Starring a couple of Hollywood’s brightest young things alongside some iconic Aussie landmarks, the breezy R-rated rom-com of the summer, Anyone But You shines a light on Sydney’s most romantic locations.
When Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney and Top Gun: Maverick actor Glen Powell touched down in Sydney (the city, mind you) in February 2023, they caused quite the stir. Now, audiences are finally on the cusp of seeing what all the fuss was about. Loosely based on Shakespeare’s 16th-century comedy Much Ado About Nothing, the movie follows our American stars to a destination wedding in Australia.
Director and romantic comedy veteran Will Gluck (Easy A, Friends with Benefits) has wanted to showcase Sydney (the city) on film since 2017, when he was making the first of the two computer animated Peter Rabbit films here – and with Anyone But You, he’s gotten his wish.
“I kind of fell in love with Australia, as did my family. So I wanted Anyone But You to be my love letter to Sydney – one of the most beautiful, welcoming, glorious places in the world,” he said.
“All these things that I wrote, I never actually thought that they would let us do,” Gluck admitted. “Like landing a helicopter at the Sydney Opera House, and I had Glen jump out multiple times, during daytime and at night, or putting Sydney and Glen on a buoy in the middle of Sydney Harbour for five nights straight.”
In the vein of Time Out’s ‘City on Screen’ series, let’s take a behind-the-scenes look at what is already one of the movie’s most iconic scenes, and how you can recreate it for yourself.
The Location: Sydney Harbour
The Scene: Having fallen out after a first date went sour, college nemeses Bea (Sydney Sweeney) and Ben (Glenn Powell) find themselves at a destination wedding in Sydney, Australia, where they decide to fake being a couple to fend off both her hovering parents (Rachel Griffiths and Dermot Mulroney) and her hopeful ex-boyfriend (Darren Barnet). But can they maintain their charade on a superyacht cruise on the iconic Sydney Harbour?
Then: The production was filmed all over Sydney, and eagle-eyed viewers will note that even the movie’s early US-set scenes were shot in the Harbour City. Locations include the Sydney Opera House, on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and at Bondi Beach, as well as at Palm Beach, within the heritage laneways of The Rocks, and the Sydney Cricket Ground. But the standout for the cast and crew was a seven-night shoot cruising all over the world-famous Sydney Harbour.
Now: If you want to recreate the scene for yourself, you’re spoiled for choice – according to Gluck, the biggest problem with filming their yacht scene was all the other yachts on the Harbour!
“Shooting the scene was a little bit more difficult than we thought,” the director exclusively told Time Out. “Because we had to get all the superyachts to rearrange themselves to make way for our superyacht. Our location managers worked magic with the captains – and we were given one hour to film. And that is when it started raining. But through the magic of camera angles, VFX, and actors acting, it looked absolutely glorious. And looking back on it, it actually was.”
Glen Powell also has some fond and wild memories from the experience of filming alongside Sydney Sweeney in Sydney city. “Coming towards the Sydney Opera House, seeing Sydney there in a pink dress, was amazing,” Powell recalled. “The wind was blowing, I’m coming in a tuxedo, jumping out, knowing I’m gonna profess my love to her. It was by far the most romantic moment I’ve ever been a part of.”
Is this sweet modern rom-com about to do the same thing for the Australian tourism market that Crocodile Dundee did in the ’80s? Maybe, just with the ocker accents dialled down.
Anyone But You opens in Australian and UK cinemas on Boxing Day (December 26, 2023). The film was released in the United States and Canada on December 22.
Are you in Sydney? Go see Anyone But You at one of the city's best outdoor cinemas or beautiful picture houses.