If you grew up during the 90s, there's a good chance you saw Adam Sandler's 1995 comedy Billy Madison. There's an even better chance you saw the movie and remember it fondly if you were brought up in Toronto, where much of it was filmed.
Like most Sandler flicks, Billy Madison was panned by critics upon its release, yet still holds a special place in the hearts and memories of Toronto millennials.
And we got our 90s nostalgia fix yesterday, when Sandler shared a window into the first day of filming, which had crews and stars arrive for interior scenes filmed at 55 Booth Avenue on Sunday, June 26, 1994.
Posted on Sandler's Instagram, the call sheet includes details for the very first scenes shot for the movie, which featured the legendary Bradley Whitford assuming the role of antagonist Eric Gordon.
This low-rise office building's interiors at 55 Booth were used for the sinister office setting where Whitford's character plots Billy Madison's downfall.
Some may remember this as the meme-worthy scene where the janitor who collected intel reveals the valuable info that "Billy likes to drink soda."
The building's distinctive vertical-slatted doors remained until 2012, though the exterior has since undergone a facelift, and the door seems to have been removed in 2013.
Many familiar with the film can already point out the Southern Ontario landmarks throughout, but this is definitely among the harder-to-recognize Toronto locations in Billy Madison.
The address on the call sheet and the long-lost slatted door seems to be the only evidence that scenes were ever filmed here.
A mix of other high-profile buildings and lesser-known Toronto landmarks were combined to craft the world of the film, along with locations in Oshawa, King City, and Stouffville.
Casa Loma stood in as Billy's mansion interior, and John Ross Robertson Junior Public School is where the movie's elementary school, dodgeball game and "mucus queen" scenes were filmed.
Western Technical and Northern Secondary were also used as filming locations to illustrate the titular character's fast-tracked path through the education system after the revelation that the wealthy family patriarch bribed his son’s way through school.
Another interesting tidbit is that the production company, Billy M Productions Inc., was based out of 221 Dufferin Street at the west edge of Liberty Village. And this wasn't the condo and hipster Liberty Village of the 21st century. It was pretty bleak out there.
Filming would wrap just over two months after this first call, on August 29, 1994. The movie would debut on February 10, 1995, and while it has never been popular with the critics, it remains a cult fav among 90s kids over a quarter-century later.
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