Where is Mare of Easttown filmed? Kate Winslet drama Pennsylvania filming locations – is Easttown a real place

Returning to television for the first time in 10 years, Kate Winslet has been thrilling audiences in recent weeks with her starring performance in Mare of Easttown, a new detective thriller from HBO airing on Sky Atlantic.

The show follows detective Mare Sheehan (Winslet) who, while still dealing with the case of a missing girl hanging over her career, is tasked with investigating a murder when a dead body turns up in the local creek.

Working with the county detective, the two attempt to solve the sinister case that has shaken their tight knit community.

The series explores the dark side of a small-town Pennsylvania community, and is an examination of how tragedies from our past can define our present.

But where was it filmed? Here’s everything you need to know.

Where was it filmed?

The show is set in a fictionalised version of Easttown Township in Chester County, an area of Pennsylvania which mainly comprises the eastern suburbs of Philadelphia, and where creator of the show Brad Ingelsby was born.

The show alters the geography of the location slightly, with its action taking place instead in Delaware County, the next county along to Chester County’s east.

Because of that tweak to the true Easttown’s location, there were discussions about whether to use the "Delco accent" in the show, a version of Philadelphia English common in Delaware County.

Winslet insisted that the accent be used, despite it being particularly difficult to learn – she later claimed it was so difficult it caused her to "throw things" – because she felt the community itself was an important character and the authentic accent would help emphasise that.

"There were a lot of things I could have really leaned into that would have made it sound like I was doing something a bit gimmicky and I didn't want that to happen," Winslet told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "So I just had to drill it and drill it and drill it."

Mare of Easttown was mostly filmed on location in the Philadelphia suburbs, with Inglesby saying that many of the filming locations were around Aston Township in Delaware County.

Film crews were also spotted in Wissahickon Valley Park in Northwest Philadelphia, and the nearby Roxborough neighbourhood, and the old train station on Fleetwood Street in Coatesville – roughly 40 miles west of Philadelphia – stood in as Easttown's police station.

Mare's house is located in Wallingford, a nice community in Delaware County about nine miles from Philadelphia, and in actuality, the home of her ex-husband Frank is located just to the rear.

According to Atlas of Wonders, the residences are privately owned, and “the unexpected success of the series has caused an interest in the houses that is very unwelcome for the owners.”

Filming locations also included a high-school gym in Coatesville, and an American Legion hall in Ogden, a community in Delaware County.

How was filming affected by the Covid-19 pandemic?

Filming of the show began in the autumn of 2019.

On-location production was reported to still be in progress as of March 2020, and wasn’t due to finish until the following month.

Of course, then Covid-19 came along and changed the world, a pandemic that saw global lockdowns put a halt to all but the most essential industries.

Though the US was particularly hard hit by the virus, a Philadelphia news station reported that filming was set to resume just a few months later in September 2020.

How can I watch it?

There are seven episodes of the mini-series, with the seventh and final episode due to be released on 31 May.

HBO has yet to reveal any details on whether there will be a second series, but since the show has been billed as a mini-series, it seems unlikely that the show will have a second series.

All previous episodes of Mare of Easttown are available to stream through Now TV.

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