The grand home seemed meant to be with its angular architecture and V-shaped windows—V for Verity. The owner of Beckoning Path was receptive to the film crew redecorating the space for the shoot, so the crew added walls and bookshelves to make it feel more like an actual author’s home. They also used the real kitchen and several rooms, while some of the other spaces, like the office, were recreated on a sound stage.
The office was a critical location that was designed with input from both Showalter and Hathaway, who also served as a producer on the film. “We wanted to hit a very specific note with it,” Williams says. “Michael wanted it to feel very womb-like and feminine, but also kind of glammy.” The space is part Hollywood dream office, part villain’s lair, and it is rife with mirrors. Williams selected pink hues for the carpets and desks, ensuring that they popped with Hathaway’s complexion. At first, Williams was put off by the notion of an author’s writing hideaway having so few books on display, but the fact that the mirrors open up into bookcases made sense for the secretive Verity.
Not only was the house a perfect find, but the property also gelled with the storyline. The house was “like a shipwreck at sea,” Williams muses, which, for those who know the full story, holds more than one meaning. In one scene (no spoilers), Verity takes her children out on the lake, right outside their home, for a canoe ride. Fortunately, this property happened to have a lake, so the crew returned in the summer to capture that scene—much of the rest of the movie takes place during the winter months.
Lowen’s Birthday Dinner
After mounting romantic and sexual tension, Jeremy takes Lowen out to celebrate her birthday in the nearby town. He brings her to one of her favorite spots, a local Bavarian restaurant. This scene was filmed at Zum Stammtisch, a pub serving hearty German fare in Glendale, New York. In the book, the scene takes place at an Italian restaurant, “but we found this really charming, historic Bavarian restaurant in Queens that was near our [sound] stage,” Williams says, “and our director of photography actually was a background waiter in lederhosen.” The crew ate at Zum Stammtisch a couple of times. Williams recommends the pretzels.
