“It’s a dream of many young Americans to go to Europe – it can be your first big adventure, if you’re lucky enough to go,” notes producer Denise Di Novi. “It was important that we film on location in England and not on a stage or somewhere that doesn’t truly have the magic that London holds for so many people.”
Hunt Lowry concurs. “England is absolutely a character in the picture, with its fabulous manor houses, the structural design of London and Parliament. We couldn’t have done this movie anywhere in the world but London.”
Director Dennie Gordon was so passionate and determined to make What A Girl Wants in England that before the film was even greenlit, she traveled to England on her own coin to woo Colin Firth and to snap hundreds of potential location photos.
Di Novi acknowledges with a laugh that the production itself took a coming-of age voyage. “In England, we Americans were the fishes out of water, so to speak. For example, we had to explain why we were homesick on Fourth of July. But there was a really nice give and take between the two worlds and our experiences underscored the truth that teenagers are teenagers anywhere you go.”
Director Dennie Gordon and company commenced principal photography on What A Girl Wants on June 5, 2002, outside one of Britain’s finest private homes, West Wycombe Park in Buckinghamshire, an hour’s drive from Central London.
In the course of the film’s nine-week schedule, London and its environs revealed hidden gems in a city full of surprises. Location managers Nicholas Daubeny and Robin Higgs, fresh from the rigors of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, flexed their expertise in selecting some of the prime sights of London and the Home Counties.
Principal among the locations was West Wycombe Park, which stood in for the Dashwood home (both interiors and exteriors). The lake provided a memorable scene between Ian and Daphne and the grounds also doubled as the site for two lavish weddings.
West Wycombe Park, a National Trust property, is open to the public – who were quite intrigued to find themselves in the middle of a film set! Sir Edward Dashwood and his wife Lady Lucinda and their young family still live at the Estate, and the family not only played host to the filmmakers, they also allowed the use of their name for the cinematic Dashwood family. “Dashwood” is a famous name in English heritage – a Dashwood ancestor started the Hellfire Club, a scandalous gentlemen’s club of the 19th century.
“Casting our Dashwood Estate was almost as difficult as casting any of the actors,” Gordon reveals. “It had to have a very specific ability to be foreboding and intimidating and massive – and then have the ability to warm up once Daphne has moved inside the house. We used the theme of Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone to inform our production design of the house. For example, when Daphne moves into the Dashwood Estate, the sky turns a brighter blue and the flowers bloom more brilliantly. This home is around 500 years old with this extraordinary color, this gorgeous gold and ochre that gave us an opportunity to let the house come to glorious sunshine life.”
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