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Above: Waiting for Julia.... Samantha DeSouza, left, and Jennifer Lee, were with a group of York workstudy students who toured The Prince and the Freshman movie set and got as close as they could to Julia Stiles - that is, next to her chair.
York University – a setting for a royal romance? Well, something like that....
You may recall that the Underground Restaurant in York’s Student Centre was closed from the afternoon of June 19 to the morning of June 30 for a major film shoot by Paramount Pictures.
Now YFile can reveal the name of the film, whose release date is next year, and the basic storyline.
Called The Prince and the Freshman, the motion picture stars Julia Stiles (above, left) as Paige, Luke Mably (right) as Prince Frederick of Denmark and Susan Sarandon (below, left) as Luke’s mother.
Here’s the storyline from "Greg's Previews" on Yahoo Canada's movie Web site: "Paige, a free-spirited American college student (and motorcycling enthusiast) starting her education, meets and falls in love with one of her classmates. But what she doesn't know is that he's actually a Danish prince, Frederick, spending his 'gap year' (before having to perform his princely duties) by hiding in America disguised as a regular guy."
And just why was York chosen as one of the venues for filming?
Well, it seems that filmmakers wanted to capture the feel of a Midwestern university, the University of Wisconsin-Madison to be specific – and our University fit the bill.
Right: A wall of the Underground Restaurant's Stone's Throw Urban Pub, made over into 'The Rathskeller,' and well-stocked with American beer
The Underground Restaurant became the University of Wisconsin's Rathskeller, "the university's hottest pub with great food -- a good resason why Stone's Throw Urban Pub in the Underground was a great match," says Ross McMillan, executive officer of York's Student Centre Corporation.
Left: Another view of 'The Rathskeller' (aka York's Stone's Throw Urban Pub)
"The majority of the filming [on campus] took place in the Stone's Throw Urban Pub, with a lot of footage taken in the kitchen. I'm told the 'prince' drains a deep fryer!
"There were also a few shots in Travel Cuts and at the entrance of the Student Centre by the statue 'Democracy'."
As well as York and other Toronto venues, filming is to take place at Stillking Studios in Prague and on location at castles elsewhere in the Czech Republic.
Film director is Martha Coolidge (Real Genius, Lost in Yonkers, Valley Girl). Screenwriter is Katherine Fugate who, according to Yahoo's Greg Dean Schmitz, made her debut with Carolina, which also stars Julia Stiles.
Schmitz describes the film genre as "comedy, female, romance and teen."