How Hollywood Loves Dunnottar Castle
What many don’t know is that Stonehaven’s beloved Dunnottar Castle hasn’t just captured our hearts, but the hearts of Hollywood too! From inspiring directors for their sets, to appearing on television itself, Dunnottar has featured in many films and shows over the past few years.
Victor Frankenstein (2015)
Our favourite horror story came to the big screen in 2015, Dunnottar Castle appearing as one of the main sets, where the insane scientist carries out his insane experiments. But although the castle portrays a scary, dark place in the films, you’ll find its actually the opposite!
Hamlet (1990)
The classic story of Hamlet was turned into a film adaption in 1990, and it’s no struggle to wonder why they had Dunnottar Castle as one of the locations used for filming. The castle created the perfect set for the film, the actors saying themselves it wouldn’t have been the same anywhere else.
Brave (2012)
Although Pixar’s animation wasn’t actually filmed at Dunnottar, it was one, among many, of the inspirations that director Brenda Chapman, used to create the film locations with. Its evident that Dunnottar’s stunning and dramatic cliff-top was used to help create the animation.
The Amazing Race (2001-2019)
The castle also frequently appears in television series, ‘The Amazing Race’, where guests compete to be the first ones to race around the world. Dunnottar makes many short appearances, being one of the locations when guests do fun activities, learning more about the Scottish culture under the roof of one of Scotland’s favourite castles itself.
Ride with Norman Reedus (2019)
In an episode of ‘Ride’, Norman Reedus toured around Scotland, showing off the stunning views until settling down in Stonehaven to take a look at Dunnottar Castle. Along with Melissa McBride, the pair swanned over the castle, filming it all for the episode before moving onto another Scottish landmark.
The World from Above (2010)
In 2010, the castle, yet again, made another re-appearance in an episode of the documentary series, ‘The World from Above.’ The episode uncovered Dunnottar Castle’s beauty, showing the castle from a bird’s eye view from the use of drones, although the castle recently banned drones from the castle grounds since they became too noisy- so this is the only episode you can get showing the beauty of the castle from above!
Mary Queen of Scots (2013)
In 2013, audiences were captured yet again by the story of Mary Queen of Scots, where Dunnottar castle made a special appearance as one of the main locations where the film was shot. Mostly used as a backdrop, the castle was helpful when Mary travelled to and from Dunnottar on several occasions.
After going home to watch our favourite castle appear in our favourite movies, why not come around to the Ship Inn for a break? We’ll make sure to serve you a delicious meal- one fit for Hollywood!
