The 1991 rom-com Doc Hollywood is set in a rural town in South Carolina, but the movie was filmed in another location. Starring Michael J. Fox, the movie tells the story of a hotshot doctor who crashes his fancy sports car in a small Southern town while on his way to interview for an important new job in Los Angeles. Besides the conventional big-city versus small-town jokes, Doc Hollywood also has a lot of heart and tells a compelling love story. Fox stepped out of his comfort zone to play the condescending titular doctor, and he became a lovable hero by the end of the film.
One of the strongest aspects of Doc Hollywood is the use of location to accentuate the story. The fictional hamlet of Grady, South Carolina, has a lot of charm, and the moss-draped streets and quaint atmosphere really sell the draw of small-town living. Coming just a few years after his string of mega-hits in the 1980s, Michael J. Fox's take on Dr. Stone showed a maturing of the actor and a range that his other parts lacked. Generally considered one of Michael J. Fox's most underrated roles, Doc Hollywood subverts expectations in its comedy and its use of filming locations.
Most Of Doc Hollywood Was Filmed In Micanopy & McIntosh, Florida
Despite the movie being set in the fictional town of Grady, South Carolina, the bulk of the production of Doc Hollywood was actually filmed in the Florida cities of Micanopy and McIntosh. As mentioned by The AFI in their behind-the-scenes rundown of the production, the makers of Doc Hollywood gave the towns a $12 million "transformation" to fit the needs of their filming, but it was obvious that Micanopy and McIntosh were chosen for their existing aesthetic value. Film production in Florida wasn't uncommon in the late-'80s and early-'90s, but Doc Hollywood had specific locational needs that the Sunshine State could provide.
Movies shot on location in Florida often take advantage of the state's unique atmosphere and flora, and Doc Hollywood's small South Carolina town could be easily emulated by north Florida cities like Micanopy and McIntosh. Though the movie never specifies what part of South Carolina the story takes place in, the look very much resembles the coastal lowland region to the east. Fortunately for the production of Doc Hollywood, the coastal lowlands region of South Carolina looks a lot like north Florida, and the movie does an excellent job of convincingly ing the latter off for the former.
Doc Hollywood Also Shot In Los Angeles
The AFI also mentions that the rest of Doc Hollywood's principal photography was completed in Los Angeles, and that served a dual purpose. While most of the movie's exteriors were shot on location in Florida, the interior scenes were completed on sets in Hollywood. That is almost always standard practice with a feature film, but the movie also used a few Los Angeles locations to show a visual juxtaposition with Grady, South Carolina. Doc Hollywood's ending used its L.A. locations to show just how different the two cities were, and it also illustrated how much Dr. Stone had changed over the course of the film as well.
