Where was Jay Kelly filmed? All filming locations revealed

Although Jay Kelly unfolds as a character-driven story about aging, ambition, and fractured relationships, the film’s emotional arc is strengthened by the distinct locations director Noah Baumbach chose to frame it. The comedy-drama follows a movie star, Jay Kelly, whose sudden decision to step away from a career he has spent decades protecting sends him and his manager, Ron, across Europe. 

Baumbach’s choice to shoot on location gives the film a grounded, wandering quality that mirrors Jay’s internal unraveling. As the character confronts old regrets, strained family ties, and a shifting sense of legacy, the physical journey becomes inseparable from his emotional one. That makes the film’s production trail essential to understanding how Jay Kelly achieves its tone and visual identity.

Locations that shaped the backdrop of the comedy-drama film

According to IMDb, the principal photography for Jay Kelly took place from March to May 2024 and spanned across several countries, including Italy, England, and the United States. The two-month filming schedule included a five-week-long shoot in May 2024 across Italy. 

According to italyformovies.com, the film uses the Piacenza–Cremona railway line, stretches of the Boschi area in Monticelli d’Ongina, and locations in Caorso, including viale della Stazione and parco degli Alpini. Production then moved to Milan for a standout sequence filmed at Platform 20 of Milano Centrale. Extras in 1990s-era outfits helped the station briefly transform into a space caught between memory and present reality, a motif that echoes Jay’s growing preoccupation with nostalgia, aging, and the shifting image of who he once believed himself to be.

Tuscany serves as the film’s primary geographic anchor. Production stretched across Arezzo, where the 19th-century Teatro Petrarca provides one of the film’s most atmospheric interiors. 

Much of Pienza appears on screen as well, including Trattoria La Buca delle Fate, Palazzo Piccolomini, Piazza Pio II, Piazza di Spagna, and the Church of San Francesco. Additional filming occurred in Montecatini Terme, Pitigliano, and across Val d’Orcia, capturing a range of landscapes that subtly track the emotional rise and fall of Jay’s journey. After wrapping major Italian locations, the team returned to the Province of Piacenza to complete scenes in Caorso and Monticelli d’Ongina, including additional exteriors along the Piacenza–Cremona line.

In the United States, New York City served as a backdrop for Jay’s pre-trip obligations, meetings, public appearances, and the pressures he abruptly walked away from. Clooney later reflected on his scenes with Sandler in New York, describing the process as relaxed and rooted in mutual trust, which ultimately shaped how the Jay–Ron dynamic plays on screen.

Production then shifted to England, where London’s variety of urban settings allowed Baumbach to finish the film’s international arc. 

Everything we know about Jay Kelly

The logline for Jay Kelly, as per Netflix, reads:

“JAY KELLY, the new film from Academy Award nominee Noah Baumbach, follows famous movie actor, Jay Kelly (George Clooney), as he embarks on a journey of self discovery confronting both his past and present, accompanied by his devoted manager Ron (Adam Sandler). Poignant and humor filled, epic and intimate, JAY KELLY is pitched at the intersection of life's regrets and notable glories.”

George Clooney embodies Jay with the mix of magnetism and fragility the role demands. In his interview with Esquire, Noah Baumbach explained that the film grew from a single line, its final one, long before the rest of the story existed: 

“I had that line before I had anything else in the movie,” Baumbach explained. 

He noted that its emotional weight required an actor with both timeless screen presence and unmistakable humanity. After rewriting the script with Emily Mortimer, Baumbach realized the character had to be a true movie star. As he recalled telling Clooney: 

“There weren’t a lot of options.”

The supporting cast reinforces the film’s emotional complexity. Adam Sandler as Ron, the manager accustomed to absorbing Jay’s chaos. Laura Dern as Liz, the publicist whose patience has thinned. Billy Crudup as Timothy, the old friend carrying years of resentment. Riley Keough and Grace Edwards as Jay’s daughters, Jessica and Daisy Kelly, whose disappointment and guardedness shape some of the film’s most affecting moments. Stacy Keach’s appearance as Jay’s father, Mr. Kelly, becomes a pivotal turning point.

Jay Kelly is now streaming on Netflix.