Louisiana was the site for the first half of principal photography. Felicite Plantation, which stands in for the fictitious Devereaux house, the dark heart of the film, was chosen for the first three weeks of filming after it was spotted during location scouting among scores of plantations in Louisiana.

Even without assuming the guise of a home full of secrets, the Felicite Plantation house comes with its own back story. Located deep in St. James Parish, in the Village of Vacherie, halfway between Baton Rouge and New Orleans along the mighty Mississippi, the plantation was built in 1847 by the wealthiest man in the state, Valcour Aime (often referred to as the Louise XIV of Louisiana), who had it constructed as a wedding present for his daughter, Felicite. (His other daughter, Josephine, was the lucky recipient of another plantation a couple miles down River Road from Felicite). After the Civil War, both plantations changed hands. The faded white Greek Revival house, which first appears onscreen through a canopy of enormous oaks, is a home that clearly suggests old-fashioned Southern sensibilities.

Producer Michael Shamberg credits executive and line producer Clayton Townsend with discovering Felicite for the film company. He recalls, “As soon as we saw it we knew it was our mansion. While driving through the area, Iain quickly instructed, ‘Stop the car! This is it! We are there.’ Clayton jumped the fence, approached the owners and they surprisingly said yes. We were told that filmmakers had been trying unsuccessfully for 25 years to use Felicite, so I guess timing is everything. We found several beautifully restored plantation houses in the area, but this one had everything we needed. It offered the right age, patina and feel. And it certainly had the history.”

Producer Bobker comments, “We had been scouting and hadn’t found just the right house. There was even talk of building the exterior back here in Los Angeles, and just shooting in New Orleans for a month and a half and then doing the house scenes here. But then we found Felicite, and even if we could have constructed something like it, there is no way we could have reproduced the feeling that you get from just walking in a place that was built more than 150 years ago. We talk about atmosphere—it’s built-in here, which truly enriches the actors’ performances and elevates the film.”

Irma and Stan Waguespack, who are in their nineties, are the present residents at Felicite Plantation, where they have lived most of their lives. “My grandmother used to pass by the place a lot of times and always said she wanted to live in a house like this,” recalls Stan, now married to Irma for 62 years. “Finally, my grandfather got a chance to buy it and we’ve been here ever since. I came here as a young child and grew up on this land.”

Production designer John Beard, who marks The Skeleton Key as his fourth film with Iain Softley, added all the bits and pieces into the environment that the script required. “Iain and I share a similar sensibility,” explains Beard. “The swamp, which doesn’t exist in the back of Felicite, had to be built. It’s a specific part of the story for which Iain had a distinctive vision. It ended up taking quite a bit of time to get right. Whereas before, there was only grass and trees leading to a sugar cane field, there is now a meandering overgrown garden leading into a two-foot swamp. We moved trees, filled in water, built a shed—which also needed to hold water—and created the garden where Violet spends much of her time and where Ben can maneuver his wheel chair. It is here that Caroline, in a key scene, escapes from the house by canoe. It’s relatively easy to fake architecture, but much more difficult to fake nature.”

Hudson remembers, “When we were filming that scene in the canoe, I was sitting there, waiting to shoot, and all around me was this swamp—with mosquitoes like you’ve never experienced and crocodiles. And right before we were to shoot the scene, it got incredibly quiet. I felt utterly alone and terrified…just like Caroline. It was amazing—you can’t re-create that kind of stuff. Even with all the physical demands and the challenges of being on location in the swamps, sometimes I had the easiest job in finding Caroline because everything was right there…all that history bearing down on you.”

The first three weeks of principal photography were executed in the swamps in scenes that called for rain—both real and man-made were utilized. Since New Orleans and the surrounding bayous are situated below sea level, the delta is home to swampy conditions and epic amounts of mud. The presence of stagnant water also gave rise to Biblical-scale swarms of mosquitoes, referred to among locals as the “national bird.” The crew dressed in camouflaged netting for protection and the subject of the most effective insect repellants was almost as well-researched as the Hoodoo featured in the film.

British-born director Softley says, “This was my first visit to this city. I was struck by how truly evocative New Orleans is. I never knew how close the swamp encroached into town, or how vast and beautiful it is. Even though it is largely set in one plantation house out in the Louisiana bayou, I thought the film would have more authenticity if we added some of the wonderful elements and flavors that are unique to this city, including the amazing music.”

The ever-present music—whether gospel, blues, hip-hop or zydeco—is a kind of oral history of the city and sustaining force among its citizens…another type of soul food, if you will. Softley and his team seized several opportunities to exploit this rich aural tapestry and included New Orleans scenes set in local clubs and one that featured source choral music. The famous local hangout of the Half Moon Club was turned into a bounce club (i.e. New Orleans hip-hop), where Caroline and Jill party for a night. The legendary Maple Leaf Club also plays home to the homegrown Rebirth Brass Band in another scene.

Hudson offers, “One of the reasons, I think, Caroline finds a home in New Orleans is the music—she loves rock and roll and blues. From my two months here, I can see how someone who’s musically inclined can fall madly in love with the city and never leave…it’s such an inspiring and musical place.”

Before moving to New Orleans, however, production set down along atmospheric sections of road leading from the historic city to the outlying areas—where Caroline stops for gas and first witnesses evidence of the localized use of Hoodoo.

“The contrast between the vibrant, all-day and all-night energy of New Orleans and the wide-open, somewhat mysterious plantations and swamps that surround it is really intriguing. So much of the plantations’ history is dark, and I think putting Caroline in that place makes her all the more vulnerable. It’s a vast and lonely place,” adds Hudson.

While shooting the club scenes back in the city, as well of those that show Caroline in her apartment, filmmakers thoroughly availed themselves of New Orleans’ color, feel and architecture. The next three weeks the production moved into New Orleans with its distinctive areas marked by varying architectural styles. Caroline’s apartment stands on Magazine Street, a young, hip area of town that is reputedly named for the warehouse for items awaiting export or magazin built by Spanish governor Esteban Rodriguez Miro y Sabater in the late 18th century. An office in Jackson Square—the open area at the heart of the French Quarter famed for the St. Louis Cathedral, a statue of Andrew Jackson (hero of the Battle of New Orleans) and picturesque Spanish architecture—was used for Luke’s legal office.

Cast and crew then crossed over the 24-mile, Huey Long Bridge to the Southeast Louisiana Hospital in Mandeville, Louisiana, which served as the rural nursing home where Caroline first works.

“There is no substitute for being on a location like this one,” says producer Daniel Bobker. “It gives the kind of production value and atmosphere you can never get in Hollywood. It helps the actors with their preparation and understanding of their characters, and fortunately for us, Iain sensed the texture of this place. There is no question that all of this contributes to a richer, more authentic film.”

Universal Pictures Presents A Shadowcatcher Entertainment / Double Feature Films Production of An Iain Softley Film: Kate Hudson in The Skeleton Key, starring Gena Rowlands, Peter Sarsgaard, Joy Bryant and John Hurt. The music is by Edward Shearmur. The costume designer is Louise Frogley. It is edited by Joe Hutshing, ACE. The production designer is John Beard; the director of photography is Dan Mindel. The executive producer is Clayton Townsend. The Skeleton Key is produced by Daniel Bobker, Iain Softley, Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher. The film is written by Ehren Kruger and directed by Iain Softley.

©2005 Universal Studios. www.theskeletonkeymovie.com