Where Was The Irishman Filmed? De Niro-Al Pacino Mob Drama!

What do you imagine when you hear the name Martin Scorcese or Robert De Niro? A kick-ass crime drama, probably? You’d be right on the money with that! Introducing a movie that spent years in developmental hell before seeing the light of day – The Irishman. Today, we will tell you all about the movie and also tell you where was The Irishman filmed! Hang on till the very end, okay?

The Irishman officially spent around a decade trying to get off the writer’s shelf. According to Scorcese, he and De Niro had planned a movie along a similar theme more than three decades ago! So you better enjoy the movie that we finally have in the flesh! With it being Scorcese’s most expensive movie ever, there are a lot of reasons why you should watch The Irishman right freaking now!

But first, where was The Irishman filmed? The movie takes place across tons of places, all of which are scattered in and around Philadelphia. The filming for The Irishman has been done mostly in New York and Florida. Many areas like the Bronx, New Jersey, Long Island, and Staten Island were used as stand-ins for real-life locations.

The filming locations of The Irishman don’t let you feel even for a moment that you’re not witnessing things in the South or East of Philly. Lots of post-production work already went into de-aging the actors, so fitting the locations didn’t really pose big issues. Some movies with interesting filming locations currently on our radars are River Of No Return, Pumpkin Everything, and Joe Kidd.

The Plot Of The Irishman | What Is The Movie About?

Now, before we move on to see where was The Irishman filmed, we need to check out what the movie is about! The movie is a hard hitter and stars some of the biggest names in Hollywood. We have Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel, and Ray Romano in lead roles. Supporting them are Ana Paquin, Stephen Graham, and Bobby Cannavale.

The movie follows the life of Frank Sheeran, who goes from being a delivery truck driver to being the hitman for the biggest crime family in Philly. Frank is caught up in thievery but refuses to give up the name of the one who he did the theft for. The drivers union lawyer sees this loyalty and values it highly. Getting the case dismissed for Sheeran, the lawyer has better plans for him.

He introduces Sheeran to Russel Bufalino, who is the head of a crime family in Pennsylvania. Frank is taken in and given odd jobs at first, but he soon graduates to ‘painting houses’ for the family. That is a metaphor for carrying out contract killings. Russel further promotes Sheeran as the personal bodyguard of Jimmy Hoffa. 

Jimmy is the president of the biggest union in America and has close ties with the mob. Jimmy and Sheeran grow close to each other, but his relationship with the mob begins to deteriorate. This leads him to be on the hitlist of the mob, and Sheeran is set to carry out the killing. Does Sheeran’s friendship over duty? For that, you will have to watch The Irishman yourself and find out!

Where Was The Irishman Filmed? All The Locations That You Need To Know About!

Besides Sheeran’s and Jimmy’s relationship, there are a lot of things going on in the movie. From American politics of the fifties to social issues, everything is touched. We even get to see the family problems Sheeran is facing as he tries his best to put food on the table for his family at the start.

The Irishman opened to positive reviews upon its limited theatrical release on November 1, 2019. With obvious praise for Scorcese as well as the leads. So, where was The Irishman filmed? Read on to find out the exact places!

Queens and Long Island, New York, USA

Most of the filming for The Irishman has been done outside in the open spaces. A challenge for the Scorcese and the crew was to go back in time. All the locations needed to be reminded back to the fifties. So it didn’t matter that the movie was set in Philly and the filming was done in New York since most of it had to be edited out anyway.

The crew personally scouted a few locations and used them as stand-ins for different scenes. The best example of that is using the Ridgewood area of Queens as a stand-in for the Philadelphia Market. The St Matthias church located on Catalpa Avenue was to depict the very famous Villa di Roma restaurant in Philadelphia. 

Locations in Long Island, like Huntington Station’s Rodeway Inn, were used as a stand-in for Howard Johnson’s Motor Inn. A few pivotal scenes with Sheeran were shot in this location. And with Sheeran flying in and out, Shirley’s Brookhaven Calabro Airport in Long Island was used heavily.

New Jersey, USA

Filming then shifted to New Jersey for a few scenes. With hundreds of different locations in the three-hour-long movie, it’s no surprise that so many locations were used. Some important locations in New Jersey include places like Market Street and Spruce Street in Paterson, New Jersey. When Sheeran visits Hoffa in prison, the prison scenes were filmed at two different prisons. The first one is the Northern State Prison, Newark, and the second is the East Jersey State Prison in Avenel, New Jersey.

Miami, Florida, USA

Pretty much all of The Irishman has been filmed in locations different from where it is set. Except for Miami. Real locations in Florida were used in the movie, with Scorcese receiving special permission to shoot at certain locations. Places like The Palm Beach Kennel Club, located on Congress Ave, West Palm Beach, Florida, were used for filming.

Final Words

We hope now you know where was The Irishman filmed! The crime drama is surely long and exhausting, but once you’re into it, the movie feels like a breeze. Thanks partly to the great filming of Scorcese and partly to the actors involved!

If you liked knowing the filming locations of The Irishman, then check out our other offerings as well! See where shows like The Midnight Club and movies like Mr. Harrigan’s Phone were filmed!