Oklahoma has recently become a booming hotspot for filming movies. Iconic movies like The Outsiders, Where the Red Fern Grows, Stillwater and Twister were just the beginning of a truly flourishing filming industry.
Just in 2023 alone, 18 films have been made in Oklahoma, including Killers of the Flower Moon, Twisters, Out of Exile and many more. With movies come celebrities from all over the world coming to Oklahoma, America; folks from Canada, England, and even more have had their own Okie experience.
What do you think they said?
After staying here in the hottest month of the year in 2022, Stallone admitted that he "liked it, seriously" while filming Tulsa King – at least at first. After a few months later, however, he changed his tune. Due to financial needs, the second season was filmed in another state.
While Leonardo Dicaprio was in Oklahoma, filming his role in Killers of the Flower Moon, he took the time to attend the Inlonshka dances in Pawhuska during filming. When asked about his experience at the dance, he said:
"It was beautiful. You know, the ability to be quiet and respect the culture and see the tradition and how much thought and love and how much their story was in those dances was amazing. It was almost meditative. You have to sit there and experience it. Something you can’t really put into words."
After filming the legendary Twister movie, the late Bill Paxton sat down in an interview with Take2MarkTV and talked about the life on set. Paxton remembered filming during a tragic time in Oklahoma, just a month after the infamous Oklahoma City bombing.
Even with the grief looming around them, he told the interviewer that he enjoyed the time he did spend here.
The sequel to the original Twister movie is set to release soon on July 19, 2024. London-native Daisy Edgar-Jones, known as Kate Cooper in the movie, told news reporters about facing real tornadic weather while in Oklahoma.
"I sort of had the idea that it would be greenscreen heavy, but it was not," she said. "We were there, for real, in Oklahoma, during storm season."
Admittedly, she has said that she didn't experience severe weather often, being from England, but once she got a taste of chasing tornados, she wanted more. While in Oklahoma, she was even able to go on her own chase, with professionals of course.
Canadian actress Paulina Alexis got her first taste of Oklahoma while filming in Okmulgee and other small towns outside of Tulsa in the making of Reservation Dogs. While they stayed and filmed, Alexis couldn't speak high enough of Oklahomans.
"Oklahoma is so beautiful. They have the best sunsets. Just being in that atmosphere, especially while working? It feels really good. It was like a family," she said. "The people are the nicest. It’s not too big or too small. There’s lots of fields. It feels very open. I found myself missing Oklahoma."
Next time you're thinking to yourself just how much you'd like to live somewhere else, or change nearly everything about Oklahoma, remember that some of the most successful people in the world actually see just why Oklahoma really is so great – you should, too.
What do you think of Oklahoma? Do you think these celebrities got a true Okie experience? Tell us on the app.
Gallery Credit: Kelso
Gallery Credit: Joe Cunningham
