Brooklyn Heights Transformed into 1920s for the Filming of Passing with Alexander Skarsgard

All photos, including header image, by Caroline McCarthy

If you walked through Brooklyn Heights recently, you may have suddenly been transported into 1920s New York City. Looks like it’s the set of the film Passing, starring Alexander Skarsgard, Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga and André Holland and directed by Rebeca Hall. Untapped New York reader Caroline McCarthy, a Brooklyn Heights resident, shared with us her photographs of the film set, which first appeared a few weeks ago on Columbia Place and returned yesterday.

Passing is based on the book of the same name by Nella Larsen. The story takes place in the 1920s and centers around a woman named Clare Kendry, who is “passing” as a white woman with her light skin and married to a racist white man, played by Skarsgard, who does not know about her African American roots.

Photo by Caroline McCarthy

According to the book synopsis, “Clare’s childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, and is simultaneously allured and repelled by Clare’s risky decision to engage in racial masquerade for personal and societal gain. After frequenting African American-centric gatherings together in Harlem, Clare’s interest in Irene turns into a homoerotic longing for Irene’s black identity that she abandoned and can never embrace again, and she is forced to grapple with her decision to pass for white in a way that is both tragic and telling.”

Photo by Caroline McCarthy

According to McCarthy, who has encountered the set on several occasions, a set on Columbia Place converted “the exterior of my cat’s vet’s office into a hardware store and apparently now you can buy steak for 29 cents at the laundromat.” Yesterday, the antique shop Holler and Squall was turned into a toy store. Antique cars abound, as well as extras in period costume milling about. The set has a similar vibe to that of Wonderstruck, set partially in the 1920s which turned Crown Heights into that decade (as well as the 1970s).

Next, check out the filming locations for The Irishman, the latest hit from Martin Scorsese on Netflix. All photos in this article by Caroline McCarthy.