As much as we'd love to pack Legacies with so many more characters from The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, we know that's not happening right away. However, The Originals alum Danielle Rose Russell -- who now leads the spinoff as Hope Mikaelson -- explained how longtime TVD Universe fans will soon get a nostalgia rush:
We're on the same stages, so there are a couple of sets from The Originals that we're going to revisit very soon. In a few more episodes, you'll see some very familiar locations.
Nice. The Vampire Diaries started this whole thing, and it based filming for Mystic Falls, Virginia, in Covington, Georgia. The Originals was set in New Orleans, but still filmed in the Atlanta area in Conyers, Georgia. Legacies is set in Mystic Falls, so it also films mostly in Covington. (Don't forget: The Vampire Diaries ended with Dr. Elena Salvatore opening a medical practice in Mystic Falls. It's still there in the timeline of Legacies.)
Legacies will film in both Covington and Conyers, and Danielle Rose Russell told TVLine the spinoff will be offering fans a chance to spot familiar locations. In The Originals, Olde Town Conyers was used for several New Orleans locations. There are walking tours available to show fans where they filmed The Witches Cauldron, Gillespie's Pub, Jardin Gris Voodoo Shop, etc.
However, Gina Hartsell of the local film office had said in late July of this year that Legacies probably wouldn't do major filming in that location again. Maybe because it's too familiar to fans as New Orleans? She did repeat that much of the filming would be in Covington -- since that's Mystic Falls -- but she also hinted to some of the Originals locations in play:
They won't be filming any major scenes that lock down Olde Town like they did before. They will be filming occasionally at different locations around Conyers. They'll film a lot at the horse park and different residences, depending on how their scripts are written.
Of course, Hope could go back to New Orleans to visit her family, and we could see those familiar Conyers, GA, locations on Legacies. That's not the only way to go about it, but we'd love to see more of the Mikaelsons any way we can get them.
Local newspaper The Citizen reported that production work for Legacies will be done in Conyers, since Warner Bros. leases production space in the town -- with the main production stage at Weaver Court, along with using the 2030 Park Drive building. There are currently Mystic Falls Tours available specific to The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, with one coming for Legacies.
Fun fact: Covington and Conyers are both just outside Atlanta, and so is Senoia, Georgia, where filming for The Walking Dead is based. Also, Pinewood Atlanta Studios is in nearby Fayetteville, GA, and that's where Marvel based most of the recent Avengers filming.
It'll be fun for The Originals fans to try and spot familiar locations in upcoming Legacies episodes. We're only up to Season 1, Episode 5 this Thursday, November 29, and there will be 16 episodes to this season. We're still hoping Caroline Forbes will show up, as opposed to just being referenced, but for now location nostalgia will have to do.
Legacies airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on The CW. Here's what else you can look forward to watching in 2018, and what's ahead in midseason 2019.
