the same name. The film featured Oak Alley as Louis’ homeplace. Some graveyard scenes and the loading dock scenes were filmed here as well. October 1993.
Primary Colors
A Universal Picture Production starring John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Kathy Bates, Bill Bob Thornton, Larry Hagman, Maura Tierney, and Adrian Lester, based on the novel “Primary Colors” by Joe Klein. The movie follows a southern governor’s campaign to win the Democratic nomination to run for President of the United States.
In addition to the above films made at Oak Alley, there have also been a number of commercials, national and international fashion magazine layouts and print advertising campaigns, pictorial supplements to articles and documentaries on a variety of subjects which have appeared in almost every category of media.