I Just Found Out These 14 Movies And TV Shows Were Actually Filmed On Toronto Public Transit, And It's Blowing My Mind

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Ah, the TTC. The bane of every Torontonians existence, but also a lowkey cinematic icon. So many celebs have walked the hallowed halls of the TTC while they've filmed major films and TV shows over the years, and I don't think we give our local transit system enough credit for that. Seriously, whenever there's a scene involving a subway or streetcar in New York, Chicago, or some other big American city, there's a very good chance it's been filmed in Toronto.

And as a fellow Torontonian, I can say it takes literal seconds to recognize a TTC bus, train, streetcar, or even subway station when I'm watching a movie or TV show. In fact, Canadian actor Mike Myers recently posted a video of him dancing with beauty and grace in a Toronto subway station, and it didn't take very long for people to figure out exactly which station he was at.

The video really made me think about how many times I've seen a random subway, streetcar, or sign for the TTC make an unexpected cameo in the film or show. So here's a little list of movies and television series that were filmed on the TTC:

1. After filming six seasons in Toronto, you could probably go on a self-guided tour to visit all the locations that were used in The Handmaids Tale. In season one, the upper and lower parts of Bay station were transformed into Arlington station when June and Moira try to escape. And in season three, the show makes a more obvious nod to the TTC when Emily is seen in front of Dufferin Station — no signage changes necessary.

2. Lower Bay Station is barely recognizable in the 2012 action movie Resident Evil: Retribution. Instead of disguising the Toronto subway as another popular subway in North America, like New York City or Chicago, the station was redesigned to look like Arbatskaya station in Moscow.

3. Suicide Squad famously took over Yonge street to film the Batman vs. Joker car chase, but there are some other locations in Toronto that were part of the 2016 film. Lower Bay station, which is called Central station in the movie, becomes the chosen hideout spot for the Enchantress while she preys on the commuters. The cast also filmed outside Union station during their final fight scene against the supernatural villain.

4. Nobody Waved Goodbye is one of the oldest movies to film on the TTC, and it's interesting to see how much the subway hasn't changed in over 60 years. In one scene, Peter and Julie are seen taking the train, and it features three different subway stations on Line 1, Wellesley, Rosedale, and Davisville.

5. All five seasons of The Boys was filmed in Toronto (and the Greater Toronto Area), including a couple scenes on the TTC. In season two, Starlight and Hughie meet on the subway at Lower Bay station, although it's disguised as New York City's 57th Street station instead. Further along in the season, the two meet again outside of Queen's Park station.

6. Lower Bay station was also used in the opening scene of 2018 film Greta. But like unlike other movies that gave the station a major facelift, the only things that changed were the signage and the train's seating to make it look more like Canal Street station in New York City.

7. In 2017, Michael B. Jordan quietly took over parts of Toronto to film Fahrenheit 451 and create the dystopian and futuristic city of Cleveland, Ohio. There are a couple of scenes where Guy Montag is seen on public transportation, and they were both filmed at Wilson station.

8. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen spent a good chunk of their time filming New York Minute in Toronto. The 2004 film may have been set in The Big Apple, but a lot of the locations in the movie were shot in the 6ix. The fight scene between Roxy (M-K) and the limo driver/criminal, Bennie, was filmed on the Lower Bay station platform.

9. It's harder to recognize all the spots in Toronto that were used to film Total Recall. But the 2012 remake transformed multiple downtown locations including Lower Bay Station to create a futuristic feel in the movie.

10. Although The Bold Type took place in New York City, the cast filmed all five of its seasons in Montreal and Toronto. One scene in particular (one of my faves, TBH), shows Jane, Kat, and Sutton dressed to the nines on a subway platform (at Bloor-Yonge station) and collectively screaming as a train goes by. Unhinged? Yes. Therapeutic. Also yes.

11. This one is a bit of a reach, but The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones also filmed at Lower Bay station. Although the scene wasn't technically included in the movie, it was released later as a deleted scene.

12. Lower Bay station got a mini makeover to look like a Chicago subway station in the 2019 film, Shazam! It's easy to recognize both the subway platform and the trains in the scene when Billy meets the wizard and receives his superpowers.

13. Honey may have looked like it was filmed in New York City, but most of it was actually filmed in Toronto. Rapper Romeo shot a scene at Lower Bay station where his character, Benny, robs a kid for his new shoes. Fun fact: 22 years after it's 2003 release, rapper Romeo recreated one of the big dance scenes from the movie, saying, "Filming this with Keke [Palmer] brought back those 5th grade nostalgic memories when I actually filmed this scene in Toronto."

14. And finally, while What We Do in the Shadows was set in Staten Island, New York, the show was filmed mostly in Toronto. There's one scene in season four when Guillermo, Nandor, and Nadja go to a secret vampire night market by using the NYC transit. You can probably guess which subway station they used to film — yup, Lower Bay Station!

Now, I'm tempted to rewatch all these shows and movies to see if I can catch any more local Toronto spots. Were there any that I missed? Tell me in the comments!

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